This document provides details about various design projects by Allison Wills including: 1. "Increments of Translation" which proposes a network of transitional stair artifacts in Union Square, New York that seek to overlap movements through the site. 2. "Inappropriation" which reimagines the city of Gowanus, Brooklyn through manipulated perspective and light to create a transforming city revealed through movement. 3. Mapping studies of Rome that look at multiple aspects of the city beyond figure and ground, incorporating information like historical ruins, programmatic rhythms, and urban fragmentation.

2. Projects
01
www.allisonwills.com
Increments of Translation 02
Inappropriation 08
Sargent’s Wharf 13
Virtual Transparencies 17
Heterotopic City 21
Nolli Mapping 25
Laxe 26
De[monster]ative 27
Acoustic Response Facade 28
Denmark Pavilion 30
Objects 33
Time Frames Representation 34
Pinhole Photography 35
Roman Sketchbook 36
Composite self-portrait created using photoshop; completed for representation course taught by DBOX in NYC.

3. 02
Thesis: Studio X, Spring 2016
Advisors Luben Dimcheff & Val Warke
This is a proposal for a network of translational artifacts in Union
Square that seek to overlap, overlay, and superimpose the diverse set
of movements inherent to the site. These artifacts provide a means of
translating oneself in all spatial axes by utilizing the stair; a metaphor
for incremental time and an inherently transitional object. The
stair artifacts awaken individuals to their own speed of movement
and to the complex networks of velocities and itineraries around
them. Opportunities of slowness and speed are juxtaposed. Rather
than moments of intrusion or intervention, these stair artifacts are
interludes along one’s path that internalize and index qualities of
light and movement.
The thesis is perhaps more about the process, though, then it is
about the final proposal. In addition to a final proposal for a series
of stairs in Union Square, I explored and produced a method for
representation through an iterative process of translation. The title
Increments of Translation, then, refers to both my proposal and my
process of exploration.
The final proposal is intimately linked with my initial exploration of
slowness and pinhole photography. See more about the slowness
experiments on my website, and about the pinhole photography on
page 34. I thought of the stair as conceptual pinhole cameras, objects
that internalize the light and movement qualities of the surrounding
environment and produce or contain indices of that environment.
In this thesis slowness is just as important as speed, experience just
as important as stair, and process just as important as proposal.
On the right are a series of drawings created from preliminary
slowness experiments that sought to explore slowness as a critical
medium by which we experience and produce space. The experiments
translated different types of slow movement through the mediums
of video, pinhole camera exposures, and drawing.
Union Square, New York City
Increments of Translation
Experiment in Milstein Studio to slowly move toward the cameras in a straight line, then laterally away from it as a means of distorting the architecture behind the figure Red represents the existing, blue represents
movement or change, and the black objects represent the video and pinhole cameras recording throughout the experiment.

4. 03
http://www.allisonwills.com/work/#/velocities/
Above are stills from the animation showing that documents a figure
occupying a large print of Giacomo Balla’s painting, The Speed of a
Motorcycle, a painting all about speed. The contours of the painting
guided the figure’s footsteps with a forced slow pace. Through the
recording of this interaction between figure and painting, and a
simple play of frame rate and opacity, a new version of the painting
emerges; a digital painting created by a figure rather than an oil
painting created by a brush. Scan the QR code below to view the
animation.
On the right is a series of precedent analysis drawings that objectively
represent the conditions of stairs as well as drawing each precedent’s
unique qualities and movements. The drawing method from the
slowness experiments on the previous page was expanded upon and
allowed to change and grow as necessary in order properly represent
new subject matter. Elements in each analysis drawing can be traced
to my final design proposals.
Maison de Verre - transformative shadow elements
Great Pyramid of Khufu - labyrinthine & monumental qualities
New York City Fire Escapes - additive shadow qualities
Casa Malaparte - deep, carved relationship to site

