sustainable homestead

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plan and illustrations

Designing with nature was the most critical factor of creating the sustainable homestead. Current trends in sustainable design were utilized to develop a site that can work with the landscape. Natural plant and animal life were addressed, and the shape of the land was studied as well. From start to nish, natural ows of water, solar orientation, and natural systems were explored through conceptual drawings that made for a design that nestles soundly with the surrounding landscape.

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aerial perspective and cross sectionsustainable homestead

An aerial perspective shows the site composition. A cross section illustrates the size relationships of all the parts of the site.

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master planrobert f. gingerella park

The concept for Robert F. Gingerella Park was to create a functionally sound park that incorporates elements for a wide variety of users for year-round enjoyment while considering safety, function, connections throughout the whole park, and connections to the town’s adjacent areas and natural features. This master plan successfully enhanced the park without detracting from its existing function.

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robert f. gingerella parkillustrations

pedestrian entrance from adjacent neighborhood

skate park

These illustrations provide a view of the park as a whole, and some of its key components.

SHIFT boston competitionconceptual sketches

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The SHIFT Boston project focused on rekindling creative spirit in the City of Boston, and it challenged designers to think outside the box. This project began by sketching ideas out on paper. The illustrations shown here are free-hand conceptual sketches drawn on sketchbook paper with soft lead pencils.

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SHIFT boston competitionplan & illustrations

A rough concept diagram illustrates ideas for designs that reect the feeling imposed by each side of the channel, and how the arches would ow over the channel linking the two edges in a creative call-and-response dialogue. Blue illuminated arches would span over the channel and illuminate the night sky. The side of the channel opposite the Children’s Museum offers a hard, sharp edge that lends itself to a design that echoes this feeling. The zigzagging deck mimics the paving pattern in front of the Children’s Museum.

Superimposing the master plan over a map of Fort Point Channel illustrates a coming together of ideas for the SHIFT Boston Competition. The call-and-response between the channel edges can be seen in the color-coordinated planters that span the channel and link the two sides together.

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illustrations

SHIFT boston competition

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The goal of this planting plan was to use native material that would create a landscape that not only functions to shade and cool the building, but also addresses the ve senses. The landscape uses aesthetically pleasing, fragrant plant material that also reacts to wind, creating excitement from a natural event. Conceptual plans on trace allowed for exploration of ideas before arriving to a nal planting plan.

woodward hallconcept plans

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plan & sectionswoodward hall

A nal planting plan was created using AutoCAD, and was then rendered in Photoshop.

Photoshop sections illustrate the relationships of the plant material to the building.

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CADwoodward hall

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group workeast greenwich train station

1. This group project was process-oriented. Each stage of development involved breaking tasks down for team participation. The preliminary stage involved a group concept plan that was quickly created by drawing ideas on a 6 foot long piece of trace.

2. In order to move forward, the large piece of trace was divided into 9 equal sections. Each member of the team took a section, and developed a schematic design for their section. The pieces were then placed back together to create one whole schematic plan.

3. A nal plan was created from the schematic design. Each member of the group took a turn inking and rendering, and as a team, produced the plan seen to the right.

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site analysis - natural featuresmedeiros memorial park

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medeiros memorial parksite analysis - land use & infrastructure

The focus of my nal semester of senior year was a project dedicated to victims of domestic violence. The chosen site for the project was in Bristol, RI, home of the family of Maryellen Medeiros, who was brutally stabbed by her husband in a t of rage. The site of the current Bristol Golf Course offered great opportunity for an installation that would rehabilitate a destroyed natural ecosystem, as well as provide a spot for rehabilitation of victims of domestic violence and their families.

medeiros memorial parkplan & illustrations

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The greatest challenge of designing a park on the existing site was its size. The strange elongated shape made it difcult, as it spanned such a long distance and offered no connection between the northern and southern portions of the site. Through the use of a curvilinear path and matching circulation to natural desire lines of the landscape, a strong connection was created throughout the park.

Critical to the design of this park was the incorporation of aspects of healing. A strolling garden lled with colorful, fragrant plant material possessing healing qualities was implemented to soothe the human senses for extended growing seasons. A reective pool was designed in a grove of weeping willow trees to allow for quiet reection and meditation as the branches of the trees calmly grace the surface of the water.

Along the path of circulation, a symbolic memorial art installation was developed as the main unifying factor between the northern and southern portions of the site. The memorial art installation consists of three lines of solid-colored ags. Each color symbolizes how every victim has their own personal situation. The intersections symbolize that even though every victim has their own story, they are still a victim of the same crime. This shared situation, although unfortunate, can create a strengthening and bonding experience between strangers that otherwise would have never met. The colors of the ags are carefully chosen for therapeutic values. The location of this art installation helps carry the visitors from the northern part of the site to the southern portion, and vice versa.

-Red: Stimulates the body and increases circulation. It is also a color of strong emotions, love, warmth, comfort, and excitement.

-Yellow: Stimulates the nerves and puries the body. It is a cheery and warmcolor.

-Blue: Soothes illness and treats pain. Blue is a color of calmness, tranquility, security, and order.

In addition to rehabilitating souls, this design is intended to rehabilitate the once ourishing natural ecosystem that existed for years before the installation of the golf course.

medeiros memorial park

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cross sections

These cross sections illustrate key aspects of the park and their relationship to human scale. The section at top left illustrates an area for quiet reection and meditation. The section at middle left illustrates a strolling garden composed of fragrant plant material with therapeutic qualities. At bottom left is a section that shows a piece of the memorial art installation.

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pencil sketchesartistic endeavors

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artistic endeavorspencil sketches These sketches were developed as part of a class exercise on a short trip to

Black Point in Narragansett. The focus of the exercise was to sketch interesting phenomena that were a result of natural interactions between the ocean and the land. The most interesting sight witnessed was a particular part of the shore that has been eaten away over the years of harsh New England storms. The sketch below illustrates this piece of the shore that looks as if it is forming a wave of soil that is ghting back against the relentless storm surges, forming a call-and-response dialogue between the land and the sea.

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artistic endeavorsdigital sketching