Thara MesserouxPortfolio

Thara MesserouxBachelor of ArchitectureBoston Architectural CollegeSegment I

Architecture is the happy middle between art and science. lt is a profession made forthose “hybrids”, who are good at those two disciplines; but it also requires specific skills:designing, engineering, managing, supervising, and communicating with clients and builders.The purpose of architecture is to make the world a more interesting place, by designing theplaces humans frequent the most, in other to keep their eyes away from being bored. The way

people construct their house is specific to a region. So we can also say that architecture is asymbol or the culture or an environment.

I am Thara Messeroux, a Candidate for bachelor of architecture at the BAC since Spring 2015. It has been an interesting experience for me, I learned a lot! The small scale of the college makes it easier to meet the same heads every day, and also for the teacher to get to know you. I have a closer relation with the teachers than in my old high school, and that helped me grow faster. I grew professionally, emotionally, and academically. I learned how important time management due to some many deadlines, I learned to be strong and faithful because of the countless frustration I received after working hard on my designs, and I discovered a lot of new talents that I had fun developing. During my first day at the BAC, I did not know what a section or a floor plan was. I could not measure in inches properly. At the beginning of my second semester, I did not know how to make an effective diagram, I used to do illustrations instead. At the end of my second semester, I learned to do effective and clean floor plans, section, axons, perspective etc. I understand how to do diagrams, and I had the chance to learn 8 new programs so far. And I now believe that everything can be learned.

Résumé

Thara Messeroux 20 Charlesgate West, Room 405, Boston, MA 02215

tharamesseroux@yahoo.com 978-235-8671

EDUCATION Boston Architectural College, Boston, MA January 2015 - present Candidate for Bachelor of Architecture Institution Sainte Rose de Lima, Port-au-Prince, Haiti September 2002 - June 2014 SKILLS Design / Technical Skills Freehand drawing: figure, still life, sketches, pencil, charcoal, watercolorTechnical drawing: plan, section, elevation, perspective, oblique, axonometric, diagramming, collage Modeling: using; bristol, cardboard, chipboard, Foam, Museum Board, Acetate Clear Qnone etc...Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Autocad, Sketchup, 123D Make, Rhino, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Power Point, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS Presentation Skills Team workOrganizational Skills (schedule events, successfully maintained school work, dance and music) Communication Skills Writing Skills Promotional SkillsAs a high school student, my classmates and I had create an ecological organization called Citoyens du Monde. This organization re-quired a lot from us. Many events were used to keep the association active. To achieve those events, we spent a long time planning the promotion and the process of these events, together. We also had to write proposals for the administration, which required great writing skills.

INTERESTS Membership: Citoyens du Monde (CDM) Jeunes Volontaires en Action (JVEA) Languages: fluent in English, French and Creole; working knowledge of Spanish Travel: Canada, Mexico, Bahamas, Haiti

Interests: art, music, drawing, singing, dancing, fashion, photography

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DESIGN REPRESENTATION- The Soma Pieces Cube- The McCormick Gallery

MAKING AND MODELING

- The Carpenter Center Project

FOUNDATION STUDIO 1

- Material Operations- Light: The Revelator - Occupying Space: Business Before Pleasure

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CITY LAB

- Perception of Time - Harpa Concert hall- Micro-Housing- Positive or Negative- Social/Cultural Systems: Historical Traces- Health & Human Comfort

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FOUNDATION STUDIO 2 43- The Body Device- The Narrative Device: Part 1- The Narrative Device: Part 2

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GATEWAY 65- The Belmont Village Project 64

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SUSTANAIBLE MATERIAL ASSEMBLIES

- The Arthouse- Nora House- Sendai Mediatheque

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COMMUNITY PRACTICE

- The Building Blocks of Communication - The Currency of Design: Communication- Community Engagement

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Transdisciplinary Studio 1

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Material operationsProject goals

- Understanding material properties and the spatial consequences of material operations.- analyzing, documenting, and representing spatial relationships.- identifying, translating, and developing ordering systems and their strategic deployment.- generating spatial ideas through an iterative process of making, failing, and re-making.- synthesizing the problems of design: conceptua, material, spatial, and tectonic.

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Here are my First models. has you can see I come from level 1. I was asked to make a model with 4 sheet of chipboard. I could fold it and tape it, but i did not have the right to cut any part out of it. The challenge was to create 3 different moments for the marble. The marble should also be able to run from the beginning of the ride till the end, by itself. The last models that I fabricated for this project had almost the same shapes. In all of them, we could find a box like shape on the bottom and a bird like shape on top of it. His birdish shape was the beginning of the marble run. The marble would then end up inside a cylinder and roll until the exit.

March 2015

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Light (the revelator)Project goals

- derive design organization thruogh the abstraction of found systems.- understand the use of the light as a revealer and definer of space.- explicity and implicity establish spatial paprameters based on the human use and experience.- develop ideas through a process of testing and revision.