5. 04
Theproposalisthreeparts,eachastairbasedontheflowsof movement
in Union Square of people and vehicles; its immediate, existing
context; typical adjacent activities; and a specific set of precedent
analysis. A very important quality of each stair is acknowledging
and accommodating the movement around it and the movement
that will occur on it. Each stair as a single object accommodates
multiple speeds, so that people with differing itineraries can be
brought together and made aware of the other in a productive and
meaningful way, while still being able to remain goal oriented, or not,
as the case may be. The stairs as objects act as conceptual pinhole
cameras, seeking to internalize light and movement information
from the surrounding environment and people.
The first is a concrete & stone stair that carves the landscape and is
a cut from the park to the long mezzanine walkway above the NQR
trains. It draws on analysis of the Great Pyramids, Casa Malaparte,
and the work of Carlo Scarpa.
The second is a grand, spiral stair about performance, presentation,
and is made of finely detailed wood. It cuts through the site adjacent
to performance space on the plaza and mezzanine levels, providing
seating and stage opportunities. It accommodates all from the
wandering tourist to the focused commuter. It draws on analysis of
the grand stairs from the French Renaissance that exist in theaters,
department stores, and estates.
The third is an additive, filigree stair mirroring the language of the
fire escape and Maison De Verre in materiality and in attention to
shadow. It is long and straight, like the quick traffic that runs along
side it on Broadway and the express 456 trains below. As you get
farther away from the sunlight and closer to the fixed lighting of the
underground, the stair becomes a built element of its own shadow,
rotating and transforming.
The collages on the right investigate the sectional relationships of
each of the three stair proposals.
Carving stair of concrete and stone.
Grand stair of wood.
Additive stair of steel and shadow.
Detail photographs of the three collages

6. 05Detail of section drawing of the ‘Grand Stair’Plan & Section drawings of the ‘Grand Stair’
Using the drawing method developed in the early investigations,
section and plan drawings were produced for each of the three
proposals to illustrate the movement of people on the stairs, sectional
qualities, framed views, and relationship to site.

7. 06Drawing detail of section through the ‘Additive Stair’ showing its transformative shadow qualities

8. 07These images are created from serial, experiential photographs of physical models built of each stair. The images represent what the object of the stair creates, spatially or experientially, rather than the
actual object itself.
They are created in a similar manner to the ‘Slowness Translation’ video, briefly described on page 03

9. 08
Studio IX NYC, Fall 2015
Professor Tomas Leeser & Ana Penalba
“Appropriation is an important historical practice in art-making, in
which the artist uses a previously existing form, image or sound in
new ways. The creative effort is defined by the inspired selection
and manipulation of found materials. The end result is a strangely
familiar, yet altogether new creation.”
- Walker Art Center: Festival of Appropriation
By inappropriating perspective and light, a city is revealed that
feigns movement and transformation. The viewer’s misreading of
perspective in this new city is what allows it to transform, while the
infrastructure of lights and their reflections reveal the volumetric
qualities of the spaces through which you walk. Movement
becomes the most important means to understand architecture in
this construction, which only transforms when walked through. It
challenges the conception that an architectural space can be grasped
and understood from a static viewpoint, and rather than development
in plan and section, the spaces are designed through experience and
movement. Spaces unfold and reveal themselves through time, and
thus are indexical in nature.
First, animation was used as a tool for designing a dynamic, durational
experience of the new city. Then by translating the dynamic city to a
static one -- by moving from animation to drawing -- an entirely new
space begins to emerge.
Gowanus, Brooklyn
Inappropriation
Animation still showing reflective properties of the transformative cit . As the camera moves laterally
the light reflections begin to reveal the complex transformative spaces and volumes of the new city.
http://www.allisonwills.com/work/#/inappropriation-new/

10. 09The drawing is created from a series of stills from the experience animation (detailed on previous
page). It is the static version of the dynamic, time-based, transformative city of Gowanus.
Transformative Light Drawing, indexes light source & reflectio and imagines light as a means of
producing space.

