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2024 Study Architecture Student Showcase - Part XVI

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Welcome to the final installment of the 2024 Study Architecture Student Showcase! It’s been a pleasure to celebrate these inspiring student projects.

Part XVI features student work that reimagines various housing typologies. From high-rise developments and mixed-use buildings to affordable single-family units, each project thoughtfully addresses critical housing issues. The presented design solutions involve incorporating machine learning into the design process, integrating various housing types, and much more. Scroll down for a closer look!

Reducing Architecture by Thomas Steven Tencer, M. Arch ‘24
University of Toronto | Advisor: Carol Moukheiber

Reducing Architecture is a system-based design approach that strives to make the expression of architectural identity more accessible. Architectural discourse often critiques suburban sprawl and the suburban aesthetic (it is unaffordable in an urban context, lacks density, projects outdated images of domesticity, and promotes land ownership which some consider criminal). However, since architecture is so disconnected from the development and design of single-family homes (influencing the design of less than ten percent of this housing type), 1) the practice is incapable of engaging with, disrupting, or affecting the future of the single-family medium.

Reducing Architecture proposes that architecture re-engage single-family housing, which remains Canada’s predominant housing type. 2) By disconnecting architectural expression from longer-lasting building layers, the creation of longer-lasting, higher

performing, and less costly houses is enabled; “A Primed Canvas.” 3) Onto this “canvas” distilled and articulated architectural expressions can be applied, at smaller scales and lower costs, so as not to disrupt the economies of scale achieved by mass-produced developer-built single-family housing. The result is a novel method for the expression of architectural identity, which is accessible, affordable, and efficient. Re-engaging single-family housing enables a discourse that may allow architecture to begin to influence the suburban aesthetic and morphology, rather than ignoring the medium in an act of architectural complacency.

Through Reducing Architecture, the single-family home could become more beautiful, more efficient, more culturally relevant, or more environmentally sensitive, so long as the architectural expressions that result from these objectives remain efficient, affordable, accessible, and desirable to consumers.

1. John Brown, “The Architect and the Single-family House,” Canadian Architect, September 30, 2002.

2. Government of Canada, “Type of Dwelling Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2021,” Statistics Canada, 2022.

3. Bernard Leupen, essay, in “Frame and Generic Space a Study into the Changeable Dwelling; Proceeding from the Permanent,” 010 Publishers, 2009, 33-34.

Instagram: @tommytencer

UrbanBots by Karan Patel, Mike Saad & Jacob Sam, M.SC in Architecture ‘24
New York Institute of Technology | Advisor: Sandra Manninger

Overview:

ARCH 702B is the second Advanced Architecture Design Studio in the Master of Science in Architecture, Digital Technologies program at the School of Architecture & Design at the New York Institute of Technology. The studio adopts an applied research approach, focusing on computational design through the development of digital experiments. Depending on the project, students engage with architectural challenges via expert and learning systems in individual, group, or class-wide projects. The studio critically examines the impact of technological advancements on design and fabrication patterns.

Project Focus:

This term, the studio’s focus is on mixed-use housing projects in Manhattan’s Garment District, inspired by the City of Yes initiative by the Department of City Planning. The initiative aims to update New York City’s zoning regulations to support small businesses and create affordable housing. One key strategy is converting underused office spaces and other non-residential areas into mixed-use housing, particularly targeting buildings constructed post-1961.

Motivation:

With hybrid work models becoming the norm, cities must adapt to address escalating housing shortages and rising rents. This transformation is crucial, especially given the national office vacancy rate of 18.6%, as reported by Cushman & Wakefield. The NYC Office Conversion Accelerator program has enrolled 46 buildings, with four already undergoing transformation to yield over 2,100 housing units.

Scope of the Project:

Location: Manhattan, New York

Boundaries: 23rd Street to 40th Street and 5th Avenue to 8th Avenue.

Methods of Assessment:

The assessment methods integrate machine learning (ML) techniques into the design protocol. The process involves three key stages:

Data Retrieval and Dataset Generation:

Collecting and organizing data relevant to the project

Creating comprehensive datasets to inform the design process.

Developing Protocols for 2D Information/Data:

Generating 2D representations and analysis from the datasets

Utilizing computational tools to explore design iterations and visualizations.

Developing Protocols for 2.5D Information/Data:

Extending 2D data into 2.5D models, adding depth and complexity to the visualizations

Applying ML techniques to refine and adapt these models to specific project requirements.

This structured approach ensures that students not only engage with advanced computational tools but also develop practical skills in generating and manipulating data for architectural design. Through this project, students gain valuable experience in leveraging generative AI and ML to address real-world urban challenges, positioning them at the forefront of technological innovation in architecture.

Instagram:@msact_nyit, @sandramanninger_studio

Ascending Worlds by Jose Power, M. Arch ’24
University of Toronto | Advisor: Jeannie Kim

The social landscape of the residential high-rise has precipitated a disinterested and isolated vertical microcosm. The elevator, facilitator of this smooth vertical metropolitan condition, emerges as a pivotal yet neglected architectural space. Despite the expected brevity of our occupation of this instrument of density, the elevator also serves as a momentary junction where the anonymous lives of residents converge. This thesis delves into the elevator’s history and spatial conditions – including its velocity, scale, and temporality – to unveil a space rich in social potential. It aims to redefine the elevator as an instrument of architectural invention capable of reshaping the communal dynamics within residential high-rises.

Instagram: @jose_power21

Leveraging Density –  A proposal for increased density permissions in exchange for affordable housing in Toronto’s Missing Middle by Joshua Giovinazzo, M. Arch ‘24
University of Toronto | Advisor: Carol Moukheiber

This thesis focuses on the intersection between the study of small-scale multi-unit housing typologies and a proposed new planning policy to directly create affordable housing in Toronto’s emerging missing middle. 

Working off existing conceptions of the transition zone, the S.M.U.R.B (Small Multi-Unit Residential Building) is proposed to help fill the density gradient between the existing multiplex and the upcoming Major Street Apartment. This formal solution is then complemented by the proposition of an as-of-right density bonus to systematically increase the supply of affordable units in our neighborhoods as they experience such a significant morphological change.

This policy-based solution is a response to Canada’s current myopic attempt to solve affordability through increased supply. Their approach, which embraces blanket upzoning – fails to define clear affordability targets, resulting in more of the same market-rate development. Learning from precedent policies in Seattle, Texas and Vancouver, the density bonus applied to small-scale housing looks to leverage these increases in density permissions by requiring a portion of the development as affordable housing.

‘Leveraging Density’ is rooted heavily in planning policy and construction finance, because housing is fundamentally the result of city planning and financial decision-making. This work does not focus strictly on an architectural resolution but rather looks to define a realistic framework for multi-unit housing affordability. This project is about the powerful systems that determine the built environment – defining what gets built and who benefits from it

This project won the Daniels Graduating Award. 

Instagram: @joshua.giovinazzo.realtor, @UofTDaniels

The Half-House by Elodie Price, BS in Architecture ’24
University of Virginia | Advisor: Mona El Khafif

The Half House is a generative housing community that expands and contracts depending on changing needs and demographics within a community. The Half House intends to respond to the increasing socio-economic and environmental pressures the world is facing at a global and local scale while promoting the agency of the individual residents in conjunction with community enrichment. In contrast to the typical US house, the Half House minimizes itself in size, material usage, embodied energy, associated carbon emissions, and waste, while maintaining the same amenities and utilities as its counterpart. 

This project takes a stance on neighborhood planning, including shared spaces and the potential for growth and densification over time. Organized into housing groups, a combination of units co-exist below a collective roof, sharing exterior spaces, amenities and resources to contribute to a more environmentally and economically responsible lifestyle. In each housing group, there are solar panels collecting renewable energy, rainwater stored for gray water usage and irrigation, bamboo gardens that sequester carbon and naturally create privacy screens, and vegetable gardens to feed the community and provide healthy outdoor activities. Each unit follows a standardized set of dimensions in such a way that necessary additions (and redactions) can be easily made. The design of the individual unit is firmly based on precedent research and an investigation of the spatial strategies employed throughout a vast array of projects, including nesting rooms within each other, carving into a thickened wall, and flexible furniture. This project negotiates at the scale of the furniture module up to neighborhood planning, and furthermore, as a siteless, deployable object utilized for emergency housing, urban infill sites, or even accessory dwelling units (ADU’s) to densify suburbia. 

The Half House embodies the idea that there is value in less. In a spotlighted prototype of a housing group arrangement that is a focus of this project, fractional units make up the square footage of an average American house, yet can accommodate as much as 4x the amount of people. This is achieved through space-saving strategies, flexibility and modulation, and an intentional design of the space between the units as equally important as the space inside each unit. The housing group has the ability to change over time, reflecting the shifting needs and demographics of the residents. Thus, it is a housing intervention that responds to the social, economic, and environmental needs of its occupants as well as the ecological site.

Instagram: @aschool_uva, @elodiemprice

Miami Made: Housing in the Tropics by Felipe Palacio Trujillo & Nicole Niava, M. Arch ’24
Yale University | Advisors: Adib Cure, Carrie Penabad & Deborah Garcia

Housing in Miami primarily features two typologies: the single-family detached home and the multi-story apartment block. The large gaps in the housing market prompted our studio to explore alternative solutions by imagining new housing typologies. Our project finds a middle ground, envisioning a mid-density housing typology inspired by the back bay townhouse and influenced by the “casa patio”—a traditional housing style of Latin America. 

The studio selected a 30-acre site located between Little Havana and Flagami. This site presented a tabula rasa condition which allowed us to rethink urbanism for these new typologies. Our design extends the Miami grid to integrate the site into the city while halving the typical Miami lot width from 50′ to 25′. This increased density facilitated the inclusion of a public park in the center of the lot, achieving greater density than typical Miami blocks. We envisioned urbanism as incremental, with each block functioning as a micro-neighborhood that could be built by small developers, thereby supporting incremental urbanism in the city. The arrangement of the block also decreases overall parking space while ensuring at least one parking spot per unit.

Within the block, we proposed two distinct housing typologies to foster diversity in sizes, ages, and incomes: a townhouse and an apartment building. The townhouse layout includes two areas: one for living, kitchen, and dining, and another for bedrooms and support spaces, connected by a courtyard. This design allows for cross-ventilation and access to nature. While designed for mechanical ventilation, the architecture encourages the use of passive systems for most of the year. The units are constructed using local materials and techniques, such as concrete block, precast vaults, tile, metalwork, and keystone. Emphasis on material and vegetation ensured a connection to the weather, nature, and culture of Miami.

The apartment block adapts features from the townhouse, tailored for communal living. The 25′ lot width remains consistent, with the townhouse elevated into a podium. This configuration creates six apartments on the first floor and six double-height apartments above, ranging from studios to three-bedroom units. The courtyard, featuring a water element and lush vegetation, provides a communal gathering space that ensures cross-ventilation while maintaining privacy for residents.

This project was published in Retrospecta 47. 