April 2015

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Business Before PleasureProject goals

- Understand how thresholds and transition spaces can communicate design intention - ability to tell a story about inhabitation with form, space and light.- explore designing space in relation to human scale, occupation, and use.- explore how to read and compose built form within an urban context.- begin to use site and program as parameters of design.- consider the materiality of their designs, and the language of how various materials come together (tectonics, design details).- demonstrate an understanding of how the spaces they design translate into scaled orthogonal drawings.

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I had to visit the site, take his correct measures in foot and inches, and make my oservations about it. My observation is that the site is located between Newbury Street and a Public Alley and two facades of apartment buildings and an additional apartment buildingns side. We enter the site through iron stairs and we go directly in front of a shop entrance. The brick apartments are pretty enclosed; they have medium windows the light to enter, but, from the ground of the terrain, we cannot really see what is going on inside the rooms. The high apartment buildings strongly hide the sunlight, which makes it a quite somber place all day long. The space feels cool because it is exposed to the wind.

Beginning of abstract model of the site On the left we can see the sonsie restaurant building and in the middle and on the right, the apartments.

The site Plan

April 2015

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There is a luxurious house next to the Public Alley, made with concrete blocks and glass, where we can observe the fancy kitchen of the inhabitants of this house. This house is very positive for the people of the surrounding area, as it elevates it. If we want to build a space on that terrain, we should consider the fact that Newbury Street is busy, yet quiet, while the Public Alley is calm and quiet. We should take in consideration the apartment residents, as they would like to keep their peace. On Newbury Street next to the site are diverse and interesting stores. sonsie is European cuisine. From the chairs of the restaurant to the waiter's dress, we can feel the European style. The residents have a lot of accessibility to stores.The apartments elevation

The Sonsie Building Elevation (on the bottom) Front elevation of my final model, more precisely the facade of my project

The view of newbury street

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This project is my third one. I was asked to design a space for Boston architectural college. It had to include 3 studio spaces of 100 square feet, a collaborative space of 1000 suare feet and a contemplation space. I called my project business before pleasure because I had the idea to create a special circulation in my building. The user will actually have to visit the studios and the collaborative spaces before going in the contemplation space. If i had to do a last model i would eliminate the first range of stairs that permits you to access the contemplation space before the working space. I show the difference in those diagrams, and in my last drawings. The big ideas that generate my project are: Relaxation, Refreshment, Privacy, Light, Shadows. When we are underneath the branches of a tree, we feel calmer and relax. As BAC can be very stressful sometimes, I wanted this part of the school to feel more relaxing and de-stress. So I played with my openings to created shadows that remind us of tree's branches.

My attitude towards the site is to block the noise of Newbury Street and to find my privacy. I used a facade in other to accomplish this goal.

My site is a working place planted in a garden, which is the contemplation space. I have a long building for my collaborative space, and 3 separate sheltered for my studio. The place is also simply organized and linear.

The user of my project will first see a facade. Then he will go trough the entrance that is a small somber room. He will then go out on an open bridge to directly enter the collaborative space. From there he can first access the 3 studio spaces and at the very end, the contemplation space.

The materials of my project Give a feeling of lightness; there is a lot of glass openings. Also, the materials are

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Studio Space

Collaborative Space

Contemplation Space

Circulation System

May 2015

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straight and keep the place organizes.

To express my idea I begin with a thick and large facade, which will separate the site from the noise of Newbury St. which creates a sense of privacy and relaxation. Then, I make the user go through a darkened/shadowy threshold to go out directly on an open space, which gives him a feeling of refreshment. Also, I have a straight and simple circulation layout, which makes the student's life easier. They can't get confused about where the spaces are.

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Axonometric section of the site

Plan of the 2nd floor of the site

Plan of the 3rd floor of the site

May 2015

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Short section of the school.

May 2015

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City Lab

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Perception of Time

This diagram shows the rise of my level of contentment (in percentage) vs my sister’s contentment rise, when I am eating chocolate.

As you can see, the more time I spend eating chocolate, the happier I am; but for my sister, it really depends on her mood at the moment she’s eating it.

I like the 1st diagram (in which you can observe a perception of time) more than the second one (in which you can perceive a chronological time) because it reflects a more natural version of the time. Two people perceive the same product differently, for the same amount of time spent using it. And I can tell that this is how humans always really see time. Time is always relative for us.

This diagram shows in percentage how the level of activity increases in Boston VS how it increases in Port-au-Prince. Boston gets more active with nicer weather. As Port-au-Prince gets more active with a more peaceful political slate.

February 2015

Two Diagrams about Related Ideas

“Create two diagrams: one that emphasizes perception of time and another that emphasizes chronological time. Place them side by side [think about the paper space in between]. Write which one makes the stronger statement. Use 40 words or fewer to explain.” --From the syllabus.