11. 10
Diagrammatic model demonstrating transformative object form. The articulated outlines aid in the
reading of the transforming form as the viewer moves from side to side.
The effect of the diagrammatic model is a simplification of the transformative effect that produces
this drawing and that is demonstrated in the animation.

12. 11This collage was an early study of space, light, and perspective that informed the final project on the
previous pages.
https://vimeo.com/161431598
This three dimensional ‘inappropriation’ collage was an early study
with volume and light that informed the final project depicted on
the previous pages. that reorganized built elements from Gowanus
into a completely new spatial creation that misuses perspective,
expanding on the form ideas from the previous page. By
reimagining this built collage in three dimensions, the collage seems
to be one construction from straight on, but rotating it shows a
different space three dimensionally than expected. The elements
are reconfigured into a new construction where pattern and scale
of materials begins to confuse scale of building and space. The
collage is compositionally and conceptually inspired by Picasso’s
Ma Jolie. Ideas of flatness of light and space drawn from this
painting and the cubist movement are used.

13. 12
https://vimeo.com/161431578 https://vimeo.com/161431622
Short animation showing how objects begin to distort in scale when illuminated irregularly and give a
different conception of where things are in space and how big they are.
Short animation exploring what might change in the street scape if buildings themselves became
sources of light, or rather, became an infrastructure of light.
These are stills from early, simple animations that were created to
explore how fabricated, incorrect, or unreal lighting conditions
can effect how a space is percieved in terms of depth, scale, and
perspective.

14. 13
The project wraps the site of Sargent’s Wharf in Boston while the
major axes of the city penetrate the project to establish a hierarchy
of public and private spaces. Residents are given a unique view of
both city and courtyard, whilst public life of Boston is drawn in and
wrapped into the wharf.
The most heavily traveled axis of Boston toward the wharf becomes
the spine of the courtyard and leads pedestrians through it to a
release of space on the waterfront.
Design V, Fall 2013
Professor Georg Hascup
Housing + in Boston
Sargent’s Wharf
Model of complex with drawing overlay

15. 14City Context: Sargent’s Wharf & the North End of Boston
Cross section showing housing unit organization and relationship to public areas.
Early sketch of cross sectional relationships.
Plans at housing, retail, and parking levels

16. 15Rendering of interior plaza and view to the water
Sketch showing of interior public space below housing block.
Sketch showing of interior public space below housing block.
City Context: Sargent’s Wharf & the North End of Boston

17. 16Plan of housing in which each apartment has a private view to the inner courtyard and a public view
to the city.
Diagram of form, program space, and circulation relationships

18. 17
The following is written from the perspective of a Homo Luden --
an inhabitant of the new city network, Virtual Transparencies, which
is a reimagined take on Constant’s New Babylon:
“Here in New Babylon I am part of the movement to reconstruct
space and realize the connections made possible by the fortunate
imperfections of technology. We sought to digitize the world by
scanning all dimensional space. However, our technology didn’t
understand reflections -- store fronts, mirrors, puddles, etc. We, the
HomoLudens,havesinceexploitedthistechnological“imperfection”.
These technological imperfections combined with our choices have
begun to expand, collapse, and reorganize the city while redefining
its infrastructure. While this technically exists in the virtual world, we
exist in the physical; our movements and choices effect both virtual
and physical - hence, we are the link between these two realms.
As I stop to examine my reflection, my eye (a virtual apparatus)
attempts to virtually interpret the space. The complexity of the
reflection intensify as the layers of the city aggregate in reflection
before my eyes, as if I am moving through it myself. Or rather, as if
the city is passing through the store front. All around me now, I see
more and more connections aggregating, reconnecting, disappearing,
creating new virtual relationships, inserting virtual transparencies
into the physical fabric of New York City.
The reflective surface on which my gaze lingers becomes the
threshold around which space is collapsed, and a virtual portal is
created. Metric distance is suspended and obliterated in this New
Babylon we are creating together.”
Studio VIII, Spring 2015
Professor John Zissovici & Andrew Lucia
New Babylon in New York City
Virtual Transparencies
Diagram showing how space is gathered, superimposed, and collapsed by the portals that are created
by complex urban reflections

