The Heschel School was a fractured collection of separated properties along the Upper West Side of Manhattan. When the school acquired their current site next to their High School on 61st St & West End Ave, the opportunity to unify all the schools (from Early Childhood Education to Middle School) emerged.
The curtain wall concept accommodated for the discordant rhythm created by the different programmatic requirements of each of the different schools housed vertically. Three different widths of curtain wall panels are used accordingly to accommodate for the interior partitions perpendicularly projecting onto the facade. The result is a seemingly randomized rhythm that responds to the interior of the building.
The base of the building is a stone, blast-resistant podium that elevated the curtain wall cube with all the unified schools.
This project was the Revit pilot project for the firm, which allowed for a complete coordination of the interior spaces in relationship to the exterior facade, and an integrated approach to study solar and heat gain and heat loss for the facade and the skylight featured at the public atrium.
• Involved in design, and overseeing construction & implementation of modular curtain wall system and overall building design.
• Main lead as Revit manager of project.
• Development of presentation renderings & CD’s in Revit
• (+/-) 130,000 SF
• @ Gruzen Samton Architects (Now IBI)
The client’s lakeside property came with a home from the 60’s that urgently needed repairs. During research it was found that Traverse City’s code allows for grandfathering the footprint of the existing structure. It also allows adding a limited amount of square footage based on the F.A.R. of the site, and within the 50-foot setback from the lake.
Our early massing and solar studies sought to take advantage of this regulation while we explored the simplicity and beauty of the aesthetics of Scandinavian cottages.
The program elements were arranged according to our solar studies but also with the relationship of the house to the lake views in mind. The idea was to maximize both these experiences. A central vertical circulation core became the design element that tied all house levels together.
The choice of cedar exterior cladding along with a partial stone base and painted lower level sought to break down the scale of the house with its surrounding neighbors and to blend the building in with its environment.
• Design & project management.
• Production of CD’s and coordination SK drawings.
• Development of presentation renderings & drawings during Schematic, Design Development, Bidding and CD’s. Limited construction administration.
• (+/-) 6,500 SF
• @ John Butterworth Architect
The famed 747 plane that went to Burning Man needed a recalibration of all of its interior spaces in order to better accommodate the huge amount of visitors it would receive in its second (rolling) year at Burning Man.
The Big Imagination (747 art car) camp reached out to me to re-imagine the interior spaces of the plane in addition to orchestrating the urban planning of their 150-people camp. In addition I became one of design leads for all graphic design + all of their event’s graphic identity (including their vintage travel posters for the plane and all fundraiser events).
• Design & project management.
• Production of CD’s and coordination SK drawings.
• Development of presentation renderings & drawings.
• (+/-) 29,000 SF
• @ Big Imagination Burning Man themed camp
Located inside the Bryant Park Hotel, the Japanese-inspired restaurant Koi sought to open a space that would embrace the original aesthetics of its founding Los Angeles sister establishment while nodding to its proximity to the iconic Manhattan park.
The high ceiling condition of the space created an acoustical problem which was addressed by creating an unifying hollow 3D net casted out of Glass Fiber Reinforced Gypsum (GFRG). The forms of the 3D net originated from a minimalist abstraction of fish scales.
Three main modules (with 5 modified versions) were hung using black iron pencil rods on every other scale. The hollow nature of the unit allowed for installation of acoustic damping material.
The overall palette of colors, textures and lighting remained in the realm of earth-inspired tones to compliment the views of the park. Sheer curtains containing these tones and Japanese-inspired nature iconography were used to layer and frame the views of the park.
• Main lead in design, construction & implementation of Glass Fiber Reinforced Gypsum (GFRG) ceiling panel network, graphic of sheer curtains and Glass Scale Chandeliers
• Development of presentation renderings & CD’s
• (+/-) 4,300 SF
• @ ICRAVE Design
The design for a ski-in-ski-out, single-family residence in Snowmass, Colorado required more than 50% of the footprint of the new structure to be underground as per the local codes. The overall organization of the living programs were organized as two simple bars: the upper one housing the public areas and the private ones below. To this end, the garage of the house was also buried towards the back of the property to take advantage of the natural slope of the site.
The nature of the ski-in-ski-out paths also dictated the location of the ski room and spa terrace area. The wide array of views of the great continental divide and the Rocky Mountains dictated the organization of the programs along these two main bars.
The sometimes extreme elements of the site called for high material performance. To this end the use of naturally treated wood in the form of Shou Sugi Ban (an ancient Japanese exterior siding technique that preserves wood by charring it with fire) and wood-formed concrete were the two choices for the bars. The bottom concrete bar gains thermal heat from the earth during the day to counter-balance the cooler nighttime temperatures.