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Harpa Concert Hall

Diagram + 30 words

“Create a diagram that uses a map to tell the story of one international project. Where is the architect located? Where is the project being constructed ? What diagram will capture the sense of your argument?”--From the syllabus.

February 2015

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February 2015Micro-Housing

Micro Architecture

“Write 50 words in favor of micro-housing. Write 50 words against micro-housing. Provide one diagram that supports your preferred argument.”--From the syllabus.

50 words in favor of micro-housing:

A person living in the micro-house has more savings, a lower mortgage. It's easier to clean and maintain. You lead a simple life, and you produce a lower carbon footprint on the environment (green house). More people have the chance to have a roof as the world's population is only increasing.

50 words against micro-housing:

There isn’t space for storage. It's difficult to keep it organized. It's a higher price per square foot. Entertaining becomes a challenge. It's almost impossible to study and concentrate in a crowded house where everything is going on in the same place. Your children may suffer from psychological problems.

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Positive or Negative February 2015

Good or Bad

“Write 50 words in favor or against a work of design that you have experienced. Provide one image and one diagram that supports your preferred argument.”--From the syllabus.

The Prudential Center, designed by The Hahn Company, positively influences societal changes. lt’s gorgeous; it offers 75 stores and services. lt only uses 500,9L4 sq. ft. which leaves more open space for the public. This is positive for a world where the population is increasing.

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Social/Cultural Systems: Historical Traces

Historical Traces

“Select one lens from the five lenses below:1. Health & Human Comfort2. Mobility/Circulation3. Open Space Systems4. Built Form/Development Patterns5 Social/Cultural SystemsName a work or an idea that Diana presents in her lecture- and make a diagram that connects the work to one lens.”--From the syllabus.

Brandenburg created a garden for chitdren's education in Russia in 1839. Mostty women liked this. The sexist government repudiated it in 1851, but later accepted the idea. Now we have KINDERGARTEN.

April 2015

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Health & Human Comfort April 2015

2 Diagrams + 30 words

“Redraw or scan the first diagram on a sheet of paper next to the new one you create from a compelling idea that you hear in Noami’s lecture. Write a caption beneath each diagram. Wrrite what you learned or are thinking in fewer than 30 words above these diagrams.”--From the syllabus.

The transparency brings more natural light, but it also deprives you of privacy which is very stressful, especially at night.

White houses appear to be larger than they are.

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Design Representation

Mccormick galleryAssociate Provost

and Dean of Students office

Student Life Communications

office

Coordinator of Student Activities office

Leadership office

International Student

Advisor Office

Men's Room

Women's Room

Waiting Area

Electrical

Advising Service Space

Admission and Continuing Education Information office

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Wood Puzzles:SOMA Cubes

Description of project – Objective

Make 7, 11 or more little cubes of 1 inch each, which will make up 3, 4 or more Soma pieces. Create a shape with the Soma pieces you’ve made and draw a plan, 4 elevations, 2 sections, an oblique and an axonometric of the Soma Composition you created. When you’re done, scan your 2D works and photograph your 3D works.

Back Elevation East Elevation

Front Elevation West Elevation

History

The Soma Cube is a sol-id dissection puzzle in-vented by Piet Hein in 1993. It happened during a lecture on quantum me-chanics conducted by Wer-ner Heisenberg. The Soma Cube is composed of seven pieces made out of unit cubes that are assembled into a 3x3x3 cube. Ac-cording to Martin Gardner and John Horton Conway, and the book “Winning Ways for your Mathemati-cal Plays” there are 240 distinct solutions of the Soma Cube puzzle, exclud-ing rotations and reflec-tions. . Those pieces are also used to make a va-riety of other creative 3D shapes. And, I came up with one of them.

Data

“The birth of SOMA?”, last mod-ified March 10, 2013, http://www.fam-bundgaard.dk/SOMA/NEWS/N030310.HTM “Soma cube”, Wiki-pedia, last mod-ified 6 February 2015, http://www.fam-bundgaard.dk/SOMA/NEWS/N030310.HTM

Plan

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Section 1

Section 2

Axonometric of my Soma Pieces

March 2015

(Z)

(P)

(L)

(V)

Solution

1. I laid the “V” on a support. (a table, a desk or the ground for example) 2. I put the bottom tip of the “Z” on the empty space of the “V”.3. I put the “P” on the left of both the “Z” and the “V”.4. I put the longest part of the “L” on the hole that is between the “Z” and the “V”.

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WWW

THE MCCORMICK GALLERY

HistoryAccording to the Boston Architectural College website, “McCormick Gallery exhibits a variety of design work that speaks to wider themes of sustainability, historic preservation and new technologies, and to BAC values of social responsibility, accessibility and diversity.” Located on the corner of Newbury Street and Hereford, it engages passersby and the lively BAC community within. It is really open with glass windows and frequently used for receptions, exhibitions and related lectures.