Instagram: @fptrujillo, @nicoleniava, @cureandpenabad

Parkside Avenue: Transforming Toronto’s Mid-Central Residential Neighbourhood by Oluwatobiloba Babalola Oluwaseun, M. Arch ’24
University of Waterloo | Advisors: Val Rynnimeri & Samantha Eby

The Parkside Avenue project addresses critical housing issues in Toronto’s mid-central residential neighborhoods, particularly within the “Yellow Belt,” known for its older single-family homes. This initiative aims to create a balanced urban solution that integrates market-based residential buildings with non-profit cooperative housing and other alternative models. The primary objective is to enhance housing affordability and mitigate the shortage of affordable housing options in the area.

Located between Pape Avenue and Gerrard Street, the project site encompasses approximately 50 private single-family homes. Its strategic location, near the high-traffic Gerrard Station and adjacent to Blake Street Junior School and Pape Avenue Junior School, makes it a prime area for redevelopment. The Parkside Avenue project plans to replace the existing 50 single-family units with 109 new residential units.

This development represents a significant shift in urban planning for the neighborhood, aiming to accommodate a diverse range of residents and provide more inclusive housing solutions. By integrating various housing types and focusing on affordability, the project seeks to foster a more vibrant, sustainable, and accessible community. The Parkside Avenue project stands as a model for addressing urban housing challenges while preserving the character and livability of Toronto’s established neighborhoods.

This project won the Design Studio Award, the Highest standing in ARCH 690 in the MB semester.

Instagram: @oluwatobilobababalola_

The Room is the Building is the City: Open-Ended Approach to Miami’s Housing Crisis by Sharona Cramer & Yotam Oron, M. Arch ’24
Yale University | Advisors: Adib Cúre, Carie Penabad & Deborah Garcia

Introduction (The Site, the Brief, and Our Approach):

Miami, currently the most unaffordable major city in America, faces a housing crisis with limited and unsuitable options for its growing needs. The city is dominated by detached single-family homes and high-rise condos, contributing to suburban sprawl and high land costs. Mid-rise housing models, offering innovative urban living solutions, have been largely overlooked.

The studio’s task was twofold: to propose a master plan for a 38-acre vacant parcel on the outskirts of Little Havana, addressing Miami’s urban morphology, and to design a new mid-rise urban housing typology for Miami, featuring mixed-use buildings with commercial/office spaces at ground level and various apartment types above.

To tackle these issues, which characterize Miami but are not limited to, the project operates at a wide range of scales, from the single room to the urban fabric, promoting an approach of open-ended locality. This combines consideration of climate, materiality, culture, and economy with flexible, rational, and modular architectural solutions.

The City:

Due to its limitations and restrictions, Miami’s current zoning, led by its parking regulation, makes building complicated and expensive. The market lacks competition, which makes housing unaffordable and attracts mainly big developers, prioritizing profit-making over building and architectural quality. The typical development project is done by conglomerating lots to develop ‘luxurious’ huge-scale anti-urban and anti-social residential compounds.

By suggesting a much more flexible and open alternative zoning system and limiting the conglomeration of lots, the project seeks to invite multiple players to participate in the city’s future development, creating quality, affordable, and diverse urban spaces and housing stock.

Additionally, the project proposes a series of site-specific design decisions: To connect the site to Miami’s urban fabric, we decided to continue the grid through the site and divide it into urban blocks similar in size to the adjacent blocks, then divide each block into lots in the typical Miami lot size: 50* 100 feet. Learning from successful urban spaces in the city, we propose a series of pedestrian streets and a linear park connecting all blocks from south to north. 

The Building:

In the project, we developed a mid-rise courtyard infill type. While the flexible zoning system allows multiple typologies, we chose to develop an infill building since Miami currently lacks this type. Furthermore, we believe that infill typologies offer potential in terms of high density, and the sort of streets they generate.

Inspired by similar typologies like the Berlin courtyard houses, the Mexican Vecindad, and the Creole townhouses, we created a local interpretation that reacts to the regional tropical climate and contemporary Miami standards. On one single lot, two relatively thin volumes are positioned, leaving a space for a central courtyard. The interior rooms, which have two orientations, are cross-ventilated and naturally cooled.

The building is designed using repetitive modules, thus increasing affordability and efficiency, making it easy to construct. Through sensitivity to details, use of materials, and small, subtle architectural gestures, these are realized without sacrificing architectural and spatial quality.

The building is divided into two distinct sections: “service” wings; housing private rooms, and an open flexible central “served” space. These sections are treated differently in terms of materials and construction techniques. The service wings hold all systems, structures, and storage, allowing the central area to remain free of these elements. This central space features light concrete precast vaulted slabs, which give the building its unique architectural character. The thicker floor sections in the service wings provide flexibility for plumbing fixtures, enabling them to drain through the floors to the vertical pipes that are located along the party walls – maximizing flexibility and allowing multiple apartment layouts.

The Room:

Instead of conventional drywall partitions, the project incorporates a modular furniture system that maximizes usable open space and provides flexibility. These modules can serve as walls, partitions, storage spaces, or even house plumbing fixtures. The variety and placement of these modules enable different floor plan configurations, allowing the housing units to be divided into two separate units—a main apartment and a studio—or to modify the internal layout of the apartment itself. 

The central open living space is designed to respond to and take advantage of the local tropical climate. Drawing inspiration from traditional and vernacular tropical architecture, deep loggias and shaders provide protection from the harsh sun during certain hours, while also serving as outdoor rooms that integrate the outdoors into daily life. The central living space opens up to the loggias, creating a cross-ventilated indoor-outdoor environment.

This project was Nominated for the Feldman Prize at Yale School of Architecture.

Morphological Growth of Raleigh by Raja Manikam Bandari, M. Arch, PhD in Design Candidate ’24
North Carolina State University | Advisors: Sara Queen & Tania Allen

Across the US, we are witnessing a housing crisis catalyzed by a pandemic-related housing shortage and exaggerated by income inequality resulting in a disproportionate burden on the poor and non-homeowners. This visual essay examines historic and contemporary data to interrogate many of the complex factors that have contributed to the current state of housing in Raleigh, the Triangle, North Carolina, and the US. The primary aim of this research is to create more equitable, effective and innovative design and planning approaches to the future of housing and urban development writ large.

Spatial Morphology (1)

This map series charts Raleigh’s historical expansion, tracing how the city’s footprint has expanded over time. Historical context illuminates pivotal moments of growth and development, showcasing the transformation of rural landscapes into urban areas and residential neighborhoods.

Temporal Morphology of Raleigh (2) 

This map illustrates the city’s expansion over time, showcasing the interplay between population influx and territorial expansion. Since its master planning by William Christmas in 1792, Raleigh has undergone significant transformation driven by diverse factors such as commerce, education, trade and natural opportunities. This timeline serves as a chronological thread, connecting historical milestones with the city’s expanding boundaries and changing demographics.

Proximity Growth Analysis of Raleigh (3) 

This map reveals a detailed analysis of Raleigh’s morphological growth pattern from 1792 to 2019 through proximity radar charts centered on the State Capitol Building which tracks annexed lands in relation to the city’s geographical center. Each radar chart depicts the distance in miles between the State Capitol and annexed parcels of land during a specific time period. The central graph illustrates the cumulative annexations over time.

Morphological Growth of Boylan Heights (4)

This map offers an intimate exploration of the morphological characteristics and unique layout of Boylan Heights, a neighborhood distinguished by its sloping topography and curvilinear street design. Situated on elevated terrain, Boylan Heights descends gradually from its highest point at Montfort Hall towards the east, south and west directions. Unlike the traditional right-angle grid common in earlier Raleigh developments, Boylan Heights features the city’s first curvilinear street grid, designed to harmonize with the natural slope of the land.

This project was selected as a finalist for the APDU Data Story Telling Award, AIA ASPIRE Student Design Award, and NC State Research Image Award.

Instagram: @raja_manikam_brv, @tanialeighallen, @rainrainqueen

Zoning Policy & Housing by Kole Retterath, B. Arch ’24
North Carolina State University | Advisors: Sara Queen & Tania Allen

Across the US, we are witnessing a housing crisis catalyzed by a pandemic-related housing shortage and exaggerated by income inequality resulting in a disproportionate burden on the poor and non-homeowners. This visual essay examines historic and contemporary data to interrogate many of the complex factors that have contributed to the current state of housing in Raleigh, the Triangle, North Carolina, and the US. The primary aim of this research is to create more equitable, effective and innovative design and planning approaches to the future of housing and urban development writ large.

Zoning and Affordability Incentives (1)

This map series explores the influential forces of zoning and affordable development policies on the current housing crisis. Zoning has major implications for cost, availability and affordability by indirectly impacting the supply and demand of housing stock. By highlighting how restrictive zoning policies historically privileged single-family typologies and reduced the opportunity for diverse affordable housing units, these maps illustrate how we have arrived at our current “Missing Middle” condition.

Residential Zoning in Raleigh (2)

This map isolates residential zoning categories and illustrates the dominance of residential single-family zoning (R-1 to R-10) in a purple gradient in contrast to the emerging pockets of residential mixed-use zoning (RX) in orange. The white negative space of the map indicates large institutional footprints and transportation corridors with industrial and commercial land uses.

Understanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (3)

This map visualizes all LIHTC projects in Raleigh and their respective values. Created in 1986, LIHTC is a method of financing rental unit development that caps rent amounts in exchange for equity-building tax credits. LIHTC remains one of the most important tools to finance affordable rental units, but drawbacks include that rent amounts are not permanently capped and very low-income renters often still require assistance to pay rent.

Perceptions of Zoning Policy: Oakwood Ave (4)

This perceptual collage depicts the diverse conditions along Oakwood Avenue which runs east-west from College Park and Washington Terrace neighborhoods to the Historic Oakwood neighborhood and exemplifies the impact of zoning overlay districts and preservation incentives in appearance and investment.

This project was selected as a finalist for the APDU Data Storytelling National Award, AIA ASPIRE Regional Student Design Award, and NC State Research Image Award.

Instagram: @tanialeighallen, @rainrainqueen

Homeownership & Economic Prosperity by Dillon Patel, B. Arch ’24
North Carolina State University | Advisors: Sara Queen & Tania Allen

Across the US, we are witnessing a housing crisis catalyzed by a pandemic-related housing shortage and exaggerated by income inequality resulting in a disproportionate burden on the poor and non-homeowners. This visual essay examines historic and contemporary data to interrogate many of the complex factors that have contributed to the current state of housing in Raleigh, the Triangle, North Carolina, and the US. The primary aim of this research is to create more equitable, effective and innovative design and planning approaches to the future of housing and urban development writ large.

Homeownership, Median Income and Urbanity (1)

This map series highlights the intricate relationship between homeownership rates and median income levels at four different scales. Nationally, urban areas are concentrated alongside major infrastructure, enhancing economic prospects. In NC, rural regions exhibit significantly higher homeownership rates, despite lower median incomes, compared to urban counterparts that attract higher incomes but fewer homeowners.

