Category: EXPO 2024 Courses

In a world of increasing standardization, how can we still provide comfort within intimately human designs? While much of this standardization ignores those at the peripherals of the population distribution, this project seeks to provide equally responsive and useful designs for all. This project proposes that the concept of adjustability via inflatables be used to achieve this goal. By setting boundaries at the extremes of human dimension, these inflatables push inwards and reconfigure in order to conform to the individual human body. Is it possible to have this idea of mass customization, while still providing responsive design without sacrificing efficiency?

Architecture, especially in metropolitan areas, lacks ambiguity. This stems from the consumeristic and fast-paced culture that inhabits it, perpetuated and reinforced by stereotypes. Streetscapes are dull, failing to engage with its inhabitants. My thesis focuses on rethinking the way we view stereotypes and use them as catalysts, repurposing them to be used as a toolkit to inform materiality, program densification, and its streetscape design to create habitable third spaces that are woven into the city fabric, fostering engaging environments for people to inhabit.

Refugee accommodation often oscillates between the bare minimum emergency standard and the “IKEA” modular shelter, envisioning an utopian expression of agency. However, determinants of the essential and standard guaranteeing a dignified life are regional and cultural. In the Kutupalong refugee camp, the traditional Rohingya gender seclusion discourages single female-headed households’ economic participation. This project uses spatial expression to negotiate and expand the vocabulary of standards from biological needs to mental wellbeing, promoting access to livelihoods. By considering the ad hoc social practices and their embodied resource requirements for upholding dignity, the standard ensures a more equitable provision of services to disadvantaged segments of the population.

In urban landscapes, vulnerable communities serve as essential components, akin to the lungs of cities. However, the arrival of the Olympics often acts as a parasitic force, exerting negative pressure on its host communities, leading to displacement and socio-economic gaps. This thesis proposes a reimagining of Olympic-era architecture to transcend its current heterotopic agenda. The proposal outlines the design’s functionality both during and after the games. During the Olympics, the dynamic facade will serve as an interactive platform for educating visitors about various sports and cultural aspects of Los Angeles. Post-Olympics, the facade will transition into a permanent fixture, continuing to serve as a learning resource for the local community and a visual symbol of ongoing social awareness and activism.

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 ceaseless interplay between human and natural forces focuses on the errors of our inventions and reminds us of nature’s everlasting presence. However, our efforts have left divisions in its realm, forcing the equilibrium to kneel to our errors. As our infrastructure falters, we will ensure that natural pathways resurface, interweaving with the very essence of our dominion. With the passage of time, aided by us, nature will thread through our past errors, restoring balance through its own fruition.

Upon materialization, an architect’s vision transitions to collective ownership. As the building provokes reactions from others, it becomes an active part of the community. My thesis will explore the responsibility of the new architect, focusing on creating anew within existing structures while considering context and reactions to the original vision. I plan to engage in the dialogue by responding to the Spaniard Cathedral in Lima, Peru. My aim is to design a building that reflects my reactions while also anticipating and embracing future responses from the community.

In Cleveland, resource exploitation and industry withdrawal drives decay. The industrial pockets along the Cuyahoga River are hostile to man. Designing with destruction, urban revival embodies a cradle-to-cradle ethos, utilizing detritus for renewal while instigating future destruction. The entropy of the city reveals programmatic needs with anticipated lifespans. Detritus serves as a program and form, addressing Cleveland’s environmental, social, and economic challenges. Cleveland is planned to become a series of crumple zones at the human, neighborhood, and urban scales. Anticipation of future needs through buckle zones facilitate deconstruction. By embracing destruction, Cleveland evolves into a resilient, metabolic system, nurturing growth amid change.

The shift to remote work during the pandemic resulted in an immense loss of “serendipity” – the essence of a meaningful life. Life without serendipity is incomplete, as it is the unexpected moments that add depth and joy to our everyday experiences. The Serendipity Machine infuses empty office buildings with unique threshold and edge designs that heighten users’ sensory experiences. These sensory stimuli pique curiosity and prompt users to explore their surroundings, ultimately leading to unexpected interactions. The Serendipity Machine represents the transformative power of architecture, illustrating how it can not only solve the practical challenge of high office vacancy rates in major US cities but also give our existence its true value.

Exploring the oft-neglected facet of human experience, this thesis accentuates the significance of “emptiness” and underscores the primacy of self-reflection over conventional notions of “being affected.” It proposes a methodology that prompts individuals to engage deeply in introspection, perceiving existence through an exterior prism. This transformative journey, guided by one’s senses (lighting, sounds, etc.), transitions individuals from a heightened awareness of time to a state of disregard for it, culminating in the attainment of “emptiness.” Through this process, individuals actively cultivate a profound understanding of experience, embracing personal growth and insight rather than merely experiencing feelings.