#aiachi

Project Description

This thesis project involves the historic preservation and adaptive reuse of an early 20th century warehouse building located in the historic Third Ward district of Milwaukee into a thriving artists’ gallery and community.

The focus of the project is to incorporate modern and contemporary materials, specifically structural glass elements, into the existing historic building. Oftentimes, architects add new additions or features to existing buildings that are often distracting and attract attention away from the existing building and its vernacular beauty. The proposed design would be clearly contemporary in nature so as not to be confused with original historic work and the transparency of all-glass structures to allow historic solid materials to dominate and the true visual beauty of the historic work to resonate strongly. A new and exciting architecture can emerge as a result of the stark contrast between these very light, clear, modern and ephemeral design elements and the historic solid architecture.

Project Description

(TRUST)

Telugu for Trust….”complete confidence in a person or plan “The doctor-patient relationship is based on trust.”

In 2015, Joanna Paidipamula was living with her family in Akkireddigudem, India. She contracted an acute form of tonsillitis and needed immediate medical care which was over an hour away. She was stabilized at the hospital but passed days later. She left behind her husband Sunder and two children, Avadh and Anaya, whom I visited in their village last October. In recent years, medical centers are being constructed within India in response to shortages. These newly constructed spaces address the needs of the people, however, many medical centers are designed by doctors who don’t consider the patient experience.

Spaces innately affect occupants physically, emotionally and spiritually. Without being mindful of these effects, spaces can cause fractured experiences when they are designed in ways that reflect the opposite of their intentions. Medical centers near the village of Akkireddigudem, India, provide essential healthcare, yet the designs of these spaces don’t reflect the sense of trust that their services intend to create. Rather, these spaces often create an added sense of uncertainty which can lead to visitor apprehension or distrust. The result of this thesis will be the construction of the Joanna Memorial Center in Akkireddigudem, India, which seeks to imbue trust through its gridded plan, the arugu, the haven, layered screens, authentic material, and shaded roof that encourages the seeking of its services for the immediate and surrounding villages.

Link to PDF of Drawings: LINK

Project Description

This thesis seeks to create a new type of single family home, the form of which has many possible solutions and variations, all using one modular, unitized CLT box. With these units there are 6 different faces, and 6 different orientations it can take on, each of these having their own rules, consequences, and feedback. The orientation dictates the movement, size and quality of space, and openings for access and views. The aggregation of multiple units further demonstrates this: continuous open space, a series of smaller spaces, grouped programming, and horizontal and vertical movement between them.

These units accept a number of modules, with numerous locations and configurations. The selection and placement of these prescribed service modules further defines the uniqueness of each unit box’s arrangement and configuration. These modules come with their own sets of rules, and, in turn, more limits to address. The modules can: limit or allow views or movement into or between the units, and they provide essential services like heating, cooling, plumbing, ventilation, and electricity. The selection and placement of each module further defines the uniqueness of each unit box’s arrangement and configuration. These modules are all additive to the unit box, and the unit box itself cannot be altered.

Link to PDF of Drawings: LINK

Project Description

Link to PDF of Drawings: LINK

Project Description

Speckled in the Pacific Ocean lay the 9 small atolls of Tuvalu. With the lagoon to the west and the ocean to the east, the thinnest slice of land on the main island of Funafuti is less than 30 feet wide. The lagoon, ocean, and rain splash and settle into pools of water on the land, sand lightly coats the street, and waste has nowhere to go but upward as it becomes intertwined with the ground. As sea level continues to rise by an average of 3.9 mm per year, the blur between land, water, and its relationship to living species is strikingly apparent.

A Tale of Water, Waste, and Human Trace is a collection of artifacts that explore ways in which natural processes and human trace interact. It questions how architecture can reveal and respond to already existing phenomena instead of preventing opposing conditions from meeting. It calls to attention processes that are already occurring all around us, and conveys ways in which we interact and can adapt with them.

Models were created from found objects and materials that documented and explored the existing conditions that I observed in Funafuti, Tuvalu. They became the basis for the creation of 5 fantastical interventions that respond to these existing conditions. The interventions are entitled Eroding Matter, Floating Gardens, This Way Around, Garbage No More, and Illuminating Sprouts. Each intervention reveals, anticipates or adapts to various processes of reclamation of the “natural” world and anthropogenic impact.