• Design, research and coordination with local Architect of record
• Development of presentation renderings & drawings during Schematic, Design Development, Bidding and CD’s
• (+/-) 4,500 SF
• @ John Butterworth Architect
This federal government proposal project in Washington DC required a new annex of public entry areas and corridors to connect to the newly renovated courthouses of an existing historical building.
Our NYC team managed an exterior central Revit model that contained all the core, shell, and architectural information, while our Virginia office had a separate interior central Revit model to handle all other spaces.
• Involved in Design Development through CD’s of new architecture and interior spaces
• One of two main leads to manage coordination of all Revit central models with our Virginia office
• Development of presentation renderings & CD’s in Revit
• (+/-) 72,000 SF
• @ Gruzen Samton Architects (Now IBI)
The renovation of our own building lobby had to conform with the latest NYC energy codes. In compliance we choose only low-wattage, high-efficacy LED light fixtures. In addition, the design of the new storefront features 1” insulated low U (heat loss) and SHGC (solar heat gain coefficient) values. All tones, language and color schemes sought to depart from the previous red marble scheme of the existing site.
• Main lead in design from Schematic Design, Design Development, Bidding, Construction Documents & Project Administration.
• Development of presentation renderings & CD’s
• (+/-) 650 SF
• @ John Butterworth Architect
Finished lobby looking out to street
Finished lobby directory
Finished lobby directory (detail)
3D visualization rendering (left) / Lobby before (right)
3D visualization renderings
Perhaps one of the first nightlife establishments to be opened in 2001 before the gentrification boom of the Meatpacking District, the iconic (and still open) Cielo has stood the test of time. The team of Stephan Dupoux needed a team member to visualize and imagine the color palette and materiality of the music venue.
My choice for the already established cylindrical bands that defined the language of the space was soft, absorbing cushions to improve the acoustics of the space; and earth tones to go against the stereotypical imagery of blue tones that Cielo (sky in Spanish) normally conjure on people’s imagination.
Mr. Dupoux became excited to use Orange hues of lighting not only to compliment this chosen color palette, but also to make everyone have a “nice tanned skin glow.”
• Material & color freelance research for a Stephan Dupoux project
• Development of presentation renderings in 3D Max
• (+/-) 3,000 SF
• Freelancing
When my fiancé, the editor-in-chief of a leading NYC sustainable fashion blog, bought a one-bedroom apartment in Williamsburg, she asked me to move in with her, and also lend her a hand in the renovation.
The renovation had three main objectives:
1. As a homebase for her lifestyle business, it needed to reflect her aesthetic tastes and values. The mandate was to consider the provenance and safety of all materials selected, including no-VOC paints, wood flooring sourced from upstate barn wood, shelving constructed from fragrant cedar sourced from old water towers, and recycled insulation.
2. It needed to maximize the light and storage in 650 square feet of space. It came carved up into an enclosed living room and kitchen, and had only one small hallway coat closet.
3. It need to accomadate my own professional music needs, integrating my DJing and production equipment without taking over the living space, plus be soundproofed.
The main wall separating the existing kitchen and existing living room was demolished, and a new jogged wall configuration between the living room and bedroom created a dual-niche setting, yielding nine feet of closet space, and four feet of a compact music-making and performance area. The drop ceilings in the hallways were demolished, the kitchen and bathroom completely renovated. Additional storage was added through clever use of shelving and inserting a separate closet above the hallway coat closet to utilize erstwhile dead space.
The apartment walls, floor, and ceiling were soundproofed using a complex system of insulation, rubber, and metal tracks. The professional-level sound system was wired into the walls.
A new custom-made and foldable furniture piece was fabricated to accommodated all the DJ and production equipment that needed to fit in a 4-foot niche… The resulting furniture piece worked.
For the long dark entry corridor we enlisted Brooklyn street artist Cern to welcome visitors with a cornucopia of colorful, happy animals.
• Main lead in design from Schematic Design, to Construction
• Documents & Project Administration.
• Development of CD’s.
• (+/-) 500 SF
• Freelancing
DINING TABLE MADE FROM LEFT-OVER FLOORING MATERIAL
The main architectural move of the apartment renovation was to carve a bedroom closet out of one side of a 13-foot wall, but leave space on the other side facing the living room for a music niche that would house the hybrid DJ/Production desk. In the end, nine feet were allocated to closet, and four feet for the music niche.
The desk couldn’t be wider than four feet and deeper than 2.5 feet. It also needed to be mobile so it could be moved to the center of the living room for parties, plus be optimally located in the middle axis of the room for the mixdown during music production.
In addition to fitting all the equipment required for DJ’ing; and limited production gear, a couple of studio monitors needed to be housed in it, so they could be easily deployed for music production.
In short, a movable, collapsible design was needed. The idea was conceived as hand-sketches which were turned into a 3D Rhino model to be used by the metal worker / fabricator. The pieces were laser cut and the resulting DJ booth was accurately built to fit within the niche with just a few fractions of an inch to spare.
