The design assist phase of this project required a high level of parametric modeling through Rhinoceros and Grasshopper to optimize geometry, rapidly update models, and budget materials. This dramatically cut time during construction drawings. During the construction phase, I used a laser scanner to perform quality control of the project’s unitized steel pentagons at TrussWorks International in Anaheim, CA. I worked with the fabrication team to make unit changes and coordinate unit deliveries to the site in Seattle, WA.

Enclos / 2014-2016

The design portion of this project proposal was completed in a single month. As a team, we designed multiple wall types, estimated each of their costs, and analyzed their structural  integrity. I personally championed the bridge wall type, estimated multiple others in Grasshopper, and rendered them for the proposal book using V-ray.

Enclos / 2015

The new Waldorf Astoria in Los Angeles was another design assist contract that I was a part of. Our team would meet weekly with Gensler in order to refine each wall type detail. I personally was in charge of the towers details and created drawings, renderings, and 3d prints for the condition as it updated. The phase of this contract was extremely accelerated and lasted less than three months.

Enclos / 2015

During the fall, teams of four researched different aspects of challenging environments. My group focused specifically on extreme events such as tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, war, and more. The final three weeks were spent individually designing a small-scale, single-occupant home that could withstand multiple extreme events. I designed a pre-fabricated shell that would protect its user from war, radiation accidents, and cold waves. 

During the Winter, I lead the construction team for the Talik Anchor HS-6, one of three micro-homes from the previous quarter that were constructed at a full-scale mockup. Teams of six spent the first three weeks improving the design of their respective micro-home before commencing construction during the final eight weeks. My team produced an underwater capsule that would house an occupant for a month or more at a time. Our design resulted in a spacious interior while simultaneously creating an area for lab equipment and research stations. My efforts primarily focused on fabrication, construction, and budget of the mockup.

UCLA / Craig Hodgetts / Fall 2016

The BGB-322 is an inflatable, silicon suit that provides comfort and stability to the areas of the body that are most compromised during work or travel. Addressing the issue that furniture can’t always provide the customization that our bodies desire, my group’s design implements a skin that can adapt to its environment by parametrically responding to a figure’s back curvature and targeting areas that need the most support. 

UCLA / Marta Nowak / Winter 2017

This three week, six person group project involved master planning an artificial island intended for cruiseship tourism off the coast of China. Each group was given a specific list of programs to include. As the lead designer and modeler, I aimed for our project to embrace future sea level increases by elevating every piece of infrastructure three meters above the current water line and by minimizing the overall footprint of the city.

UCLA / Julia Koerner / Summer 2016

This ten week studio began as a team-based, design competition for a skylight in the UCLA studio space. Our concept was chosen during midterm reviews and the final five weeks were then spent collectively constructing it at full scale. As the lead designer, I coordinated a six person fabrication team. Other members focused on coding and documentation. The final design is made of aluminum panels that fold down flat to block all natural light from entering the space and fold open to reflect light back in. The panels were CNC-ed in-house and the standard aluminum profiles were personally fabricated on site. The skylight is actuated with four stepper motors controlled by a Raspberry Pi motherboard.

UCLA / Peter Vikar / Fall 2016

This pop up shop, made of four recycled shipping containers, sells the studio’s art and furniture, and exhibits local artists. It was intended to only last for one summer, but continued after a large amount of success. Since its first use, it has added a community garden and a yoga pavilion. The front gate, signage, and back wall were personally designed and fabricated using Rhino, Grasshopper, and a CNC mill.

Ilan Dei Studio / 2012

The rapid advancements in self-driven vehicle technology will likely be a physical reality in car-centric cities such as Los Angeles within the next fifteen years and will inevitably change its relationship to architecture. Unless designers begin to prepare for such transformations today, architecture will be attempting to catch up to an autonomous vehicle world for decades to come. This project aims to create a guide for future designers on how to successfully connect architecture with a city of self-driven vehicles. I have continued working on this project because I was invited to lecture on it twice for an urban design class at the University of California, Irvine.

Finalist for Thesis Innovation Award

USC / Eric Haas / 2014

The projects in this studio were intended to be used by the Joshua Tree National Park to assist them in future fundraisers for a new Visitor Center. This particular site overlooked Palm Springs, the San Andreas fault line, and the Coachella Valley. The project therefore aims to save this view for the last moment and provide teasers along the way, while also harnessing the severe winds by funneling cold air underneath the building and push hot air vertically out the vented roof.

1st Place in the Precast Concrete Institute Studio

USC / Doug Noble / 2013

This charter school extends the growing art community in downtown Los Angeles to Broadway. The diagrid performs as the main source of structure and ventilation. This steel network uses a double cell to incorporate a stacked ventilation system with a hydronic cooling system by passing cold air through the thicker members.

Displayed in annual student exhibit

USC / Eric Haas / 2012

This tower aims to create a new typology of skyscraper that can revitalize the desolate northeastern side of Union Station by creating a vertical rambla of shopping and eating for the public to enjoy. By producing human scale zones marked by each selective glass void, pedestrians are able to slowly wander similar to the street.

Project exhibited at the A&D Museum

USC / Jonathan Ward / 2013