2. “It’s the questions we can’t answer that teach us the most. They
teach us how to think. If you give a man an answer, all he gains
is a little fact. But give him a question and he’ll look for his
own answers.” -Patrick Rothfuss
As a student, I am learning to ask the unanswerable questions that will push my
design endeavors farther.
3. THESIS PROJECT
Cape Town Civic Tower
PRIOR PROJECTS
Chicago Studio - Cermak Axis
Roanoke Building Museum
Blacksburg Middle School
Blacksburg Graduation Hall
Japanese Apartment
OTHER WORK
Sketches
Photography
Constructed Drawings
CONTENTS
5
11
17
21
23
25
27
29
31
4. CAPE TOWN CIVIC TOWERTHESIS:
The goal of the three
dimensional city is the
complete dissolution of
the ground plane. This is
not to say that everything
should simply be moved
up and into skyscrapers,
but that the public realm
should be so evenly
distributed in space that
ascertaining the original
ground level is impossible.
In a sense, ground level
becomes nowhere and
everywhere at once. It
becomes relative to the
observer.
My thesis examines this
new typology through the
program of a civic tower in
Cape Town, South Africa,
set in the year 2076. The
site was chosen due to the
juxtaposition of mountain
and sea, creating a upper
and lower reference
point for a city that has
none. Additionally, Cape
Town was chosen due
to the low to mid rise
buildings, which create
the possibility, that as
the city grows taller and
more dense, the idea
of connecting all the
buildings at multiple levels,
and with public transit,
could be realized.
The civic tower takes
6 programs that are
typically sprawling low rise
buildings and distributes
them in a vertical
arrangement, creating
three towers and three
crossover spaces. The
5. 5
WORKCURRENT
programs were split
into these categories
based on the need
for light and the size
of individual spaces
in the program. The
transit fills one of the
crossovers, halfway
up the tower, and
the elevators exist in
the interstitial space
between the towers.
Far Left: aerial views
of Cape Town
Center Top, The site
as it is today
Center Bottom: The
site in 2076, with my
project
Far Right: Googl
Street View of the Site
6. CAPE TOWN CIVIC TOWERTHESIS:
LIBRARY
LIBRARY
MUSEUM
MUSEUM
TRANSIT
TRANSIT
THEATRE GYM
GYM
TSCHOOL
SCHOOL
M
U
S
E
U
M
THEATRE
THEATRE GYM
TRANSIT
S
C
H
O
O
L
L
I
B
R
A
R
Y
EXISTING CITY TYPOLOGY
PROPOSED CITY TYPOLOGY
Left: Parti Diagram of
the current iteration. The
school library and museum
are arrayed vertically,
while the gym, transit,
and theatre are arrayed
horizontally.
Bottom Left: typical
configurations today. Short
long buildings that take up
a lot of ground area.
7. 7
WORKCURRENT
Center Top: The City
as it is today
Center Bottom: The
city as with ground
dissolved, circa
2076
Right: Massing
models from
throughout the
semester
8. CAPE TOWN CIVIC TOWERTHESIS:
Left: SectionElevation of
the tower.
Center: Plans of various
configurations of he tower
9. 9
WORKCURRENT
DIAGRAMMATIC PLAN AND SECTION OF PHASE III
SCHOOL
LIBRARY
MUSEUM
TRANSIT SERVICE SPACE
ELEVATOR CORE
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
FITNESS CENTER
Right: Diagram of
iteration III (future)
10. NETWORKCERMAK
This group project focuses
on integrating McCormick
Place Convention Center
into the surrounding
context to activate the
area as a single cohesive
neighborhood. This will
create an intermingling
of local Chicagoans and
Convention-goers that
more fully utilizes the
potential of this area. The
method is tripartite: an
urban master plan, new
programmatic spaces,
and a connective pathway
come together to bridge
the human scale with
the aggrandized scale of
McCormick Place.
11. 11
FOURTH YEAR
11
Activation of existing
elements
Creation of a tightly
woven urban network.
Manipulation of scale
and context.
12. CERMAK NETWORK
HISTORICALRESIDENTIALRETAIL DEPAUL STADIUM HOTEL DATA CENTER PARKING MCCORMICK NORTH MAIN ENTRANCE MCCORMICK SOUTH GRAND CONCOURSEHYATT HOTEL
BUS STOP LOCAL BUSINESS OUTDOOR MARKET
5’ 100’ 200’ 400’
14. BRIDGENORTHERLY
This portion of the
aforementioned project
focuses on a connection
from McCormick Place
to Northerly Island. The
floating bridge connects
the soon to be park
designed by Jeanne
Gang to McCormick
and the surrounding
neighborhoods. It also
completes a loop,
incorporating the new
park more thoroughly
into the city fabric. The
design borrows hexagonal
language from the Studio
Gang project, which allows
it to fold into a compact
mass via tesselation to
let ships pass into the
harbour.