19. 18The aggregation of the network of portals into a complex system in the SoHo area of New York City View within the new city network of virtual transparency portals

20. 19Virtual transparency network visualization in the street scape of 42nd street in New York City. The
virtual connections are imagined as energy orbs that virtually connect reflections within the cit .
Sketches and diagrams of relationships and trajectories of portals within the network; view of
bathroom mirror reflection portal

21. A still from the animation that imagines how this network would be created and would
begin to aggregate and grow throughout the city
20
http://www.allisonwills.com/work/#/virtual/
This video, among others videos created for the project, were made
to be viewed with Virtual Reality headsets. This was a design choice
as well as a representation and presentation choice. This method of
presentation was essential to the videos and the understanding of
the project. These videos can be viewed on my website.

22. 21
Studio VI, Spring 2014
Professor Lily Chi
Porta Portese, Rome, Italy
Heterotopic City
heterotopia
1. misplacement of displacement, as of an organ
2. the formation of tissue in part where its presence is abnormal
In a project that began as the mapping of the layers of Rome, a
project was devised in which Roman ruins project up, the past site
pixelates, new materials seep in, and urban itineraries and intensities
are gathered into Rome’s new heterotopia.
A magnifying glass hovers over a vacant, overgrown site just outside
of the Roman Walls. Interested, the archaeologist reads and misreads
the ruins he discovers, uncovering and fabricating a history. He
imagines that it is a place where people and activities layer on top of
those that came before; a place where materials are added using the
past with a forward eye; a place to interact with layers; a place like
Rome.
Urban axonometric drawing with distorted scale showing how the new project sits and relates to its
urban system and infrastructure.

23. 22Plan showing ancient ruins buried on below the site.
Aspects of the city surrounding the site and the site conditions at Porta Portese.. (Top to bottom: pre-
existing site projected onto skin, elements of separation in Rome, competing city grid organizations)
Plans showing the ruins that were extruded to create a framework for floor planes to slide into and
hold program.
Section showing fab-lab coworking spaces adjacent to the main central coutryard, with the Roman
Wall on the far right exterior of the project.

24. 23Axonometric drawing showing relationship of ruin-walls to skin and context.Interior rendering revealing one of the interior spaces. Created with Vray, Photoshop, and hand drawing
overlay.
Section sketches exploring the relationship between wall, skin, and view Model showing relationship of ruin-walls to skin and context

25. 24Material collage diagram demonstrating relationship between rough
exterior and fine interio
Material collage diagram demonstrating interior materiality and how these
materials take light.

26. Studio VI, Spring 2014
Professor Lily Chi
Roman Mapping Study
Nolli Mapping
These drawings reimagine the Nolli Map of Rome. They look at
multiple aspects of the city, in addition to figure and ground, so as to
incorporate information from Rome that transcends the information
originally inherent in Nolli’s representation of the city. The plan
layers that were investigated were hydrology & typology, navigation
& transportation, historical ruins, diurnal programmatic rythmns,
urban fragmentation, and building elements.
Synthetic Plan of separate plan layers that were studied.Layers of historical ruins using various historical documents showing ancient ruins and phases of the
Roman walls. The site lies between the boundary of the two different ancient walls on the map.
“nature” space topography floodin building Hydrology + Typology
25

27. 26
A fine cabinet slips into, and just out of, a concrete box that imprints
and then emerges from the landscape of the coast in Laxe, Spain.
The two interlock to create a long, narrow passage that releases at
the end to give the walker a new space and view. The concrete box
is for protecting the walker from the elements, and provides a place
for the cabinet; a light, fine, crafted wooden box for sleeping and
privacy, to slip in and stay.
Design IV, Spring 2012
Professor Vince Mulcahy
Cabinet for Walkers
Laxe
Front elevation looking from the water. Model showing the directional qualities of and relationships between materials.
Model showing situation on the site and basic spatial & operational concepts.Section showing wooden sleeping cabinet and concrete box.
Sketch showing the eroded window space that offers a view of the coast.
Longitudinal section sketch Plan showing the finely detailed sleeping cabinet slipping out of the concrete box