Median Income and Housing Affordability (2)

This map sheds light on contrasting economic landscapes within NC while highlighting the intricate interplay between income, housing costs, and the pursuit of homeownership. The graph traces the evolution of median incomes and average house listing prices to underscore the stark economic disparities within the state. It reveals Wake County as an apex of economic and housing market vitality as compared to Raleigh, the broader state, and Bertie County.

A History of Economic Disparities In Wake County NC (3)

This timeline charts how Wake County’s economic vibrancy stems from the distinct developmental patterns of its towns and the surrounding counties. Western Wake towns and cities have remained ahead of eastern towns due to the western-focused development toward the Research Triangle Park, Durham, and Chapel Hill. Average housing values are higher in western towns and cities of Wake County, and these are correlated with higher population counts and higher median income levels.

Old Roots, New Rises: Transitions of Architecture (4)

This investigative, on-the-ground mapping project delves into the architectural transformations in Raleigh’s Farrier Hills and Lakemont neighborhoods by documenting the evolution from traditional ranch-style homes to modern, multi-story residences, reflecting a complex interplay of tradition and modernization.”

This project was selected as a finalist for the APDU Data Storytelling National Award, AIA ASPIRE Regional Student Design Award, and NC State Research Image Award.

Instagram: @dilpickle01, @tanialeighallen, @rainrainqueen

Growth & Vulnerability by Gabrielle Schiltz, B. Arch ’24
North Carolina State University | Advisors: Sara Queen & Tania Allen

Across the US, we are witnessing a housing crisis catalyzed by a pandemic-related housing shortage and exaggerated by income inequality resulting in a disproportionate burden on the poor and non-homeowners. This visual essay examines historic and contemporary data to interrogate many of the complex factors that have contributed to the current state of housing in Raleigh, the Triangle, North Carolina, and the US. The primary aim of this research is to create more equitable, effective and innovative design and planning approaches to the future of housing and urban development writ large.

Growth & Vulnerability: Examining Development and Marginalized Groups (1)

This map series explores the complex relationship between redevelopment and marginalized communities. The concentration of recent building permits and opportunity zones illustrates foreseeable development with loose correlative patterns between growth and marginalized populations.

Growth & Vulnerability: The Disproportionate Rise of Housing Prices (2)

This map explores the potential correlation between residential development and marginalized demographics, questioning if historical patterns persist or are becoming increasingly obsolete. There are many factors that determine if a population is considered marginalized, prime factors articulated through this series include race, income, employment status, and housing burden.

Growth & Vulnerability: A Study of Housing Flux Within Wake County (3)

This visualization explores the relationship between population density, housing unit density and population growth within socially vulnerable communities using the CDC’s Socioeconomic Vulnerability Index (SVI). The map categorizes Census Tracts per SVI percentile with the least vulnerable census tracts at the top and the most vulnerable tracks at the bottom. Each string articulates the population and housing unit growth or decline from left to right.

Growth & Vulnerability: Erasure of Neighborhood Identity: South Park (4)

This map offers a human-centric counter-narrative to the statistical analysis of redevelopment featured in earlier maps and considers: Who is represented within neighborhood data and how do their lives weave into the greater tapestry of the community? The map illustrates the in-progress erasure of South Park’s historically rooted identities due to contemporary redevelopment patterns.

This project was selected as a finalist for the APDU Data Storytelling National Award, AIA ASPIRE Regional Student Design Award, and NC State Research Image Award.

Instagram: @gabrielle.schiltz, @tanialeighallen, @rainrainqueen

Are Opportunity Zones Helping or Hurting? by Maggie Kroening, B. Arch ’24
North Carolina State University | Advisors: Sara Queen & Tania Allen

Across the US, we are witnessing a housing crisis catalyzed by a pandemic-related housing shortage and exaggerated by income inequality resulting in a disproportionate burden on the poor and non-homeowners. This visual essay examines historic and contemporary data to interrogate many of the complex factors that have contributed to the current state of housing in Raleigh, the Triangle, North Carolina, and the US. The primary aim of this research is to create more equitable, effective and innovative design and planning approaches to the future of housing and urban development writ large.

Examining Income and Rentership within OZs (1)

This map series looks at the impact of Opportunity Zone designations on neighborhood displacement and overall housing burden. Signed into law by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Opportunity Zones (OZs) were originally launched as a place-based tax credit to encourage investment in impoverished communities, but have since faced a large degree of controversy.

Are Ozs Helping or Hurting? (2) 

This map features two contrasting cases, Erie, PA and Washington DC, exemplify the debate around OZs. US Treasury analysis reveals that 48% of zones do attract investment, but funds are often concentrated in isolated fractions of the whole zone. According to the NLIHC, targeted OZs often experience economic growth and renter displacement prior to investment. For Wake County, tracking OZ developments is crucial to examine who they serve and if they are contributing to equitable development.

Renter Cost Burden in OZs (3)

This map highlights change in rates of rent cost burden within OZs from three disparate countries, Wake (Raleigh), Washington DC, and Hennepin (Minneapolis), from 2017 to 2022 through box plots and beeswarm visualizations. The most extreme cases of either an increase or decrease of cost burden within each county are shown by tract.

Delineating the Fringe: OZs and Housing (4) 

This map records observations of the Southern Gateway OZ along the Lake Wheeler corridor in Raleigh NC. Within a half mile three extremes of housing conditions were observed: new high-rise apartments, existing single-family homes, and people experiencing homelessness. This map raises complex questions concerning the impacts and opportunities of increased density and redevelopment fueled by OZs.

This project was selected as a finalist for the APDU Data Storytelling National Award, AIA ASPIRE Regional Student Design Award, and NC State Research Image Award.

Instagram: @maggie.k, @tanialeighallen, @rainrainqueen

Predatory Development by Lucas Stott, B. Arch ’24
North Carolina State University | Advisors: Sara Queen & Tania Allen

Across the US, we are witnessing a housing crisis catalyzed by a pandemic-related housing shortage and exaggerated by income inequality resulting in a disproportionate burden on the poor and non-homeowners. This visual essay examines historic and contemporary data to interrogate many of the complex factors that have contributed to the current state of housing in Raleigh, the Triangle, North Carolina, and the US. The primary aim of this research is to create more equitable, effective and innovative design and planning approaches to the future of housing and urban development writ large.

What Makes a Neighborhood Vulnerable? (1)

This map series illustrates markers for housing vulnerability (race, housing burden, age, and occupancy status) to identify tracts as more/less vulnerable. These measures of vulnerability are overlaid with measures of population growth and the areas of overlap suggest the neighborhoods most vulnerable to the threats of gentrification.

Predatory Development (2)

This map visualized patterns of redevelopment in Southeast Raleigh which has historically had low-income residents and under-valued properties. By plotting building permit data, we see a distinct pattern of developers active solely within Southeast Raleigh versus developers that avoid it completely.

Speculative Real Estate and Community Vitality (3)

This graphic aims to raise questions about the ethics of modern-day, speculative property sales. Southeast Raleigh, a region with high housing vulnerability, has seen drastic changes in the ownership and popularity of its land. Over time it transformed from an affordable, black neighborhood into a threatened historic district torn apart by redevelopment, rising housing costs, and speculative real estate.

Urban Squeeze: The Weight of Gentrification (4)

Walking through the South Park neighborhoods reveals a shift from shotgun houses and net-less basketball hoops to two-story contemporary houses flanked by Teslas and neon playgrounds. At this map’s core is a weather-worn, dilapidated house—a relic of South Park’s past and a poignant symbol of the challenges faced by its residents. Street photographs of recently constructed housing developments, all within 500 feet, are meticulously collaged to convey the experience of ongoing social suffocation and displacement.

This project was selected as a finalist for the APDU Data Storytelling National Award, AIA ASPIRE Regional Student Design Award, and NC State Research Image Award.

Instagram: @tanialeighallen, @rainrainqueen

Live, Laugh Learn: Affordable Housing in Honolulu by Marco Zhou, B. Arch ’24
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona | Advisor: Pablo La Roche

Live Laugh Learn is a sustainable affordable housing project in Honolulu to provide housing for educators and researchers. Due to the high cost of living in Hawaii, there are poor retention rates for teachers, and schools rely on emergency hires. This project, located between an elementary, middle, and high school, provides an option to alleviate this issue. There are 120 units, and the ground floor fosters well-being and education. The project also aligns with the University of Hawaii’s core value, Aloha “Aina. The project aims to create a social hub that harmonizes surrounding amenities and infrastructure, promoting biodiversity in a dense urban area. AIA’s COTE framework for design excellence was integrated into the design. Energy modeling and carbon calculations were an integral part of the design process from the beginning. 

Instagram: @marcozhou_, @pmlaroche

Interested in being featured in next year’s showcase? Stay tuned for updates this summer!

2024 Study Architecture Student Showcase - Part XII

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Now more than ever, sustainability is a top concern in architecture as we continue to witness the impacts of climate change. Part XII of the 2024 Study Architecture Student Showcase features projects that promote sustainable, eco-friendly practices.

From design solutions to reduce the production of harmful greenhouse gases to innovative use of green technologies such as rainwater harvesting, solar cells, etc), this showcase presents various strategies to address sustainability concerns. The featured projects seek to support not only humankind but the flora and fauna that share the planet as well. The award-winning designs also emphasize the importance of community preservation, integration, and education.

Spirit of Water, Empire of Sun Designing for Desert Living by Nate Dansie, BS in Architecture ‘24
University of Virginia | Advisor: Mona El Khafif

Historically, the Southwest [of the] United States has been defined as a place of rampant westward expansion by American citizens in one of the most iconic landscapes on this planet. Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Southwest has gone through a renewal of rapid growth, where the landscape of mountains and sand has transformed from monuments of nature to backdrops for newly planned communities. 

Through a society driven by individual and economic success, these large development projects in growing towns are made as cheaply and quickly as possible. This becomes a plastic city in a landscape that is losing its identity as it continues to fill with more and more people. In hand with this increasing population, the Southwest is facing some of the most prominent climate change effects in the world. From rising temperatures, spreading desertification, and uncontrollable wildfire, to the most severe drought in the last 1,200 years, the future of desert living will be defined by how we adapt to climate change’s outcomes. This unsustainable growth of capital-driven small-town populations in juxtaposition to the increasing effects of climate change provides a dangerous future that we are heading towards. The city of St. George, Utah typifies these conditions and serves as the site for this thesis proposal. Known as one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the United States, it is dealing with one of the most severe water crises- with the demand for water expected to pass the supply by the year 2030.

The story of this town needs to shift from a one-directional water system into a cyclical and sustainable metabolism that addresses all scales of design. The proposed solution comes through a duality of increasing the water supply through a new master-planned housing typology at the community scale, and a sociological shift in our relationship with water through the architectural and individual scale to conserve what we have. We must reinvent how we live in a place to accommodate sustainable urban growth and amplify the original identity and ecology of the desert landscape.