16. ROANOKE BUILDING ENVELOPE MUSEUM
The Roanoke Building
Envelope Museum responds
to the surrounding civic
center to create an icon for
Downtown Roanoke. The
copper cladding references
the nearby Wachovia Tower,
while the 122 foot height
maintains visibility from other
streets and gives back a part
of the site as park space.
The central atrium acts as
a gathering space while
emphasizing the gentle twist
of the structure and the sky
bridges complete the building
structure while emphasizing
sweeping views of downtown
Roanoke.
20. MIDDLE SCHOOL
The Blacksburg Middle
School is based on three
main principles: the
replacement of double
loaded corridors with open
atria, the usage of roof space
as open green space, and
views within and without. A
central atrium organizes the
building and provides usable
interior space. The roofs of
the cafeteria and auditorium
become large open fields,
while the offset of each floor
plate creates an adaptable
ribbon of green space on
each floor. The roof acts as
after hours community space
and takes advantage of
sweeping view of downtown.
BLACKSBURG
Stairs Teacher Prep
FemaleBathroom SciencePrep Science Lab
Stairs
Cafeteria Roof
StudentOpen
Study
Area
Stairs
StudentOpen
Study
Area
Project BasedLearning Lab
Male
Bathroom
Project BasedLearning Lab
ADA
Elev-
ator
ClassroomClassroom
Classroom
Classroom
StudentOpen
Study
Area
StudentOpen
Study
AreaStairs
Media Center Roof
Stairs
Auditorium
Gymnasium
Classroom
Storage
Classroom
Classroom
Resource
Classroom
22. GRADUATION HALLBLACKSBURG
The Montgomery County
Graduation Hall creates
an experience out of
graduation through the use
of processional architecture
that reinforces the idea of
graduation as a moving
on. A glass cube acts as
an entrance hall and uses
light to respond to changing
environmental conditions.
A glass staircase leads
underground to a gallery
showcasing student work.
A tunnel then leads to the
graduation planetarium.
The planetarium creates the
illusion of leaving the current
world behind, reinforcing the
metaphor of graduation as
a signifier of moving beyond
the comfortable.
24. ROANOKE BUILDING ENVELOPE MUSEUMJAPANESE STYLE APARTMENT
A renovation project
that began with a single
column and defined wall
and ceiling evolved into a
Japanese style apartment.
It takes advantage of
typically low geometry
to create a sense of
openness, while using
Shoji style wood and
paper sliding screens to
segment the symmetrical
spaces. The layout is
oriented to take advantage
of southeast light in the
bedroom and southwest
light in the kitchen and
conversation areas. The
apartment embraces order
and simplicity through
careful control.
Evening Light
Reflected off
closed Shoji Screen
Passes through
open Shoji Screen
Morning Light
Bedroom
Closet
Bathroom
Conversation
Pit
Dining
Pit
Kitchen
Foyer
26. SKETCHES
Great Court at the British
Museum
Norman Foster + Partners
London, England
EUROPE
The Virginia Tech
Eurotravel Program is an
exploratory study abroad
program that focusses
on learning European
Culture, Architecture, and
Urban Life. Students are
encouraged to document
what they learn through
sketching, photography,
and other methods.
Feel free to visit our web
page, that I lead the
design team for.
http://www.eurotravel.
arch.vt.edu/
27. 27
YEARFOURTH
Top Left:
Oruptgaard Museum
Zaha Hadid
Copenhagen, Denmark
Top Right:
NY Carlsberg
Glyptotek
Wilhelm Dahlerup
Copenhagen, Denmark
Bottom Left:
Copenhagen Opera
House
Henning Larsen
Copenhagen, Denmark
Right:
Notre Dame Du Haut
Le Corbusier
Ronchamp, France
30. DRAFTED DRAWINGS
My first semester of
studio, I earned a B+. My
professor said that anyone
not happy with their grade
could attempt to, over
winter break, work up to
a better grade. I was not
happy with my grade, but
I also realized that it was
fair. Rather than try to
argue, I did perspective
drawings and design
exercises over my break,
and when I got back, my
professor was extremely
pleased. I re-earned myself
an A for that first semester.
The perspective drawings
I did over winter break,
led into an exploration
of drafted drawing in
the second semester
of the year. I created a
set of 6 drawings, size
18x24, along with a few
unfinished failures. I mostly
used pencil, but explored
pen as well. Rather than
draw from observation,
I chose to draw from
imagination, only using real
life as inspiration.
These are the two
drawings that I consider
most successful.
