A collaboration with Kevin Olsen
Jonestown, Texas, is undergoing great change, in climate, demographics, and identity. This project is designed as a framework for the future of Jonestown. Spaces are ambiguous and open with the intent that the citizens will take ownership and adapt the structure as needed and better reflect the character of the city than what we can prescribe as designers. Whatever the future holds, this building seeks to be a common ground for all citizens and guests of Jonestown.
The programmatic requirements of the project include a city hall and offices, library, hotel, and dance hall. We also introduce a restaurant and gallery space to the complex. Our design recognizes the independent needs of different programs, but overlaps supportive resources and unites the programs through visual connections across a series of open spaces. Separation is achieved through sectional variety, which creates privacy and security.
The programmatic space is organized around a series of courtyards. This strategy allows for access to daylight and ventilation throughout, as well as allowing interior functions to overflow into these areas. Therefore, as the city experiences growth and varying needs, the complex can accommodate a range of activities at many scales.
A screen, a porous division between inside and out, is the uniting feature of the exterior language. It reflects the nature of civic space: a balance of transparency and security. The screen also performs additional functions, acting as a shading device and handrail. The chosen material, cypress, is intended to weather and change over time - adding character and variation. The intent is that an idiosyncratic texture will arise with maintenance.
University of Texas at Austin
Comprehensive Studio
with Cisco Gomes & Marla Smith
Spring 2014
Honor: Design Excellence Nominee
Austin was established between two creeks, Shoal Creek and Waller Creek. As the city grew, the urban fabric expanded beyond these natural boundaries. The siting of a community center and gardens seeks to reestablish Waller Creek as an artery of the city, connecting to both the urban grid and the system of parks dispersed along Waller Creek and the Lady Bird Lake hike and bike trail.
University of Texas at Austin
Vertical Studio
with Sarah Gamble and Peter Raab
Spring 2012
The Danish Bench consists of a Walnut wood frame finished with Danish oil and a Danish chord weave for the seat. No hardware was used in the construction of the frame. The legs accept the seat frame through bridal joints and the seat frame itself is connected by a series of lap joints. The inset legs are based on the proportions of a perfect double supported cantilever.
University of Texas at Austin
Wood Design, Fall 2011
with Mark Macek
From top:
Globe [Glass, Copper, Lead, Bronze] / 2010
Autumn [Glass, Copper, Lead] / 2009
From top:
Untitled Dream [Acrylic on Canvas 30" x 30"] / 2008
Modern Landscape [Acrylic on Canvas 32" x 32"] / 2008
Italian Composition [Acrylic on Canvas 15" x 30"] / 2008
A ruin is a function of dualities: decay and persistence, nature and manmade, clarity and ambiguity. A ruin is reminiscent of the past and also projecting into the future, and never of the present, but in our own experience. The experience of the ruin is primarily influenced by what remains. There are clues to the truth, but we fill in the gaps with our mind and take liberties in doing so. Thus a ruin becomes your own, apart from what it ever was and ever will be, as a fragment of your imagination. The accompanying images are altered images from my experience in Chaco Canyon. I have taken liberties with the photographs, manipulating, enhancing, and interpreting this particular site to reflect that experience.
University of Texas at Austin
Independent Study
with Igor Siddiqui
Summer 2014