ObjectiveI was asked to make a poster about the gallery of BAC, The McCormick Gallery. The poster should include hand drawings that will show the placement of the gallery in the college. Two floor plans, an elevation and a section of the two first floors university. They had to be drawn in 1/8 scale. I should also draw an exploded and a compressed axonometric of the gallery, with the compressed one being optional. There is not any guide for the design of the poster. The only requirement is the size: 34” x 26”.

SolutionI started with the first and second floor plan of the school, then I did the elevation and the section of the building. I used the floor plans as a base to do my compressed axonometric, and I utilized the elevation and section to quickly rebroadcast the correct measures of the BAC Gallery. My compressed axonometric now became an interesting tool for me to draw the exploded axonometric. I used it as an underhand for the exploded version and literally glided a vellum sheet on it. Finally, I used Adobe InDesign CC 2014 to design my poster.

THARA MESSEROUX - FND1005 - DESIGN REPRESENTATION - BERTHA PANTOJA - SPRING 2015

The McCormick GalleryHistory

According to the Boston Architectural College website, “McCormick Gallery exhibits a variety of design work that speaks to wider themes of sustainability, historic preservation and new technologies, and to BAC values of social responsibility, accessibility and diversity.” Located on the corner of Newbury Street and Hereford, it engages passersby and the lively BAC community within. It is really open with glass windows and frequently used for receptions, exhibitions and related lectures.

Solution

I started with the first and second floor plan of the school, then I did the elevation and the section of the building. I used the floor plans as a base to do my compressed axonometric, and I extrude my exploded drawing from the section that I previously drew. My compressed axonometric now became an interesting tool for me to draw the exploded axonometric. Finally, I used Adobe InDesign CC 2014 to design my poster.

Compressed Axonometric of

the Gallery

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April 2015Objective

I was asked to make a poster about the gallery of BAC, The McCormick Gallery. The poster should include hand drawings that will show the placement of the gallery in the college. Two floor plans, an elevation and a section of the two first floors university. They had to be drawn in 1/8 scale. I should also draw an exploded and a compressed axonometric of the gallery, with the compressed one being optional. There is not any guide for the design of the poster. The only requirement is the size: 34” x 26”.

Exploded Axonometric

of McCormick Gallery

Floor plan of the first floor of BAC,including the Gallery

Floor plan of the second floor of BAC,including the Gallery

Elevation of the McCormick Gallery

Long section of the Gallery

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Making and Modeling

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The Carpenter Center ProjectThis project is based on the Carpenter Center. The one and only Le Corbusier’s work in the United States. Situated in Harvard University, it’s an art studio that attracts many people everyday. Very inspiring.

The goal of this project is come up with a new idea about the Carpenter Center and find the best way to represent it. For that, we started by visiting the site and analyse it. Than we began to play with as many materials as we could and we used them to do several abstract models. We also worked on the digital part by doing diagrams and collages.

PRESSURE

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The RampCollage that shows the relationship between the CARPENTER Center and the ramp.

PRESSURE

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Modern Carpenter CenterCollage that emphasizes a moden Carpenter Center. Le Corbusier’s work is now lighter, with modern glazings and more openings.

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DIAGRAM EVOLUTION

The Carpenter VS His Ramp

The Carpenter VS His Volumes

The Carpenter VS His Neighborhood

The Carpenter VS His Floors

June-July 2015

(Photo:Jessica Durrant)

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June-July 2015

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The Carpenter VS His Ramp

The Carpenter VS His Volumes

The Carpenter VS His Floors

1st abstract model of the Carpenter Center

The Carpenter Center4th floor

The Carpenter Center 5th floor

Detachable 5th floor model Abstract model of an important section of

my future model

1st innovation of the Car-penter Center, with more flexible openings

First iteration of my final model

Planning my laser cut on AutoCAD using my sketch-book

Testing out the 3D printer

TracingMarking out the windows on my draft model

Spray painting my final model pieces

Process Work

June-July 2015

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June-July 2015

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Foundation Studio 2

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The exercise I studied in this project is push-ups . There are different kinds of push-ups. I studied the feminine push up. The only difference between the feminine push up and the original is that my knees are on the floor. I wanted to come up with an apparel that would help me throughout my study and for that I started by doing photographs of the movement and I diagrammed the function of the body during this exercise. On the right is a consecutive illustration of the five different iterations of my device. My first device was made of bristol, but I think it was too soft and it could not stay on my body. I then went with basswood sticks and rubber bands and they more or less stayed on my body this time, but they were so thin that they were barely visible. Therefore I used thick plywood for my 3rd iteration with ribbons that I tied together. This time I could clearly see the planks of plywood but the ribbons started to come loose as soon as I started my feminine push up. I then decided to do a 4th iteration with something softer and more flexible. I used the ribbons to make the body of my device, and straps to hold them to my body. And everything worked perfectly. It was not loosening up anymore, and it showed interesting facts about push-ups. It showed clearly how the contraction of the muscles worked during this movement. But it crumpled a lot once I packed it. I then had to iron the ribbons.