28. 27
Through analysis of the transformative properties of the vampire
squid, an elusive deep sea creature, I developed the language with
which to design a viewing platform for a gorge in Ithaca, New York.
A drawing from my analysis is featured in the book The Language of
Architecture: 26 Principles Every Architect Should Know by Val Warke and
Andrea Simitch.
Design I, Fall 2011
Professor Jim Williamson & Val Warke
Analysis of the Vampire Squid
De[monster]ative
Longitudinal section (top) & model (bottom) of gorge viewing platform developed from the qualities of
the Vampire Squid.
Transformative, mechanized drawing of the Vampire Squid’s complex movement

29. 28
The project is an acoustic facade made up of units that expand and
contract in response to sound volume in order to control sound in
a space. The units together create a system of folding felt panels.
This system would be attached to a sound-reflective surface, such
as a window in a music practice room, noisy restaurant, classroom,
or any other space where a better acoustic experience is desired or
necessary.
For the prototype, audio sensors are used as an input for Grasshopper
scripts which then, through the use of Arduino boards and robotic
stepper motors, determine the degree to which the facade unit should
expand or retract. A higher volume input translates to expansion of
the unit, therefore, increasing the surface area of the felt exposed
and dampening the sound in the space.
The system improves the acoustic quality of a space while
simultaneously giving a unique visual and lighting experience. In this
way, an interesting relationship between the visual and the auditory
environment is created.
Robotic Facade, Fall 2014
Professor Martin Miller
Robotic Installation Investigation
Acoustic Response Facade
Drawing showing deployment movement and radius of robotic acoustic modules
Completed in collaboration with Daniel Toretsky & Leroy Patterson

30. 29
initial input point
volume reading
value smoothing string length
port connection
uno write
Interior rendering of possible installation configuration -- modules are retracted in quiet area and
modules are deployed in the presence of musical performers.
Mockup modules from retracted to deployed during presentation and
demonstration
Mock-up modules as they are hooked up to the arduino boards recieving
information from the microphone and from grasshopper
Exploded axon of one robotic module
Sections revealing stages of deployment of module
Section revealing light/acoustic relationship of module facade

31. 30
The project is a structural investigation of the Denmark Pavilion,
designed by the Bjarke Ingels Group for the 2010 Shanghai Expo.
The structure cantilevers off of a structural core and scissor truss,
allowing for a continuous art exhibition and bike path.
Following an investigation into the structural systems
of the project we created a detailed and structurally
accurate, scaled model of the pavilion and assembled a written and
illustrated report on its systems. We built a digital model using Rhino
and Grasshopper to aid in the fabrication process. We modeled the
pavilion over the course of about ten weeks.
This work was central to BIG’s exhibition at the National Building
Museum in Washington D.C. The exhibition, titled Hot to Cold: An
Odyssey of Architectural Adaptation, ran from January to August 2015.
Structural Systems II, Fall 2012
Professor Mark Cruvellier
Structural Investigation
Denmark Pavilion
Completed in collaboration with Daniel Toretsky
Completed structural model. Constructed with basswood, walnut veneer, and a poplar base

32. 31Model during construction phaseWorking drawings figuring out structural radii to input into parametric grasshopper mode
Sketches to figure out material connections and how to translate them to the small scale of the model

33. 32
Detail photo showing fine detail connection
The model had a light aspect to represent the night lighting qualities of the pavilion in Shanghai Photo showing the cantilever and the facade, the apertures of which we figured out in grasshopper to
reflect the structural qualities of the pavilio