This project was recognized as the Best Project of the 2023 Thesis Cohort.

Instagram: @natedansie.design, @aschool_uva

Skyscraper/ Megastructure Design Studio by Ko Harmes, B. Arch ’24
Endicott College | Advisor: Robert Augustine

Concept Brief: Eco-Portal to a Sustainable Future in the City of Boston

Located on a waterfront site, near the Charlestown Naval Yard, this advanced Mega Structure / Skyscraper / “Eco-Ark” serves as an inspiration for a sustainable, green future.

These two, organic-shaped, net zero towers, serve as stewards of the environment, featuring living green roofs and balconies that mitigate urban heat island effects. Special features include large, multi-story green-walled atriums, rainwater harvesting systems, and thin solar cell glass windows that generate over 25% of the power used by the facilities.

Built, in part, from the recycled remnants of the adjacent Tobin Bridge, currently slated for demolition, these organic-shaped towers celebrate advancements in environmentally responsive, sustainable, green technologies. 

The Site: One of potentially the most important landmark sites along Boston’s harborfront, the existing site can currently be described as mostly “a parking lot”… a hardscape/ industrial wasteland. The proposal re-establishs an eco-system that re-introduces nature back into this brittle area that once was home to native species of plants like the Sugar Maple, Eastern White Pine, Highbush Blueberry and Woodland Sunflower also helping re-introduce wildlife and pollinators back into the ecosystem.

Program: Mixed-use apartments, shopping malls, hospitality/ hotel space and a large informational eco-sphere / sky bridge, suspended between the two towers provide a green sky garden and a digital communication outer sphere. 

Structure

A mega core with an outrigger framing system, similar to that used in the construction of the Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest skyscraper standing today. The mega core system requires larger cross sections in addition to a shear wall that is part of a composite core or reinforced concrete. This allows for the system to have no column or shear walls on the outer perimeter because the mega core can resist all the vertical and lateral loads.

Facilitating Extrastructure by Reilly Walker, M. Arch ‘24
University of Toronto | Advisor: Jeannie Kim

Amidst a megadrought, Arizona has announced water-saving plans that include direct potable reuse: upgrading municipal wastewater treatment facilities to produce effluent suitable for processing into drinking water. In this high-risk decision, how can these new additions create spaces that are interwoven with the communities they serve? This thesis focuses upon the fenceline as the experiential threshold of these typically off-limits facilities: interlacing fence and building to provide new vantage points; manipulating border and landscape to provide new visual access; and transforming the boundary into an infrastructure of maintenance and care.
Instagram: @reindustrial

Village of the Levy: Switchgrass by  Brenda R. Castillo, B. Arch ’24
University of Houston | Advisor: Roya Plauche

“The Village of the Levy” is a visionary project dedicated to nurturing and caring for the Earth by creating a machine composed of natural systems and ecosystems that fulfill environmental, architectural, and cultural roles. This project centers around switchgrass, a perennial grass with incredible potential for improving soil health, flood control, and carbon sequestration. Through detailed micro and macro studies, the project explores the morphology, structure, and growth of switchgrass and its suitability for producing cellulosic ethanol, an eco-friendly alternative to traditional ethanol sources.

The project conceptualizes “Switchgrass Pods,” establishing a village of programmed framed systems within one of the many placement areas proposed by Project 9 on the Houston Ship Channel. These systems protest against the existing refinery infrastructure along Buffalo Bayou, highlighting the need for sustainable practices. The site integrates human, natural, and industrial ecology, by programmatically offering a research and nature center for the adjacent communities. 

The project includes potential site planning and urban/architectural responses, culminating in detailed floor plans, sections, and isometric views of the “machines.” “The Village of the Levy” aims to create a system between nature and urban development, demonstrating the potential for ecological innovation in addressing environmental challenges.

This project won the Super Jury First Place prize.

Instagram: @brcarq, @rocio.arq, @royaplauche

ReGen Hall by Lexi Hudson, Saba Abdolshahi, Michael Alada, Dariya Fallon, Catherine Graubard, Marcell Hajmuhammad, Qin He, Ruiqi Huang, Zane Johnson & Sarah Rosseau, MSSD (Sustainable Design) / M. Arch / B. Arch / Chemical Engineering / Mechanical Engineering ’24
University of Texas at Austin | Advisor: Michael Garrison

Addressing the pressing need for student housing at UT, ReGen Hall integrates ecological sustainability and affordability while meeting the housing requirements of Dell Medical students and the adjacent neighborhood. Positioned at a unique edge between Austin’s East Campus and the historic Blackland neighborhood, ReGen Hall prioritizes health through its design, program, materials, and environmental considerations. The design promotes collaborative living, encouraging community interaction and adaptability through interconnected spaces.

The design features seven courtyards, providing medical students with outdoor access and spaces for respite. Optimal cross-ventilation is ensured through thoughtful window placement and modular design, enhancing air quality within residences and communal areas. To accommodate varying schedules, bedrooms are equipped with rolling exterior shading systems for daylight control, while sound insulation was considered to ensure residents’ sleep quality. 

Sustainable practices are integral, incorporating Passive House level insulation as well as a photovoltaic system on the roof and western facade to achieve net zero operational energy. ReGen Hall exemplifies a holistic approach to sustainable architecture through both design and engineering.

Further enriching community engagement, the ground floor hosts a free clinic staffed by medical residents, offering essential services to the historically underserved Blackland neighborhood. The project’s modular construction reduces costs, absorbing the upfront cost of high-performance insulation and photovoltaics. Designed with consideration for neighborhood scale, the building steps in height from two stories along the neighborhood side to six stories facing the university, responding to community feedback for enhanced integration and preservation of local character.

This project was a 2024 Solar Decathlon Design Challenge Finalist. 

Instagram: @utsolarhorns, @utsoa

Fort Point Channel: Gillette Site by William Prout, BS in Architecture ’24
Roger Williams University | Advisor: Edgar Adams

The planned movement of manufacturing facilities from Gillette’s Boston headquarters to a remote site provides a unique opportunity to explore the potential of this crucial site as an exploration of the issues of sustainable density and coastal resilience. The site is a vulnerable pathway for the flooding of the Fort Point Neighborhood and a crucial link between the Seaport and South Boston.

Suburban Symbiosis: Balancing Ecology and Economics in Suburban Development by Diego Courtney, M. Arch ’24
Lawrence Technological University | Advisor: Scott Shall

Following World War II, a mass exodus from cities to suburbs necessitated new building patterns that prioritized economics and speed over environmental considerations, changing landscapes and having a negative influence on ecosystems. This growth, which we now know as sprawl, combined with profit-driven motives, has led to an emphasis on quick, low-cost construction methods like stick framing, which frequently ignore the impact on the local environment and result in significant waste. In the profit-driven model, the residential development process begins with street layout, then lot/parcel maximization, with ecological and landscaping considerations as afterthoughts. This foregrounds the concerns of the car over the environment, prompting developers to sterilize the environment, resulting in fragmented habitats and homogeneous ecosystems that are detrimental to regional biodiversity. 

The consequences of this uncontained sprawl, which are already significant, will be exposed by the inevitable natural disasters, which are anticipated to become more frequent as a result of climate change. The current suburban development pattern is flawed, outdated, and unprepared for these environmental changes which we must contend with as architects.

To investigate this concern, this thesis will investigate an alternative development pattern, tested within the parameters of a neighborhood located within the rapidly sprawling city of Austin, Texas. This development strategy is intended to balance economic needs with environmental sustainability, with the goal of establishing a widely adopted, US-based model that corresponds with current economic proformas while regenerating and preserving the surrounding ecology. This thesis aims to address the concerns of both profit and the environment by attempting to achieve symbiosis with the environment at the suburban scale using the Living Building Challenge.

Instagram: @diego_courtney, @scott_shall

Choreography of Topography: Dalieh’s Calibrated Auto-Datum & E-co Interplay by Doria Doubal, B. Arch ’24
American University of Beirut | Advisors: Dr. Howayda Al-Harithy & Sinan Hassan

“Choreography of Topography: Dalieh’s Calibrated Auto-Datum & E-co Interplay” redefines the concept of ground by exploring its philosophical and spatial dimensions. Ground is not just a physical foundation but a dynamic entity influenced by the interaction of natural and artificial forces. This thesis examines Dalieh, a site in Beirut known for its historical significance as a vineyard, characterized by perpetual transformation.

The architecture harnesses humidity for irrigation, uses solar and wind energy to generate movement, and incorporates systems that expand, contract, inflate, and deflate in response to environmental conditions.

Central to this approach are the metaphors of the pergola and fishnet, reflecting Dalieh’s identity and the daily lives of local fishermen. The interventions are connected physically and conceptually by a temporal grid put throughout the site that interacts with the ground, people, and birds. Key interventions include:

  1. Reintegrating Lost Identity: Revitalizing the site by planting a vineyard and restoring Dalieh’s historical significance as a “vineyard” in Arabic.
  2. Vegetation Restoration: Addressing areas ruined by construction, this intervention includes:
  • Mist & Propel: Harvests atmospheric moisture to cool the air and disperse seeds.
  • Eco-Kinetic Soil Revive: Uses kinetic mechanisms to aerate the soil and inject nutrients.
  • Seed Shooter: Disperses native seeds to promote biodiversity.
  • AquaBloom Irrigator: Collects fog moisture for irrigation.

These systems regenerate the soil and enhance flora and fauna for public use.

  1. Vegetation Conservation: Attracting birds and providing feeding and shelter areas, ensuring ecological balance and integrating human interaction through designed seating spaces.
  2. Fishermen Strip: Supporting the primary users of the site, this area creates a fluid connection between the corniche and the water, facilitating economic activities by day and transforming into cultural spaces by night.
  3. Temporal Grid: A flexible structure throughout the site, used by the public for various activities depending on the season, festivals, weather, and time of day.

This project embraces the temporality and ephemerality of Dalieh, creating an ever-evolving architecture that responds to the rhythms of nature and human activity. It reimagines ground as a multilayered, dynamic entity, fostering a harmonious interplay between the environment and its users.

This project was the 3rd Place Winner of the Areen Projects Awards for Excellence in Architecture.

Instagram: @ard_aub

From Waste to Wealth: Food and Community Nexus by Fatema Dula & Rachel Aronbayev, M. Arch ’24
New York Institute of Technology | Advisors: Marcela Del Signore & Evan Shieh

The food waste processing facility is strategically designed to bridge both the literal and metaphorical divide between the hilltop favela residents in São Cristóvão, and the bustling food market below, a critical cultural hub. Situated on a hill, the facility not only connects these separate communities but also aims to serve as a vital nexus, enhancing interactions and mutual benefits between the informal settlements and the market. The facility is envisioned as a symbol of unity, sustainability, and progress, bringing together diverse groups for a common purpose.