The Body Device - Project 1GOALS:

Understand the size, scale, and the senses through the study, documentation and analysis of the human body and its relation to its environment.

Explore the relationship between drawing and fabrication by producing an iterative series of contruction drawings and physical prototypes.

Indentify, emply and understand tectonic and material logics in pursuit of performative criteria.

Develop sketching, orthogonal drawing, analytical drawing and model making as investigative and communicative tools.

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Those are some of my first tentative diagrams, I was asked to do different diagram iterations but, for most of them, I did the same iteration but in a different manner. I wasn’t yet familiar with the term iteration.

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The first iteration of my body device, using bristol.

BODY ANGLE/ EYE SIGHT

BODY HEIGHT

PRESSURE

ARTICULATION

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EYE SIGHT

PUSH UP PATH

BODY ANGLE

USED MUSCLE

GRAVITY GRADATION

ELEVATION OF THE MOVEMENT

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Diagrams (above and below) showing the result of my 4th device iteration. After being packed, it was very sloppy, and unprecise. I decided to iron the body of the device to straighten it.

MY FINAL BODY DEVICE

THE RESULTS OF MY FINAL BODY DEVICE

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AN ELABORATED DRAWING OF MY LAST BODY DEVICE.

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This project was mainly about the function of thresholds and the use of topographies. We started by visiting the Carpenter Center with our professors to get a sense of what a threshold is and the different ways it could be approached.I did some sketches on the site, I also did some analysis by computer drawings when I went back to the BAC.

The Narrative Device - Part 1GOALS:

Understand how to mediate conflicting and varying spatial conditions through the development of the threshold.Understand site conditions and human occupation as generators of system performance.Understand how the human body has both sensory and kinetic interactions in its surroundings.Understand how to appropriately scale and proportion occupiable scape in relation to the human body.Develop a coherent material logic based on their making and craftmanship.

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Light

Light

Openess and Enclosure

Openess and Enclosure

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The next step was to design a space for two characters that I would invent. They were my clients, and my design should take into account the constraint they presented.Here is summary of what my clients Jack and Alice do usually: They are best friends. They meet each other twice a week to share their lives. Jack is a night owl, who is temporarily in a wheel chair because of a car accident. He likes dark spaces and calm. He is a car racer. Alice is a morning person and she is very healthy. She likes light and animation. But Jack and Alice really need each other. That’s why they meet twice a week in my site.

These models are the first iterations of my design.The first two were only using the grids but not the topography. I didn’t get the concept of a topography yet. I then understood what it meant but the material I used for it was too thin and the rest of the model wasn’t clean enough. So, I used cardboard instead of chipboard for the topography because of the thickness. And I laser cut the rest of the model. But I found out that modeling by hand was the best process to use to find design inspiration, and I returned to using my cutter, but more carefully than before.

Alice (left)Jack (Right)

First diagrams of the site function, I tested how the light was penetrating the building. I also analysed the circulation paths, the public and private spaces. I also diagrammed the grids on the topography of the site to help me find the best way to use the trees in my design etc.

MY GRID

CIRCULATION (CONNECTION BETWEEN THE ENTRANCE AND THE EXIT

SIGHT PATH

SUN PATH

LIGHT VS SHADOW

SOUND PATH

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PERSPECTIVE SKETCHES OF MY EARLY DESIGN

AXONOM

ETRIC

OF MY

EARLY

DESIGN

,

I real

ly nee

ded im

provem

ent on

my axo

n.

SECTIONS AND FLOOR PLANS OF MY EARLY DESIGN

In my first drawings below, I realized that I should have situated them on the site, more precisely, the topography.

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BEFORE LAST MODEL FINAL MODEL

BEFORE LAST DERNIER

A LONGITUNAL SECTION OF MY LAST DESIGN

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FINAL DESIGN

My final model contained two different buildings, one for Jack and another for Alice. And they would meet in the model park, in a very discreet place.I then realised that the first house (on the front) would be enough for both of them, since it contains both conditions that Jack and Alice like. The first part (front part) of the house is open, and its front wall has a sloped window that will help Alice’s friend verify when she’s home, so they can come and hangout with her. The middle part of the house is the transition between Alice’s space and Jack’s space. It is also pretty open. It is where Jack and Alice meet when they need to talk peacefully. A big wall separates the first part from the meeting area, to promote that privacy. And finally the third (back part), is enclosed and low, for it to have less shadow. It is also situated in the back side of the house (garden part) for the space to be as quiet as possible.

AXON O

F MY F

INAL D

ESIGN

FLOOR PLAN OF MY LAST DESIGN

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GOALS:

Continue to explore the human body as it has both sensory and kinetic interactions in its surroundings.Understand how to appropriately scale and proportion occupiable space in relation to the individual body and the greater public.Learn the role of ordering systems in structuring spatial relationships.Negotiate the influences of program, site, analysis, and conceptual understanding.Develop a legible iterative process through the use of drawing, sketching, modeling, and diagramming.

