Graduate Thesis Proposal:

   The architectural master’s degree thesis requirement at Roger Williams University was to create a project to help revitalize a depressed city. There is no greater asset for a community then its teens and young adults who must find employment opportunities within the city if the city is to grow and prosper. I chose the City of Camden from my home state of New Jersey. I wanted a way for the city’s disenfranchised students to be motivated. My research of alternative creative settings in Boston, Ireland, and Philadelphia, with my investigation of the Maker Movement coalesced into what I designed for Camden, NJ and named The Workbench, an alternative educational facility, maker space equipped and educationally focused on developing employable skills and entrepreneurial spirits. To accomplish the established goal the project focuses on students’ artistic and creative abilities enhancing and merging these talents with craftsmanship to develop artisans with desirable and marketable skills.

Project Statement:

   The design of a community meeting and educational facility that brings the community together to plan a common vision towards revitalization with a focus on supporting educational and employment opportunities for the youth of the community who are its future. Spaces are designed to enhance the development of artistic talents and spaces where those talents can be applied in the development of skills to enhance the educational and employment prospects of inner city teens, young adults, and adults in need of retraining.

   To use my Architectural Skills, art and science, form and function, to create efficient and effective areas well suited to the intended uses of each space, housing the environment in a creative yet responsibly sustainable structure bringing positive attention to the site attracting participants to the cause; students, teachers, and supporters.

   Architecture through its use of form and function is an ideal component in urban revitalization. This project demonstrates architecture’s value through the planning of a facility that will inspire community pride and draw diverse community stakeholders together to collaborate toward a common vision within spaces designed to inspire problem solving, creativity and skill development.

Programs Used:

AutoCad

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe InDesign

Google SketchUp

Rhino

Project Statement:

   This comprehensive studio project was to design all aspects of a performance arts center in Zurich, Switzerland including structure, material, enclosure, lighting, mechanical, and support systems to produce a fully feasible set of construction documents. Internal creative workspaces, some dedicated and some adaptable, were provided for students pursuing the art of music, dance, or film. Placing the program partially below grade limited intrusion on the park’s environment and enhanced thermal control. The utilization of an above grade two-channeled glass façade transformed the building’s appearance between day and night using external natural light and internal lighting. My transformative design created a new focal point along the Lake Zurich Promenade that leads through the park into the city.

Programs Used:

Autodesk AutoCAD

Autodesk Maya

Autodesk Revit

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe InDesign

Project Statement:

   This advanced design studio project was focused on using today's modern modeling programs (Autodesk Maya and Mudbox) to create a proposal for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art on Pier 33 in San Francisco, California. The form studies and digital models included designs for a theater, permanent exhibition space, temporary exhibition space, and an exterior park space.

Programs Used:

Autodesk AutoCAD

Autodesk Maya

Autodesk Mudbox

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe InDesign

Project Statement:

   This project was a design proposal for an addition to Nelson Bayardo's Columbario in Montevideo, Uruguay, the above ground burial chambers of the public cemetery. This design studio focused on traditional practices of displaying design proposals through hand drawings, diagrammatic models, paper models, and drawdels.

* Blog with entries logging the design process

Tools Used:

Hand Drawings

Watercolor

Plaster Models

Paper Models

Drawdels

Project Statement:

An Institute for Fine and Liberal Arts at Palazzo Rucellai, Florence, Italy study abroad program exercise. The focus was to design a new Library and Cultural Center for the University of Florence within Piazza Brunelleschi. The design needed to and compliment and blend with the surrounding context of the site as well as facilitate the cultural based needs of student life in Florence, Italy. Much of the process consisted of exploring and studying the architectural styles found within the city of Florence and re-expressing those features in a new modern design.

Programs Used:

Autodesk Revit

Adobe Photoshop

Project Statement:

   For this design project Roger Williams University needed a new  “…‘Creative Arts Centre’ that will be the recognized center for interdisciplinary studies and the development of the ideas & values that the University promotes throughout its programs breadth. The ‘Creative Arts Centre’ needs to be able to facilitate a broad array of interdisciplinary studies and be able to present them to the campus community & invited regional, national and world communities.” This project required spaces of varying size to accommodate any platform of creative expression as well as provide traditional educational amenities for student and faculty use.

Programs Used:

Autodesk Revit

Autodesk AutoCAD

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe InDesign

Project Statement:

   This project was a design proposal for a new shuttle bus terminal for Roger Williams University. “The Terminal will provide sheltered & weather-protected passenger waiting areas monitored by a manned dispatch center during operating hours. Shuttle bus administration offices & driver lounge will be accommodated in addition to a vehicle garage ‘that may be expanded in future’.” Because the setting was seen as a ‘gateway’ to the campus, the University desired a comprehensive site development plan including environmental and landscaping details.

Programs Used:

Autodesk Revit

Autodesk AutoCAD

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe InDesign

Project Statement:

   This project was a design proposal for an Assisted Living Home in Tokyo, Japan. The design needed to be a structure based on building systems that were being studied at the time. In particular, the design was a building mainly utilizing a system of CMU bearing walls, concrete planks and a rain screen.

“This project also focuses on utilizing the Seven Principles of Universal design that were developed in 1997. They are as follows:

1. Equitable Use The design is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities.

2. Flexibility in Use The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities.

3. Simple and Intuitive Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the user’s experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level.

4. Perceptible Information The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions or the user’s sensory abilities.

5. Tolerance for Error The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions.

6. Low Physical Effort The design can be used efficiently and comfortably with a minimum of fatigue

7. Size and Space for Approach and Use Appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation and use, regardless of the user’s body size, posture, or mobility.”

Programs Used:

Autodesk Revit

Autodesk AutoCAD

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe InDesign

Project Statement:

   For this assignment, the project was to design an urban townhouse in Boston, Massachusetts. There were two main objectives to this problem:

“1. To design a multi-unit dwelling that conforms to all aspects of ADA requirements.

2. To design a structure that incorporates a bearing wall structural system.”

In addition, this project focused on an urban setting with closely spaced dwelling units and a very defined localized, Boston, context. This project focused on carefully considering ways to have light enter the units and to provide screening for sunlight, particularly when it enters from the south or west.

Programs Used:

Autodesk Revit

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe InDesign

Project Statement:

   This design project focused on the use of heavy timber construction and exploration into the design characteristics of a barn-house style residence and Western, US design features. Located in Westport, Massachusetts the design focused on the importance of building placement and overall landscape design on the site, “… to investigate the notion of architecture as a subtractive process and/or an additive process by carving into or adding onto a basic barn motif.”

Programs Used:

Autodesk Revit

Adobe Photoshop