The building is structured into three clusters, each dedicated to a specific treatment type: Composting, Anaerobic Digestion, and Recycling. Within each cluster, there are three distinct areas: a waste zone for processing, a communal area for collaborative activities, and a recreational space for leisure and relaxation. The design of these clusters ensures that the facility is not just a processing plant but a community center that encourages participation, education, and engagement in sustainable practices.

The three clusters are linked by a versatile circulation path that ranges from fully outdoor to semi-outdoor and indoor segments, enabling traversal from the hilltop down to the food market level. This path is designed to be accessible and inviting, with shaded walkways, benches, and educational signage about waste management and environmental stewardship. It serves as a continuous thread weaving through the facility, fostering a sense of connection and flow.

In addition to its primary function of waste processing, the facility is intended to host workshops, community meetings, and educational programs focused on sustainability. It aims to empower residents with the knowledge and tools to reduce waste, recycle more effectively, and participate in a circular economy. Through these initiatives, the facility aspires to create a more resilient and interconnected community.

Instagram: @fatty_2109, @marcelladelsi, @ev07

Natural Reflection: Reducing the Environmental Impact of Architecture through Biomimetic Design by Keenan Doricent, B. Arch ’24
Kennesaw State University | Advisor: Robin Puttock

The use of biomimetic design can be used to develop construction techniques and integrated building systems that reduce the increased amount of operational and embodied energy consumed by contemporary approaches to building. Factors like material production, site preparation, and equipment use are just a few examples of contributors to the amount of embodied energy consumed by a structure before it is even completed, while active building systems consume energy throughout the life of an occupied building. Because of greenhouse gasses, the long-term effects of historical and current architectural and infrastructural strategies have had a detrimental effect on the climate. The forest, desert, tundra, mountain, and aquatic biomes are all home to countless types of plant and animal life that adapted to their respective surroundings to become a part of the natural cycles that occur within any given area. This thesis project strives to study plants and animals that occupy and interact with the environment in order to reduce energy consumption and the ecological footprint of typical buildings.

This project was a finalist for the ARCC King Student Medal Award.

Instagram: @thenumber1fun, @xkdesign1

Powering Equality: Teaching Clean Energy on Multiple Grounds by Sabrina Innamorato, M. Arch ’24
New York Institute of Technology | Advisors: Marcella Del Signore & Evan Shieh

Due to the complex nature of the São Cristóvão neighborhood, in-depth research and an understanding of the mounting spatial and social issues were paramount prior to the development of an urban intervention for the city. Resiliency and vulnerability at the urban and human scale were analyzed through three interconnected lenses: social/cultural, environmental/ecological, and infrastructural/networked.

The proposal looks to develop public, peaceful nodes that operate on “urban collision” sites by hybridizing clean energy infrastructure with social programs. The proposal transforms former “pass-through” sites into places that are productive and social.

The concept is to allow the site context to inform an organizational armature. Building near the coast requires an attitude about not just having multiple floors of a building, but also about offsetting multiple ground planes. A diagrid column system acts not only as the main structure but also creates light wells and, at times, is occupied by supporting programs like egress cores or plumbing chases. There are a series of small pavilions for 5 clean energy systems: Geothermal, Hydro, Biogas, Wind, and Solar. The systems function on the site and the pavilions include teaching space to inform community members and stakeholders about the operation and importance of clean energy, while the space between is a public park. Ultimately the project is an infrastructural playscape.

Through a series of teaching pavilions, observable clean energy infrastructure, and public green space, the architecture provides a physical ground for knowledge building, where community members can become ambassadors for spatial and social change in São Cristóvão and beyond. The project looks to acknowledge and adapt to the already irreversible effects of climate change by offsetting and creating multiple grounds that anticipate and accept sea level rise, and simultaneously address the importance of mitigating future climate change. The park is a prototype for a larger strategy that can begin to bridge social and spatial divides and heal communities at an urban scale, by teaching clean energy on multiple grounds.

The project was presented at NYCxDesign 2024 Student Showcase at F.I.T., and the cartographic model was exhibited at Salone del Mobile in Milan, Italy, along with the Gold Certificate of Excellence in Design and the ARCC King Medal.

Instagram: @sabrinainnamorato, @si_archidesign, @marcelladelsi, @ev07

UrbanSymbio by Bharat Satish & Nicholas Reid, M. Arch ’24
New York Institute of Technology | Advisors: Marcella Del Signore & Evan Shieh

The UrbanSymbio can be viewed as a self-sustaining and carbon-neutral organism that coexists harmoniously with its surrounding urban environment, promoting energy circularity in São Cristóvão. Its growth is guided by the cellular automation algorithm, which mimics natural processes of organic growth and adaptation, ensuring a sustainable and efficient use of resources. Like living organisms that evolve in response to their environment, this kit of parts expands and transforms itself based on the changing needs of its inhabitants and the available space within the urban fabric.

Its modular and flexible nature allows it to seamlessly infill and occupy underutilized or vacant spaces, repurposing and revitalizing them without causing significant demolition or displacement. This minimizes waste and maximizes the use of existing resources. The system’s self-organizing capabilities and sensitivity to changes within itself and its surroundings enable it to grow sustainably by utilizing renewable energy sources and implementing circular processes that minimize resource consumption and carbon footprint. Its adaptive nature ensures that as the city evolves, the system can continuously reconfigure itself to optimize energy efficiency and resource utilization, avoiding the creation of obsolete or redundant structures that contribute to urban blight and environmental degradation. This system could act as a prototype that could be implemented in any city worldwide.

Instagram: @0ero_persepctive, @unruly.don_, @marcelladelsi, @ev07

Dataism Motion Exhibition Center by Begimai Baibachaeva, B. Arch ’24
Boston Architectural College | Advisors: David Eccleston & Robert Gillig

Location: 40 Commercial St, Portland, ME 04101 

Project: Exhibition Center

Site Description: Portland is a center of connectivity, equity, sustainability, and authenticity. Portland’s Eastern Waterfront is one of the primary economic hubs that serve as a center for travel, fishing, commerce, and shipping. Thus, it’s essential to continue supporting the waterfront in a rapidly changing world. The concept of the project is to revive Portland’s waterfront while celebrating its heritage and innovation. 

Considering that our site is a center of various activities, my vision was to create a seamless connection between the distinct boundaries of land and water, particularly through the exhibition hall experience, visually at the heart of the building. But also mimicking the freedom and fluidity of water, envisioning a scenario where these two natural elements (land and water) coexist harmoniously. The approach included providing people with access to water through strategic landscape design.

Concept: The architectural thesis envisions a dynamic synthesis of Umberto Boccioni’s “Development of a Bottle in Space” and the progressive essence of artificial intelligence, merging seemingly disparate concepts through the lens of time and motion. Set in Portland, Maine, the design employs curves in both the facade and interior spaces, integrating intelligent program design and enhancing the user experience. The primary structure, a space frame, supports the organic design, while a cylindrical curtain wall pays homage to Boccioni’s sculpture, marrying the rhythmic dance of form with the seamless interconnectivity of data.

This project received Commendations: Bachelor’s Degree Project in Architecture and the Edwin T. Steffian Centennial Award: Bachelor’s Degree Project in Architecture.

Instagram: @begimay_b_, @thebacboston

Walking with Gentle Giants by Manshi Manojkumar Parikh, M. Arch ’24
Boston Architectural College | Advisor: Ralph Jackson, FAIA

Humans have long sought to dominate and exploit every corner of the planet. As civilization advances, coexistence with other species becomes increasingly dystopian thought. Humans have harmed the environment and imposed our presence on the voiceless, including the majestic Asiatic elephants, who face abuse and exploitation, with some populations nearing extinction. Elephants act as ecosystem architects, playing a vital role as keystone species in creating forests and maintaining biodiversity. The endangerment of these critical species signals a potential loss of other interconnected species, jeopardizing nature’s essential services. Preserving nature and developing strategies to adapt to climate change is crucial for the survival of endangered species. Caring for animals and plants is about safeguarding the Earth’s natural caretakers. 

At the beginning of the last century, the world had 100,000 Asian elephants. Over the past three generations, their population has dwindled by at least 50 percent. India is home to more than 50 percent of the elephant population. Habitat reduction, fragmentation, commercial poaching, and the illegal trade of live elephants drive these nomadic creatures to near extinction. In December 2022, India reported the loss of almost 500 elephants due to electrocution, train collisions, poaching, and poisoning. This data underscores the challenges of protecting elephants, with most deaths in West Bengal caused by train collisions between 2012 and 2017. Since 2018, 379 elephants died from electrocution, 80 from train accidents, 40 from poaching, and 25 from poisoning. 

The aim [of this thesis] is to create a safe haven for these gentle giants, protecting them and the environment that makes our planet unique. A holistic design approach can bridge our worlds, fostering understanding and shared living. Through architecture, we can create a space where humanity’s impact shifts from exploitation to harmonious coexistence. This thesis explores solutions for conserving Asiatic elephants in the West Bengal region of India focusing on one of the elephant corridors situated between the Apalchand forest and the Gorumara Wildlife Sanctuary, by designing a facility that serves as a refuge for elephants in need, inspiring, educating, and providing a research base for conservation. The goal is to enhance the well-being of these gentle giants with a holistic approach, creating a coexisting environment. This sanctuary aims to go beyond traditional conservation models, reviving the migration corridor and positively impacting both humans and elephants. 

This project received the M. Arch Thesis Commends.

Bio-Encapsulation by Justin Wolkenstein-Giuliano & Crystal Hope Giard, B. Arch ’24
Syracuse University | Advisors: Britt Eversole & Julie Larsen

Harmful freshwater and saltwater algae blooms, which are caused by phosphorous and nitrate from agricultural and wastewater runoff mixing with increasingly warm waters, constitute a widespread environmental crisis. As a response, architecture must develop environmentally responsible construction and innovate with novel materials. We propose that, in navigating ongoing ecological degradation from harmful algae blooms, we can develop a unique design language and material expression that captures problematic substances and redirects them toward literally constructive ends. 

Our design research explores the bio-material robotic fabrication possibilities that might arise from intervening in the environmental cycle of agricultural production, runoff, and algae growth. To give form to the formless and explore the aesthetics of the toxic, we built a prototype 3D algae printer that extracts algae from the environment and, using a proprietary admixture that we developed, redirects it to build novel architectural assemblies. Agricultural industries use a hydrogel called sodium polyacrylate to mitigate liquid runoff. When combined with liquid, this dry powder will absorb and expand, creating a gel. Our 3D printer makes use of existing sodium polyacrylate and existing toxic algae; when combined and then applied to sand mold formworks and allowed to cure, the algae hardens into three-dimensional forms and thin folded and warped surfaces. 

Our design research operates at a 1:1 scale, rather than analogs or models. In terms of size, we have managed to produce large-format components, approaching 3’-0” in length. However, the system, chemical combinations, and logic of manufacturing can scale up. The system we have created will serve to index a degrading ecology but also offer the possibility of creating a new cycle of pollution remediation and growth: one where design is not a solution to the toxicity of our world, but rather an opportunity to collaborate with toxins, resulting in a new formal language of bio-encapsulation.