The Narrative Device - Part 2

For this project we started by analysing the relationship between crowd and spaces, especially during a big event. For that we had to go the Charles Regatta occasional canoe event, and observe how the crowd is situated in relationship to the athletes. I created the images on the left from what I observed. The design that we had to do for this project consisted of creating a space for an annual event. In our case it was the triathlon. The triathlon is a regular competition that is formed of three consecutive sports, respectively swimming, cycling and running.

The triathlete that goes the fastest overall wins. The transition length also counts. And we had to design an open space that would include both transitions and the finish line. We had to design on a specific site, which is the bridge that is closed to the Hynes Convention Center Station. We could use the sidewalks and also the space 40 ft away from the bridge.The design should also include a place for a bus stop that will be permanently there. And a place for two food trucks and places for the clients to consume their food. The food trucks and those clients will occupy the space during the rest of the year, when there isn’t a triathlon hapenning.

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My drawings of the site that was provided.

SECTION

ELEVATION

First diagrams attempts of the site. Second diagrams attempts of the site.

First two iterations of my design. They are two different models. I chose to continue with the design on the right. It looks more interesting to me, and it respondsz better to my design concept, which you will discover in the next page.

1ST AND 2ND DESIGN ITERATION

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First iteration of my triathlon design diagrams attempts of the site.

DESIGN PROPOSAL

In my project I want to design a space that is both interesting and easy to understand. It will be an uncommon space that will easily catch the attention of people on Mass Ave and the surrounding streets, as this is where the Triathlon happens yearly. The organization of the space will create a nice flow that will make it easy for the users to follow, especially the triathletes. I will use tectonics of interlocking and penetration to create a hybrid design that will make a comfortable space for different kinds of people. I mainly play with openness and enclosure to direct the athletes during the triathlon, and to create flexible conditions for the users during during the rest of the year.One part of the building is noisy and bright, because it is open to the highway and not enclosed. I wanted the triathletes to know where to exit, and noise and brightness will draw their attention to the exit. I also wanted the customers to have the choice between two different conditions: noisier and quieter. The other side of the space is darker and quieter. It will direct the athletes to the transition space; the athletes will need a private space to change their clothes. For the customers, this area gives them a choice to eat in a quieter and less bright setting away from the highway noise.

First drawings of my second design. These drawings were a little naked.

SECTION

PLAN

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3RD AND 4RTH DESIGN ITERATION

These models were detailed, very precise and clean, but I didn’t need to put that much time in my models since I was still in an early phase of my design.

AXON OF MY 4RTH DESIGN

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5TH DESIGN ITERATION

My 5th design I started exploring other possibilities and I went with a design that was compelety different from my previous ones. I later found out that at this phase it was better to stick with the same design and keep improving it.

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6TH DESIGN ITERATION

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My 7th design iteration. I realised that the stairs weren’t scaled properly ( 1’x 1’) which resulted with a too acute angle, and they were also too tall for people to sit. I fixed them in my final design.

7th DESIGN ITERATION

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FINAL DIAGRAMS

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Above we have a charcoal perspective of my design. We can also observe a hungry person starting the queue for the food truck.

On the left we have collages of how the space will work during the triahtlon and the rest of the year.

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Gateway - The Belmont Village

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This semester I had the chance to do a gateway project and acquire sevral hours of experience from a firm called Urbain DRC. We worked on the Belmont Village Project. It is a Village situated in Belmont, 59 Pearson Road. It is a public House built in 1980 and it contains 25 buildings with 4 units each. There are two types of building: Type A and Type B. Those buildings are unfortunately poorly maintained, and they are now very damaged. Our goal in DRC was to adjust all this and promote better conditions for the people of Belmont. We could either renovate the Village, or we could do a complete redesign. During this semester, we analysed those two possibilities as much as possible.

TYPE A ( Drawings: Rutvik Rao)

TYPE B ( Drawings: Me)

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This semester we had two community charettes. The community charettes goals is to contact the clients face to face, and inhabitants of the Village, to get a since of what they really want from us. From the community charettes, we also had the occasion to get to know the site we are working on. From our visit to the site, my colleagues and I have found the exact problems of the Village.

I realized that the site contains a lot of wasted spaces, inside and outside. Inside, there is tree doors, and a wall just on the entrance. And, the basement is so damaged and scary that the user cannot really take advantage of it. It is very congested and the walls are dark and dirty. Outside, the yard contains many empty spots that are barely used. The landscape of the site is mistreated and used as a big garbage. The grass is degenerating and the clay overflows in a messy way around the houses.

The houses I checked out had several common issues. The one that repeated the most were: the missing or damaged borders of the front stairs, the damaged tubes, and the damaged and moist yard. Several broken materials were also found on the floor, which are very dangerous for children.

