Overview - Fieldwork, Materiality, Facades, Experiences

Stemming from the masonry brick embodiment of the Lawrenceville community and the nature of the relationship between Mom and Son, I explore how the brick could work with different materials to bring the building closer together. The building is more accurately an accessible space, designed for people, bringing together the people of Lawrenceville despite their differences.

People in Lawrenceville don’t just see buildings as shapes, volumes, and walls. Instead, architecture in Lawrenceville acts as the physical form of community and togetherness.

Ideation - Pittsburgh Brick and Nature

After smashing a brick from the site into many pieces and picking up small nearby items, I put these pieces together to learn about the formal compositional possibilities. These compositions laid the foundation for my building structure, continuously exploring the contrasting theme of Mass and Light.

Shown below are the early sketches and conceptual parti models illustrating the preliminary iterations of building structured based on formal explorations and site research.

Duration

Spring 2024

Tools

Rhino, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign AfterEffects, KeyShot, Blender, VRay

Design - A Motif to Diversity

The site model shows the building footprints of the surrounding environment with a close up of the site. More than just showing the materiality of the adjacent buildings, the model serves to showcase the very narrow sidewalks of this part of Lawrenceville. Pedestrians are often overwhelmed by traffic, noise, and chaos, and turn to the built environment to keep them safe and warm.

This project embraces the duality of different programs, characters, and materials, finding ways to bridge otherwise very clashing differences. The final design in the heart of Lawrenceville houses a ground floor grocery store accompanied by a small outdoor cafe. Upstairs, Mom and Son share a common floor while their bedroom lies on opposite ends, unconnected. The following orthographic drawings and models serve as technical and physical representation of the design.

Architecture is one of many powerful mediums of storytelling. The Story of Mom and Son not only follows the maturing relationship between the two characters, but also reflects on the relationship of people, of society. In a world made up of contrast and differences, we should all strive to find ways to embrace change, and to be grateful for each other’s wisdom and presence.

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Tasks

Site Analysis, User Research, Building Design, Animation