Instagram: @syr_arch, @jmlarsen, @g_britt_eversole, @justinwg64

Saltscapes: Architectural Systems for Salt Reuse by Peiyu Luo & Shengxuan Yu, B. Arch ’24
Syracuse University | Advisors: Britt Eversole & Julie Larsen

Our design research investigates the many scales—local, regional, and continental—of the material and environmental economy of salt. Salt is both a naturally occurring and manmade substance that is entangled with the human environment. Salt is in and on our bodies and food. It is found in masonry, stucco, mortar, and cement. It is an essential substance in countless industries. Its most harmful application, however, is the massive amount of salt deployed on roads and highways during the winter to melt snow and prevent ice buildup. High concentrations of road salt circulate through the environment, leaching into the watershed where it harms plants and animals, especially amphibians.

Our project speculates on the role of architecture, infrastructure, and design in remediating the ongoing problem of salinization caused by road salt usage in the United States’s transportation infrastructure system. The salt used for wintertime road treatment is either extracted from mining or formed from the natural crystallization of salt flats. The enormous quantity of road salt used in the United States taps into a complex shipping network that moves salt around the Nation and even imports salt from multiple countries. Throughout the northeastern states, storage facilities for keeping and spreading the salt serve as the local nodes of this network, which underlines the architectural and infrastructural possibilities for intervening in this economy.

After visualizing the global and regional economies of salt, as well as the ways in which it reenters and pollutes local environments, we explored the possibility of building infrastructural interventions that would capture runoff and crystalize the road salt, making visible the enormous quantities of an otherwise invisible substance. We imagine occupying the medians of interstate freeways, where we would rebuild the architectural infrastructure of salt distribution and, more importantly, capture runoff and construct saltwater habitats. We explored different crystallization methods as well as substrates for the constructions, ultimately settling on engineered timber tetrapod units that could be structurally stacked or linked in predetermined geometric configurations, or piled and accumulated to create structures that rely on friction for their structural stability. Salt would accrue on the units and collect underneath them, while saltwater plant species would flourish and animals would take over other areas as habitats. However, given climate change, we project that the need for road salt will decrease as snowfall in the Northeast declines. Our project therefore has a lifespan of 50 to 100 years, by which time the wood units will decay, and the medians can return to being non-saline environments.

Lastly, we explored visualization strategies—using both physical and digital modeling—to represent the constantly forming and unforming state of the matter in construction. During the summer, the assemblies would largely be devoid of salt, whereas during the winter the medians would become saline environments, requiring us to develop particle-based drawing and modeling strategies that represent material and environmental change over time. Our final model assemblages and architecture drawings were created as a means of epitomizing all our research on salt, providing a detailed visualization connecting all the research information we found on road salt usage, and picturing a design response to our research subject.

This project won the Dean’s Citation for Excellence in Design.

Instagram: @syr_arch, @jmlarsen, @g_britt_eversole, @cass_peiyu

Stay tuned for Part XIII!

2024 Study Architecture Student Showcase - Part XI

/in , /by

Architecture and design can serve as avenues for storytelling. Part XI of the 2024 Study Architecture Student Showcase includes designs that express emotions, experiences, and concepts. From garments and cinema to a building that serves as the main character – each project tells a story.

The presented narratives convey the experiences of displacement, highlight marginalized voices, share themes of life, and detail the connections between time and the built environment.

No Place Like (No) Home: Architecture and Displacement through Storytelling by Meena Chowdhury, M. Arch ‘24
University of British Columbia | Advisor: Rana Abughannam

This thesis explored my mother’s story of displacement in an attempt to show that reconstructing architectural representation can help showcase underrepresented stories. While hearing my mother’s story, I realized that she had an interesting relationship with architecture and time. She was forcefully moved from place to place without ever knowing what was going to happen next, and she would always make changes to her space in order to adapt to her needs. The current way to represent architecture cannot capture this complex relationship between space and time. Architects need to develop new ways of representing the spaces that refugees live in and that highlight these temporal aspects.

I created a garment that incorporates elements of my mother’s story as a refugee as she verbally reported them to me, as well as visual representations of multiple places where she lived as a refugee. Using the fabric allowed me to experiment with this notion of time. When the garment folds, rotates or transitions, it recontextualizes the drawings on the garment. The garment transitions to different articles of clothing based on my mother’s transition to different locations. It helps show that, for a lot of people who are displaced, architecture is not anchored by site. Most people who are displaced do not know the context of the location they are currently in, and that is what happened to my mom. She didn’t go through the locations, rather the locations went through her. This garment rethinks architectural representation, as self is the site. Hopefully, this creation will open new doors on how to think about representation in architecture.

This project won the Abraham Rogatnick Book Prize.

Instagram: @chowdhury.projects, @ubcsala

When Words Become Worlds by Catherine Chattergoon & Angelina Widjaja, B. Arch ’24
Pratt Institute | Advisors: Cathryn Dwyre, Evan Tribus & Pierre Alexandre de Looz

“When Words Become Worlds” is a project that speaks to the potential for us to bring our interior lives into public space and center marginalized people and voices in shaping new futures, realities, and worlds through storytelling and language. We see a framework of learning and unlearning as the ways we reconnect to and understand our diasporic identities, ancestral knowledges, and (mother)land(s). Through this framework, public space becomes a living archive, both a place and a process that allows us to record ourselves and create spaces that are receptive to change, constructed from new forms of building and community, and begin to move us toward transformative possibilities for the future.

The capitalist society that we live in is embedded in privatization and reflects the vision and voice of those who are already in a position of power and privilege. Infecting our public spaces and educational institutions, the pervasiveness of privatization forces us to consume and conform to top-down knowledge and “truths,” becoming an obstacle to self-expression, creativity, and, ultimately, our ability to shape our own worlds. Given that the built environment has historically maintained privilege by censoring, surveilling, and policing to perpetuate the immobilization of the oppressed, how can storytelling and language become means through which people access design and architecture to transform their own environments and create a future shaped by love and community?

Our project is cyclical and intergenerational. It is a space to gather, to be entangled with the land and with each other, and to learn about ourselves and the world within our world and with others. It is a space to learn and unlearn, to touch and be touched, to perform and to listen, to be dirty and to be wet, to engrave and endure, and to be free and to love, to build upon and honor our untold histories. This project is a model and manifestation for the creation of public space and the built environment to be shaped by community members and collective values, where design becomes the means for people to have agency in making change.

This project won the Top Honors: 2023/2024 Degree Project Award.

Instagram: @angie.9800, @angiegmbr, @cchatter13, @pneumastudio, @pneumacat

joy! [as an act of resistance] by Harrison Lane, M. Arch ‘24
Carleton University | Advisor: Piper Bernbaum

The concept of joy, the feeling of joy and the experiences of it are something I am deeply interested in and I have this feeling that you all might be, too. I also have this feeling that as we are wading through it all [the wake of the pandemic, major social injustices, the world is on fire, my dog peed on the carpet, am I killing all the bees by not having wildflower gardens? Oh no, is there lactose in this?], it has become difficult to remain, or even want to be joy-full. Joy, fun, play, or even laughter are almost punk rock in their defiance of the weight of all other issues we collectively and individually shoulder. For thousands of years, joy has been dissected and interpreted, it has even had its existence denied, but joy is kind of like a morphing confusing cryptid, impossible to pin down and where every time you think you’ve really got a handle on it and attempt to capture its likeness, only a blurry photo akin to Sasquatch remains. 

So, my leather jacket-metal stud-teenage angst-loud music-sweeping bangs-esque response to this feeling is as such: What does joy look like while it resists? When it defies convention, plays with archetypes, and has fun with an idea? So I tried to answer that. I interpreted theories of joy as furniture, and made sure to feel joy as I built them. And then built a curriculum with the joy of learning and teaching at its core. 

My thesis is a reflection through a series of pointed questions about what joy truly and deeply means. It also examines joy through the conduit of resistance to show how it can manifest as furniture, a pedagogy, or maybe even a way of life. I wanted the culmination of my architectural education to be fun, to offer insights into big questions about seemingly simple things, and most of all, I wanted anyone who stumbles across it later to be so deeply moved that they have no choice but to inject joy as vigorously and recklessly into all that they do, just as I have.

Instagram: @hdslane, @piperb, @carleton_architecture

METAMORPHOSIS by Shaikha Al-Khazim, M. Arch ’24
Lawrence Technological University | Advisor: Masataka Yoshikawa

In selecting “The Epic of Gilgamesh” for this piece, I was drawn to its exploration of fundamental life themes, including mortality, friendship, and the intricate dynamics of the human-divine relationship. The narrative unfolds as a man ventures beyond the confines of his town in pursuit of profound insights into life and the inevitability of mortality. Throughout his odyssey, he grapples with a spectrum of emotions, ranging from the depths of loss and grief to the heights of happiness and victory.

Upon his return to the town, a transformative metamorphosis has occurred within him. The beliefs that once anchored him have undergone a profound shift. In essence, the epic serves as a poignant reflection on the inherent human struggle with mortality, underscoring the pivotal role of companionship in fostering personal growth and prompting contemplation on the nuanced boundaries that exist between mortals and the divine.

In translating these themes into visual art, I opted for abstract shapes to symbolize the complexity of emotions encountered throughout the journey. The careful selection of colors serves to visually articulate the intricate interplay between these nuanced emotions, thereby encapsulating the rich essence of Gilgamesh’s narrative.

This project received the Lawrence Technological University Dean’s Award.

Instagram: @shaikha.alkhazim, @masataka.yoshikawa

Other Time Land by Leming (Michael) Jin, B.S in Architecture ’24
Washington University in St. Louis | Advisor: Zahra Safaverdi

The project “Other Time Land” unfolds in a remote Texhoma crop circle, housing seven characters in a microcosm detached from conventional time and space. Their lives center on agricultural and architectural production, intertwined with individual roles and diverse perceptions. Through the contextual model, the narrative explores collective understanding amid subjective interpretations. It delves into the complexities of human existence, navigating the realms of history, culture, and the meaning of collective life. Over three distinct eras, from functionality to formalism and nostalgia, the project reflects on human interaction with the environment, culminating in a monument to the enduring struggle between humanity and nature.

This project was featured in the YES Show at Washington University in St. Louis.

Prosthetic Mountain by David Paraschiv & Oriol Grana Garriga, B. Arch ’24
Pratt Institute | Advisors: Jonathan Scelsa & Jason Vigneri-Beane

Meet Trevor, the Olympic infrastructure that knows he won’t always be the star. Unlike the previous models of Olympic development, which attempted to redefine the city but ended up only reusing existing infrastructure, Trevor performs an architectural photobomb. Through association with the Hollywood sign, he casts himself as a character into LA’s catalog of landmarks. Trevor is many things: mascot, stadium, tower, mountain, monument, icon, landmark, camera, torch, cat, bat, owl, spider, octopus, and monster. As Trevor’s tensile tent shifts to shade one of three events on the mountain, pistons morph his tent body into the mascot for that event.