At the Charette. Me (left), Maridalia (right)

Diagram of my observations on the site.

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Door & Handrail

Rooftop

Masking tape under roof overhang

Detached gutter pipe

Basement doorway Siding

Gutter

Loose/detached handrailCracked stairwayDent/PunctureMoldRustBroken/ chipped stairwayDiscolorationTrashBroken windowOther

BELMONT VILLAGE OBSERVATIONS MAP

Broken downspout

Broken poll on the �oor.

Damaged Air Conditionning

Damaged Air Conditionning

Damaged Door

Missing door handle

Black tube protusion

Broken basement window

Door

Door plank

Door

Broken glass

Cracked Foundation

Cracked Foundation

Cracked Foundation

Siding Issues

Siding Issues

Siding Issues

Siding Issues

Loose/detached handrail

Siding

Siding

Siding

Rooftop

Rooftop

Rooftop

Rooftop

Black tube protusion

Black tube protusion

Black tube protusion

Open Space Experiences more sunlight

Open Space Experiences more sunlight

Trees provide shade to the houses and the roofscausing mold to grow on surfaces with moisture.

Trees provide shade to the houses and the roofscausing mold to grow on surfaces with moisture.

A compilation of the damage parts of the site.

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BELMONT VILLAGE INTERVIEWCYNTHIA

Unfinished, old, tiny kitchen and cabi-net

Too small bathroom

Too thin walls

Too cold room

No dining room

Cynthia lives in Belmont Village for 35 years now. She lives in a 2 bedrooms apartment by herself af-ter son passed away. She currently have a very low income. She likes the ex-terior of the site, and mostly, the rent. But she has a lot to complain about after does 35 years in the same village.

MINIMAL RENOVATION OPTIONS

The drawings on the left are some minimal ideas I had for the improvement of the Village. I proposed to remove some unecessary walls to give the units a wider feeling. I also suggested to move some walls and remove some unused closets, to let more space for the kitchen, which is one of the biggest complains the villagers had about the Village. The old kitchen is way to small for them to cook properly.

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One of the alternatives building for the complete redesign option was a three story building that includes a basement for extra storage space. We also need 3 to 5% of the Village to be ADA accessible. This building is fully ADA accessible, and is designed according to the regulations of the Chapter 689 - Housing for People with Special Needs. One of the requirements of the Chapter 689 is to have a minimum of two bedrooms per unit to make sure that the person with special needs a space for someone to take care of him/her. Also, the other rooms had a certain size that they should be. They were mostly larger than the average. The building contains eight units: four on each floor with two bedrooms per unit, which represent around four percent for a Village of 250 units. It is enveloped by a handicap ramp and has a central elevator to facilitate their circulation. It also includes fire exit stairs.

LOCATION OF THE BUILDING ON THE SITE

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SECTION OF THE BUILDING

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Sustainable Materials

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PROJECT: ARTHOUSE AT THE JONES CENTERLOCATION: AUSTIN, TEXASARCHITECT: LEWIS.TSURUMAKI.LEWIS ARCHITECTS

The Arthouse has an interesting façade. It engages the street with its open lobby, its anamorphic sign, and its large projection screen. The masonry of the south and east walls of the building are covered with several laminated blocks of glass. That glass transmits some light, which is not the sun’s heat.

The Arthouse is an art organization founded in 1911 as the Texas Fine Arts Association (TFAA). It’s an old organization, but it has never been old-fashioned.Arthouse shows the work of new artist, but does not collect like a museum or represents artist like a gallery. Its programs create opportunities to exhibit contemporary arts and involving the community.

The Arthouse

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SENDAI MEDIATHEQUE PROJECT

Concrete, steel and glass are often use in modern architecture. Steel for example is used widely in the construction of roads, railways, other infrastructure, appliances, and buildings. Most large modern structures, such as stadiums and skyscrapers, bridges, and airports, are supported by a steel skeleton. Even those with a concrete structure employ steel for reinforcing. Steel is produced widely, but not as much as cement, which is produced in all five continents. Glass in contrary is more limited. It is mostly produced in Europe. All those three material are used in the Mediatheque Library. The steel is used in an interesting way in this building. I will show it material process.