Aesthetically speaking, it features a rough, industrial look reminiscent of the urban fabric of Brooklyn while being as sustainable as possible. The main body of the desk was made out of blackened steel (mostly 1/8” or thinner gauge pieces) and all the table surfaces were conceived with leftover material from the apartment floor renovation.
• Lead designer using Rhino 3D / CAD.
• Freelancing
• Project Management & coordination of rendering production for a private residence in Tribeca
• @ Spine3D
• Project Management and coordination of renderings & animation for a condo in Boca Raton, FL
• Direction of photographer for backgrounds
• Direction of full video crew for on-site shooting of models and Green screen shooting
• Camera matching of 3D model to photo backgrounds
• @ Spine3D
The wedding experience for 2 music lovers who cherish the sacred geometries found at the architecture of the temples of Burning Man called for the concept of turning a Bushwick warehouse into a Temple for Music. This was my wedding and I dreamed up every single design detail, from the space lighting & aesthetics, to the DJ booth, to the main chandelier, to the invites and the guest’s gifts. Everything followed the spirit of sacred geometries found throughout the space.
A full set of coordinated drawings, 3D diagrams and renderings was developed and provided to all vendors for each of the 3 different phases of the night: 01. The wedding ceremony, 02. The Dinner, 03. The dance party. In addition to this 2 overall plans were developed (A rain plan and a no-rain plan for the outdoor spaces)
Given that the theme of the design language was sacred geometries I decided to dream a new sacred geometry, one that was inclusive of the proportions of the iconic height differential between me and my wife. (See the diagram in the first image). Our new main sacred geometry was found throughout the details of the event.
Rather than doing numbers for the guest location at their tables we used the theme of the sacred geometries to as mobiles throughout the tall space of the event as visual denotative elements that marked the location of each table. Each guest received a copper cup with a tag showing one of the 14 geometries, and they were given the instructions of finding their table by looking up and finding their signs.
The ceiling height of the 1896 studio is a vast imposing void that needed to be visually addressed. While the table finding geometries filled most of this void there needed to be a top hierarchy to it all. We also wanted a disco ball but didn’t wan’t it to clash with the aesthetics of the event. In addition, we didn’t want cheesy club lighting (and my fiance at the time did not allow me to have lasers arranged in geometrical shapes). So a simple, elegant wood pyramid that visually encapsulated the disco ball and doubled up as a hidden club lighting element became the design solution to all of these requirements. The chandelier lighting was also controlled via an iPhone app. We kept the lighting white and subdued for the dinner and the beginning of the night, but there was no escaping the enthusiastic guests who wanted to steal the phone and change light parameters and colors.
The DJ booth was another focal element that needed to have the same spirit of the event.
The party favors were are designed and developed following the main “illden (Illich + Alden)” sacred geometry. The wooden necklaces became the main visual clue for our security to distinguish the official guest who were trying to come back into the warehouse from their smoking break on the streets from the ones who were trying to crash the party… It also was the golden ticket to the after-party to the wedding.
• Main lead in design, construction, coordination & implementation of all large design elements (Chandelier, DJ booth, table finders) smaller party favors (laser cut wood pendants, branded copper mugs) and all graphic design identity for the event (invitations, signage).
• Main lead in coordination & implementation of all subcontractors for lighting, recycling and composting, buildout, furniture, flowers and small scale details.
• Development of presentation renderings & CD’s
• (+/-) 10,000 SF
• Freelance
Our memorial competition entry celebrates and remembers the singularity of every individual who died in the 9/11 attacks by manifesting his or her absence as light. Each victim's name is etched into a separate piece of glass blocks; the glass' length correlates to the victim's age at death. These pieces of glass, or glass boxes, are the building blocks of the walls that flank the three access ramps or "Vectors of Light", which visitors use to descend into the site.
The density of names and light intensifies as the visitor descends down the vectors.
The three Vectors of Light slowly descend into the site hovering above the sacred ground and coloring it with attenuated shadows and bundles of light. Each of the three vectors is dedicated to a specific group of victims.
The first vector commemorates the 2,792 people who died in the World Trade Center and its vicinity; the second, the 184 people who died at the Pentagon; and the third, the 40 who died aboard United Flight 93.
In honor of the six individuals who died in the original 1993 WTC bombing, the three ramps converge carving a hexagonal space just south of the north footprint - the exact location of 1993 explosion.
This meditative space, named the Remembrance Hexagon, is bathed on all sides by light sprinkling through the walls of the three vectors above.
At the center of the Remembrance Hexagon, visitors peer through the names of the victims into a hexagonal lightwell that penetrates down to bedrock. The lightwell contains a catacomb that houses the unidentified remains of the World Trade Center site. The remains are symbolically buried, respecting the anonymity of the catacomb's contents.
• Freelancing / Competition