        Over a century ago, Mt. Lee’s peak was shaved off to construct Los Angeles’ first television broadcast tower. We propose to restore the peak with this prosthetic infrastructure. As a prosthetic, Trevor not only restores the peak but also serves as an opportunity to create a landscape that accommodates both non-standard bodies and wildlife. For this reason, Trevor has been designed with the Paralympics having priority over the standard event. Access is not just enabled but maximized through funiculars, gondolas, ramps, elevators, and cherry pickers. These infrastructural elements become the very means of Trevor’s ultimate performance, his retirement. Sports courts are released and sent rolling down the funicular tracks, eventually becoming public infrastructure for the neighborhoods below. During this act of pulling, Trevor’s skin is torn open, allowing the elements into the stadium. At this point, Trevor’s hyper-artificial hot pink and electric yellow skin begins to reveal its true nature, with its dust-collecting tendrils starting to build material on the surface. As the seasons pass, this material is fertilized by the fauna of Mt. Lee’s subnature, eventually camouflaging the structure with the mountain. In this act, Trevor becomes a new kind of monument, one that isn’t afraid to embrace fragility as a means of new life.

This project received Degree Project Top Honors, the Michael Hollander Drawing Award (section), and the ModelMaker Prize Second Place.

Instagram: @otterfruit, @ori6g, @oparchland, @jcvb_split

Narrative Architecture: Framing a Fleeting World by Sam Sabzevari, M. Arch ’24
Toronto Metropolitan University | Advisor: Marco L. Polo

Narrative-making is the human ability to imagine, modify, and question myths, dreams, and desires; evolving cyclical journeys of challenging the present to draw a future. For a fleeting world, every creative production of an era responds to its grand narrative until it escalates to a time where the exchange of ideas moves faster than those who produce them. Landing on the age of the circuit, this thesis looks at a narrative shaped around incalculable reproductions mediating the world of human performative modes of operation and the algorithmic atmosphere of digital exchange. The Caravanserai, introduced as a narrative architecture typology from the age of the wheel, forms the architectural basis of a contemporary reading that can be applied to the age of the circuit. Established on experimental prompts of developing a narrative architecture, the new reading of the environment is described as a vessel among a place of exchange, a home, and an archive meant to be interpreted as open threads of making spatial scenarios. Appearing in sequences of experimental investigations on architectural scenarios throughout this document, prompts of a narrative architecture are explored and as an outcome of overlaying prompts of narrative architecture, Poetics of the Digital proposes a series of architectural prepositions that can become tools of architectural storytelling. Giving overall clues of what each tool can be, the verbal references to prepositions open them up to interpretations and form a new system of interpreting any space to any story. But how can a system break down its logic and genetically evolve into another story? The answer remains in human interpretation. 

The thesis ends with a gamified version of the poetics of the Digital, offered as abstract pieces of architectural storytelling to players of the game. Every person reads and interprets in their own way, shaping their world of understanding. Translating the game outcomes into drawings shows how each has already begun to become another story. This is the essence of the postmodern fleeting world, contemporary narratives coming from any place by anyone, about anything, all at the same time. 

Instagram: @sami_sabz, @dastorontomet

NOSTALGHIA DRIVE-IN: RESURRECTING MEMORIES by Elvis Castaneda, Jesus Nava & Opec Hynds, B. Arch ’24
Arizona State University | Advisor: Julia Lopez

Our journey into the heart of Andrei Tarkovsky’s “Nostalghia” has been transformative, resonating deeply with its exploration of nostalgia, isolation, and spiritual yearning. Through meticulous analysis of Tarkovsky’s cinematography, set design, and narrative techniques, we have unearthed profound inspiration for our architectural endeavor.

Tarkovsky’s masterful use of camera movements—his sweeping panoramas capturing the vast Italian landscapes and intimate interiors bathed in soft light—has guided our design philosophy. Just as Tarkovsky’s camera delicately navigates the emotional terrain of his characters, our architectural concept embraces the poetic essence of “Nostalghia.”

The film’s portrayal of dilapidated structures amidst timeless landscapes has become the cornerstone of our vision for revitalization. By reimagining a historic drive-in theater, we honor its cultural legacy while invigorating it as a vibrant community hub. Inspired by Tarkovsky’s subdued color palettes and symbolic imagery, our choice of materials and spatial compositions embodies a narrative that resonates with both the past and the future.

Our project is more than mere architectural intervention; it is a testament to the enduring power of storytelling through built environments. It seeks to foster not only physical renewal but also a profound sense of connection, belonging, and renewal among community members. Like Gorchakov in Tarkovsky’s narrative, we embark on a journey of exploration and discovery, guided by the spirit of nostalgia and the quest for meaning in a fragmented world.

In embracing “Nostalghia” as our muse, we endeavor to create spaces that transcend functionality, resonating deeply with the human condition and offering a sanctuary for reflection and contemplation. This is not just architecture; it is a testament to the timeless dialogue between cinema and built form, where each brick and beam tells a story of longing and hope.

This project won the TDS Design Excellence award.

Instagram: @ec.garcia6, @_opec_

The Production of Time: An Architectural Time Machine by Naim Zgheib, B. Arch ’24
American University of Beirut | Advisor: Sinan Hassan

How can one design an architectural time machine or one that deliberately produces time in its multiplicity?

  1. What are the dimensions of time as related to a built construct and their implications on the latter?
  2. How can one quantify, represent, visualize, and design the time-space?
  3. What architectural elements, languages and/or tectonics could best serve this discourse?

This architectural research delves into the captivating relationship between time and architecture. Drawing from theories such as Einstein’s relativity and Rovelli’s “The Order of Time”, it aims to explore the intricate connections between time and the built environment.

The study begins by investigating various theories of time, from ancient philosophies to contemporary scientific understandings, establishing a comprehensive foundation. By examining time as both a subjective experience and a measurable entity, this project seeks to merge the abstract and tangible. The research explores the application of phase space equations and algorithms in architectural design (which represent dynamic systems mathematically). By analyzing the temporal dynamics of spaces, it seeks novel temporal experiences within the built environment. The 8-dimensional phase space becomes the new representation of time in architecture.

The intent is to hypothesize an architecture that deliberately produces time to achieve ultimate timefulness, thus timelessness, engulfing the entire phase space. The design phase serves as the practical manifestation of the research, proposing architectural interventions that embody the theories, equations, and concepts explored. Through innovative design strategies, such as temporal layering and dynamic spatial configurations, this project seeks to redefine the relationship between architecture and time.

“The Production of Time” aims to build on the architectural implications of time, inspiring architects to reconsider the temporal dimensions of their creations deliberately and intentionally. In this eternal dance between architecture and time, let us leave an indelible mark upon the world—a beacon of our profound understanding of the temporal, and our unwavering dedication to the art of sculpting time as matter.

This project was the 3rd Place Winner of the Areen Projects Award for Excellence in Architecture. 

Instagram: @ard_aub

{in}Visible Maintenance by Daniel Wong, M. Arch ’24
University of Toronto | Advisor: Carol Moukheiber

Nothing lasts nor endures; instead, trends come and quickly fall into obsolescence. We pursue objects that offer immediate satisfaction, producing more and more to fuel a system that trends toward overconsumption and boredom. {in}Visible Maintenance provides an alternative vision somewhere in between the speculative, the surreal, and the plausible—a resistance to our valuation of existing buildings. Drawing is used to unravel the everyday maintenance, cleaning, and repair of buildings, highlighting their palimpsest history of time, age, and care work.

{in}Visible Maintenance poses the question: What if the durability of a building could be chronographed as a fundamental element of everyday design? Imagine a shift where we prioritize celebrating the natural process of decay, favouring robustness and heightened flexibility over the current economic model of superficial environmental posturing.

Through a speculative collection of drawings, a series of building parts, components, and systems—when assembled—creates a radical eclecticism around the buildings we maintain. These drawings are bound to the imaginary and convey a polemic reality based on the everyday, memory, age, place, change, and the virtues we associate with the buildings we inhabit. The shifting drawings and methods of representation are used to reframe, shift, and provoke a new paradigm and aesthetic that celebrates and accepts our existing aging built environment. Finding pleasure and discovery through the dilapidated, the strange, and the ordinary.

Instagram: @Danielw.dwg, @uoftdaniels

An Architectural Bargain: Games of Requit by Daniela Liang, B. Arch ’24
University of Southern California | Advisor: Eric Haas

The incorporation of intentional error is not novel. From the works of Borromini to those of MVRDV, linear perspective and visual perception of form and geometry have become tools for manipulating perceived reality. The intentional design of error, or the trick, is a productive language for exercising viewer agency. By creating an opportunity for the viewer to engage in an investigative experience, the trick becomes a game-like negotiation of reality within architecture. 

The result of these visual tricks creates privileged views and abstract reality where the uncovering of truth becomes enriching to the viewer’s understanding of the architecture. The project is the analysis of how these architectural deceptions can create different states of immersion between the viewer and the design. A game-like experience is proposed by the various ways “error” can be used as productive confrontation. Four self-contained sites of “error” immersion are created, displaying different applications of design deception: encounter, investigation, absorption, and co-existence. 

This project won the Raymond S. Kennedy Creative Innovation Award – Methodology

Instagram: @dandeliang

Front Veiled, Back Revealed by Sacha Azzi, B. Arch ’24
American University of Beirut | Advisors: Rana Haddad & Makram El Kadi

The architecture of this project stands as a demonstrative device of activism and empowerment. It is an architecture that is temporary yet timeless, standing tall around a social plaza of one of Beirut’s last agricultural gardens in the area of Mar Mikhael. This new typology creates a new ecosystem in a circular motion, a loop for change that aims to install an agency of political culture through the built form, a design for activists, an architecture of expression, a space of experimentation and a culture of democracy.

It is an incubator space that serves as both an incubator and an expression.

By integrating activism principles into its core the architecture evolves into an entity that educates, motivates and mobilizes individuals. It fosters conversations, encourages community involvement and raises awareness while serving as a supporter and facilitator of endeavors. The design features spatial arrangements and material selections, meticulously chosen to mirror and advance movements through methods of inclusivity efforts or by providing areas for protests and gatherings. This innovative architectural approach not only provides spaces for activists but also actively participates in activism through its design and purpose. It aims to challenge norms that incite thoughts and influence actions turning the built environment into a force for change. The structure serves as a tool that engages with people and the environment embodying activism motivating change and supporting change. This new approach highlights how buildings can play a role in advocating for social justice, equality and environmental conservation by enhancing the influence of activism, through their presence.

Within this thesis’s extensive and thorough research, we can conclude that architecture can serve as an agency for political culture, both programmatically and spatially. Firstly, by blending different users on site, and secondly, by standing as temporary architecture—a harmless yet powerful loop of change, with buildings shaped by their users and reshaped by these buildings again—a completion of form and function.

Instagram: @ard_aub

Stay tuned for Part XII!