Cement Production

Glass Pr

oduction

Steel Production

Belgiu

m

Russia

Iran

Turkey

China

Brazil Ja

pan Egypt Saudi Arabia

India

United States

Oceania

Germany

Italy

Belgium

Spain

United Kingdom

France

United States

Ukraine

European Union

Turkey

South Korea

Germany

Brazil

Russia

India

Japan

China

(Image:The Axis-Allied Sphere's Main world map)

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Ironsand

Ordinary sand (silica)

SlagSlag

Coal Steel scrap

SteelPig IronPrimary Concentrate

CONCENTRATION SMELTING STEELMAKING

(Some Photos: Project Noun)

STEELMAKING

+

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SKIN AND PLATE

TUBE AND PLATE

SKIN

Sendai Mediatheque, is a library situated in Japan since 2001. After the Japan earthquake of 2011 it was the only structure remained standing. Built with the collaboration of a creative architect Toyo Ito and an equally creative engineer, Mutsururo Sasaki, it goes beyond Japan’s strict earthquake codes. His structure is made of adapted materials that were use intelligently to prevent the damages of the earthquake:

•Steel being a strong material, allows the floor plate to achieve lengthy spans and flexible shapes, and is in addition a good fire

resistance. Being able to go a long way without interruption, steel creates less points of weaknesses than other materials. It is then difficult to break, and the building becomes safer.

•Concrete is one of the most versatile basic building materials. It is durable, strong, and weather resistant.

•Glass allow natural light to enter the building even if it is closed. The use of energy is reduced by not lighting enclosed structures every morning. They are also strong and provide safety.

The tubes on the corners of the building are specifically designed for earthquakes. They also promote the circulation of air.

The gap between the Skin (glass) and the Plate (concrete) allows the building to move freely during the earthquake. The Plate will not hit

Steel is strong. It goes a long way without points of weakness. The tubes on the corners of the building are specifically designed for earthquakes.

(Photo:P

hil Kwon

g)

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sun light

wind

air gate (opened)

always opened

(Photo:Carly Moore)

Sendai Mediatheque employs both passive and active climate control systems. The double glazed enclosure of the south façade is a passive method of climate control. The double glass skin acts as a thermal blanket trapping air to keep the building warm during the cooler seasons and also allowing for the passage of air through it, which cools the building in the warmer periods of the year.

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Community Practice

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As a group of 7 people, we had to plan, coordinate, make and enjoy a meal together. It should have a minimum of 3 courses - an appetizer, a main course and dessert. As a group, we planned to meet at Hosam’s house, one of the members of our team.

As a team we had two contraints:1. We had to design the food with no recipe.We decided to make an improvised meal, where each one of us had to bring a random food item at the meeting.2.It had to be a vegetarian meal,One of us was vegetarian.

The Building Blocks of Communication

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The ingredients we ended up using: The food we ended up designing:

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The goal of this project is to get to know the structure of a firm by doing research about the firm of our choice. My team worked on:

ECOSISTEMA URBANO

The Currency of Design:Communication

LOCATION OF THE FIRM: Madrid

BACKGROUNG OF THE FIRM: Ecosistema urbano was founded by Belinda Tato Serrano und Jose Luis Vallejo Mateo in ecosistema urbano Madrid in 1999. They both studied at the Bartlett School of Architecture and graduated in architecture with distinction at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid. Since 2006 the architect Michael Moradiellos del Molino, who studied at the Institut Supérieur d’Architecture Victor Horta in Brussels and the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid, is a partner of ecosistema urbano. Since 2007 the fourth partner, Domenico Di Siena, completes the team. He studied architecture at the Ecole d’Architecture de La Villette de Paris, the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid and the Facultad de Arquitectura „L. Quaroni” de Roma.

THE TYPE OF PROJECT: Creativity and urbanity are the overarching elements that connect all four departments.

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Designing the Design OfficeThe goal of this project is to get a deeper understanding of the organization of a firm. As a team, we had to pretend to be a firm and then, articulate a mission statement for our design office. A 5 minute presentation was used to articulate the organization of the members and structure, mission, and design intentions.

(Images: Daniel Clarke )

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Community Engagement

Before going there, we had to do some research about the conditions of those places. We then put this information into diagrams, and we found out that Jamaica Plain and Roxbury are not considered safe places. The high rate of misery found in these areas is one of the main causes. The chart below illustrates its crime rate in relationship to the United States.

This project is about making an architectural survey in a group, in Jamaica Plain and Roxbury. We had to find out how the inhabitants of those places see their neighborhood in 2030.

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Before we got on the site we had to get prepared to catch the attention of the public. For that we did an instagram account, and we printed out a big map and some icons with different city places and activities. The inhabitants were able to pick the icon and put it where they imagined it on the map.

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THE PROCESS

Some of the icons

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#myjprox cardsCNC Board Making Board’s painting

Final board idea (diagram above: Tom Normant)First boards improvement idea

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THE RESULTS

DUBLEY SQUARE

After several tentatives in Roxbury and Jamaica, with different boards which were smaller and less attractive, we finally came up with a boards that were bigger and more attractive to the passengers.

With the final boards, in contrary to our previous experiences, the passengers didn’t ask us for money, food, or cigarettes, but offered us money, and gave us feedback with enthusiasm. The design of those boards attracted people of all ages.

95THANK YOU

W

Thara Messeroux 20 Charlesgate West, Room 405, Boston, MA 02215

tharamesseroux@yahoo.com 978-235-8671