34. 33
Featured here are a selection of objects I have made during my time
at Cornell outside of course work. I have a passion for material detail
and fabrication, and thoroughly enjoy working through detailed
design and paying close attention to material at the small scale. In
creating these objects I used various wood working, metal working,
casting, and digital fabrication techniques.
Objects
2011 - 2016
Independent
Material, Detail, & Fabrication
A wooden sculptural take on the rotating childrens toys whose blocks rotate to create diffverent head-
torso-leg combinations (oak)
Chess board & chess set (walnut, curly maple, rockite)
Zen sand garden (walnut & curvy maple) and rake (walnut & bass wood dowels)Sculptural exploration of solid, void, & reveal (concrete, steel, oak, plaster) Magnetic chess board & chess set (steel, magnets, piano wire, plexiglass, spray paint)
Wall hanging of Austin, TX city skyline with reflection (walnut & steel Triptych sculptural material study showing levels of fabric emergence from solid (burlap & plaster)

35. 34
These two image-making projects aim to use photography as a
jumping off point to reimagine alternative versions of reality. The
projects exploit details and compositional aspects of compelling,
original photographs to inform and create convincing fantasies.
The first series (top) started with photographing one site in the styles
of both photographers Oliver Boberg and Phillip-Lorca diCorcia.
The site photographed has a strange scale to it, with almost perfect
alignments of materials and built elements. Using a combination
of 3d rendering and photoshop collage I imagined what the site
would be like if it was ‘made perfect’; this meant removing built
details that wouldn’t belong in this perfect world, lowering the
sidewalk allowing the bottom row of concrete panels to be perfect
squares, and adjusting the rest of the scene accordingly. A person is
introduced into the night scene rendering, intrigued by the ominous
light coming out of the entry.
The second series (bottom) transforms an abandoned basement
into an unexpected street entrance to Bloomingdales. Using the
composition and lighting of the original photograph as cues for
where to intervene, the final image combines 3d rendering and
photoshop collage to create this fantasy scene.
Visual Representation, DBOX NYC, Fall 2015
Prof. Matthew Bannister, Leah White, & Christa Hamilton
New York, New York
Time Frames Representation
Original photograph of abandoned basement on Wall Street.
Original photograph Original photograph Rendering collage Rendering collage
The image above are images created with partial rendering and photoshop to produce fantasy
interventions on the photographs on the left.

36. 35
My fascination with pinhole photography began as an exploration
for my thesis, Increments of Translation. The process was a way to
forcibly see slowly and record my thesis experiments as such. Then
it became a more independent investigation as I became intrigued
by the process of making cameras, exposing, and developing; by the
relationships between camera, photograph, and environment; and
how the photo that is created is an index of its environment at the
particular moment, or moments, of exposure.
Some of the photos, though technically unsuccessful due to blurred
aperture, unfocused image, or incorrect exposure, I include in the
collection because for me a successful pinhole photograph isn’t
a ‘picture perfect’ image but a full document of the relationship
between light, camera, and photographer. The whole collection can
be seen on my website.
Spring 2016
Independent
Exposures at Cornell University
Pinhole Photography
In the photo above, of the central stair in OMA’s Milstein Hall at Cornell, I used simultaneous
exposure with multiple pinholes to experiment with overlapping images.

37. 36
These are a selection of drawings from the sketchbook I kept during
my semester abroad in Rome. These sketches analyze buildings from
ancient to modern times in various cities, including Milan and Ven-
ice. My interest was not only to document elements of the buildings
themselves (structure, space, facade, geometry, plan, etc.) but to un-
derstand them in an urban context with regard to circulation, orien-
tation, and historical relationships to the city.
Cornell in Rome Program, Spring 2014
Professors Jim Williamson & Lily Chi
Selected Analytical Drawings
Roman Sketchbook

38. All works in this portfolio were created by
Allison Wills. A comprehensive portfolio, my
thesis publication, other creative works, and
references are available upon request. For further
information please feel free to contact me or visit
my website. Thank you for your interest.
www.allisonwills.com
adw93@cornell.edu
512.965.4246