2024 Study Architecture Student Showcase - Part III

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Welcome to Part III of the 2024 Study Architecture Student Showcase! Today’s installment answers the question: “How can architecture serve as an avenue to celebrate and preserve cultural heritage and history?”

The award-winning student work below highlights various ways to honor history and culture. Innovative methods include using indigenous construction to promote ecotourism, illuminating transient Holocaust sites using artifacts and survivor testimonials, multi-modal exhibitions, and more. These projects also include diverse subject matters ranging from an exploration of the history of Toronto’s Caribbean Carnival to analyzing North and South Native American artifacts.

The Making of Mas’: Archiving Toronto’s Caribana by Jasmine Sykes, M. Arch ‘24
University of Toronto | Advisor: Jeannie Kim

Toronto’s Caribbean Carnival, originally known as Caribana, is an event that transforms architecture and urban experience through communication, performance, and social exchange. Originally a one-off parade for Expo ’67, Caribana has become North America’s largest cultural festival. Caribana’s impact extends beyond Toronto, with a geographic, economic, and spatial impact that is global in scale. The festival’s growth has prompted a shift in its traditions, raising concerns about its distancing from Caribbean roots. These concerns are reflected in the lack of an archive documenting Caribana’s history. This thesis advocates for the preservation and understanding of Caribana’s cultural and spatial legacy in Toronto.

Instagram: @jasmine_sykes

A Journey from Ancient Roots to Modern Revelations: Designing a Coptic Orthodox Museum & Cultural Sanctuary in the heart of Washington DC by Yostina Yacoub, M. Arch ’24
Temple University | Advisor: Prof. Sally Harrison

This thesis explores the reinterpretation of traditional Coptic architecture within the context of a contemporary museum, memorial, and community hub in the heart of Washington DC. The project aims to bridge the knowledge gap between Pharaonic Egypt and modern-day Egypt, illustrating the cultural, religious, and political shifts that have shaped the nation while narrating the story of the Copts, the indigenous people of Egypt.

Furthermore, it aims to honor the 21st-century Coptic martyrs and shed light on global Coptic persecution, serving as an educational platform for both the Coptic Diaspora and the general public, highlighting the Coptic Orthodox community’s history, faith, art, architectural heritage, and contributions.

Instagram: @yostinay

Nayala: Cultivating Architectural Memory and Identity by Ryan Saidi, M. Arch ‘24
The Catholic University of America | Advisor: Ana Maria Roman Andrino

This thesis unveils earthen chambers of memory, reflection, and hope, shaping the city’s trajectory towards renewal. In Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, co­lonialism led to architectural amnesia, obscuring precolonial heritage. The city now seeks a revival, a vibrant hub of memory to reclaim lost architec­tural forms for a sustainable future. Nayala emerges as this sanctuary, bridging buried traditions with emerging dreams. 

This thesis was one of three to be placed on the University’s final Super Jury.

The Museum Remembering North and South Native Americans by Kelly Locklear, Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture ’24
NC State University | Advisor: Patricia Morgado

The Museum Remembering North and South Native Americans is located in the small town of Pembroke, NC, land of the Lumbee Tribe. The Museum holds a collection of Native American artifacts from both North and South America gathered from the Smithsonian Museum. Two artifacts are of particular interest: 

– A Dugout Canoe: made by the Lumbee tribe. The entire community comes together to carve the canoe from a burnt tree. My people used canoes such as this to travel the Lumber River and to hunt fish. 

– A Totem: made by the Tlingit Kiks.ádi Clan in southeast Alaska, used as a symbol to commemorate those lost in the 1804 Battle of Sitka. 

It was important to approach the design taking into consideration the meaning of these artifacts as well as the best conditions to view and interact with them. 

For Native American cultures, earth and sky are sacred. There are main two elements: 1) mass, representing the earth from which spaces, niches, and openings to view the artifacts are carved, and 2) plane, representing the sky, used to bound the space and transform light. To externalize the spiritual qualities of the sky to this culture, the interior of space is oriented along the astronomical north. The roof is split; one part retains the orientation of the town’s grid (N-S) while the other aligns with the astronomical north. 

As the visitor approaches the entrance from the town, they are offered views into the museum through openings on the east façade. Visitors enter the museum through a vertical slit in the mass and step on a floating platform. Upon entering, they abandon the orientation of the town grid to experience the spiritual orientation of Native Americans. They are offered a view of the main pieces of the collection, the Totem and the Dugout Canoe, but cannot access them until they enter below. The path leads visitors to the final space, one of reflection of the Native American cultures and from where they can have a full view of the Totem as well as of the Lumber River where dugout canoes have been used for centuries.

This project won the 2024 AIA Triangle Student Design Award.

Instagram: @locklear.design, @patriciamorgadomaurtua

Spirit of Place through Material and Cultural Lifecycles in Ghardaïa by Sarah El Ouazzani, M. Arch ’24
McGill University | Advisor: Alan Dunyo Avorgbedor

Among dunes and oases, the vast desert spans 33% of the Earth’s surface. Within this expanse lies Ghardaïa—a city where architecture unfolds in harmony with the unhurried rhythm of the Algerian Sahara in North Africa, embodying the essence of slow architecture through its lifecycle properties. Here, the rhythms of nature and culture shape the spirit of the built environment, ensuring that architectural design blends harmoniously with its surroundings and nurtures a sustainable ethos benefitting both the community and the landscape.

The Mozabite community thrives through an architectural approach rooted in eco-centric principles, where the lifecycle properties of local materials and cultural practices seamlessly intertwine amidst Ghardaïa’s landscape. Influenced by this unique ecological environment, its architectural essence produces a unique phenomenological dimension. It fosters a distinctive cultural atmosphere that profoundly influences both the body and the mind, shaping communal existence and creating an authentic local spirit of place.

This project seeks to reclaim cultural and sustainable landscapes, transcending conceptual design to express the unique relationship between material lifecycles, culture, and embodiment in Ghardaïa. Through a multi-modal exhibitionary approach, this project curates embodied culture, crafts, and material lifecycles of the Ghardaïa natural and built environment alongside original audiovisual documentation and situated experience within an immersive installation. 

In The Forest, Don’t Touch Anything by Sarah Turkenicz, MLA ’24
University of Toronto | Advisor: Liat Margolis

This thesis is about the transient history of Jews who sought refuge in the forests across Eastern Europe during the Holocaust. Unlike urban post-Holocaust sites, this history lacks enduring, tangible infrastructure and artifacts. In the forest, concealment was paramount, and any disruption of the natural environment posed an existential threat. Embedded within an evolving landscape, the remnants that do exist today are undocumented, unprotected and disappearing. Through conducting primary research of physical remnants and oral testimonials of the last living survivors, this thesis illuminates the transient nature of Holocaust sites, reshaping our perception of them not as mere collections of features, but recognizing them as landscapes.

This project won the Daniels Faculty Graduation Award – Heather M. Reisman Gold Medal in Design. The Gold Medal is awarded to the graduating student demonstrating exceptional achievement in design in architecture, landscape architecture, or urban design. It was also, submitted to the 2024 ASLA student awards.

Instagram: @uoftdaniels

Notes on a Conjectural Form* by Peihao Jin & Zamen Lin, B. Arch ’24
Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI_Arc) | Advisor: Russell N. Thomsen

History, as we know it, is only one of many facts. Our thesis perceives history as non-linear, where there is no singular cause and effect, but a field of multiple possible interpretations. Each site therefore exists not purely in its present moment but contains an accumulation of its histories, a compounding of its past, present and future. Histories, not history. Absences, not just presence. The site of Estonia’s Tartu Cultural Center today exists as petrified pieces of something old and a living piece of something Other. Akin to a palimpsest, it comprises the memories of what once existed but also the embalming of the living present. 

Our thesis proposes selecting, reading, interpreting, integrating and mediating traces embedded beyond existing contextual conditions. Aspects of excavated histories are conflated and manipulated to form a complex ecology of systems, suggesting possibilities for organization, form and tectonics. Steering clear from the literal reconstruction of history, the registration of selected histories produces a series of local reactions that inflect and deform the whole. Histories registered here are not of symbolic significance but one of multiple non-sign readings, where the sign and signified no longer exist in one-to-one relationships. This heterogeneity enables the architecture to enter into multiple relationships that refuse to settle into fixed nor stable hierarchies; an uneasy whole.

*The suggestion or reconstruction of a reading of a text not present in the original source

Instagram: @rntarch, @peihao_jin, @zamenlmh

Reviving the Lao Vernacular: Preserving Culture through Floating Communities by Juliana Viengxay, B. Arch ’24
Kennesaw State University | Advisor: M. Saleh Uddin

The goal of this project is to strengthen a community through a series of cultural activities coexisting with nature with treehouses, houseboats, and a community center through ecotourism in Laos. There has always been floating communities on land and water due to the amount of rainfall and monsoons from May to October. With a strong focus on elements such as material, form, and structure while preserving the local culture. [This project aims] to improve the economic well-being of the indigenous people while fostering symbiotic links between visitors and the land while educating tourists about the culture.

Analyzing the indigenous way of construction to understand the complexities of Laos architecture. The proposal to utilize the ease of construction is heavily emphasized with a series of connections of tied bamboo, and steel nodes. The proposal combines increased efficiency, and maintaining cultural authenticity. Research methods to support the objectives of this project is through site analysis, existing case studies, and design testing to make proper design decisions.  

The project promotes skill-sharing with weaving classes and the development of craft markets and supports the existing floating market to strengthen community engagement with Lao culture. This innovative ecotourism project embraces immersive experiences and ecological methods in an effort to rebuild indigenous communities understanding their way of living. The idea behind the project is to design treehouses that in the forests and boathouses that are rooted in rivers while increasing engagement.

This project won First Place in the KSU Architecture Thesis Competition in 2024. 

Mercado Urbano, Tierra y Raíz by Andrea Lomelí Ruiz, B. Arch ’24
Universidad Anáhuac Querétaro | Advisors: Alfonso Galván & Jorge Javier

This architectural project aims to redefine not only the physical landscape but also the very fabric of the community. This integral market is presented as a beacon that illuminates the possibilities of empowering and renewing the social and solidarity economy in this remote environment. 

Based on the tradition, identity, character and history rooted in every corner of Cadereyta, this project emerges as an architectural manifestation that seeks to re-establish harmony with the territory and connect with the rich history that defines this locality. 

Awareness, respect for the environment and history are the foundations that enable this market to become a visible and locatable symbol, an urban node that links service properties through interaction. 

This integrated market is not only a transaction centre; it is an architectural response to the importance of local consumption and its benefits. It is a reminder that to truly get to know a city, one must explore its markets, understand the stories that weave through its aisles and connect with the people who pass through them. 

At its core, this project seeks to restore the population’s connection to its origins, re-establishing harmony with the territory and connecting with the rich history of Cadereyta de Montes and reconnecting with its roots.

Instagram: @andrea.lomelir, @arqwave, @arquitectura_anahuac

Stay tuned for Part IV!