Place of Assembly
This project invites visitors to reflect on the cycles of building and rebuilding that have shaped the development of the neighborhood. Using reclaimed brick pavers sourced from Boston’s City Hall, the installation recalls the historic row houses that once defined Chinatown’s residential fabric and the vibrant stoop culture these buildings supported. The project reimagines the familiar symbol of the stoop as a series of modular, brick structures that could be reconfigured to allow for different seating arrangements.
Window Dressing
Window Dressing invites visitors to reflect on the architectural legacy of Late Modernism. Through a temporary cladding system of ornamental shingles, the installation recalls the façade of the Commons and Courthouse Center by Cesar Pelli and Norma Merrick Sklarek for Gruen and Associates (demolished in 2008).
Using mylar film, a lightweight precursor to mirrored glass developed by the aerospace industry, Window Dressing draws inspiration from community events that took place inside this air-conditioned civic interior—high school proms, fashion shows, and election nights. Throughout the course of the day, this dynamic architectural tapestry encourages multiple readings of its surrounding context that responds to changing atmospheres and events: wind and light, pedestrian traffic, and the civic rhythms of downtown Columbus.
All That is Solid
This project is a series of material experiments conducted in collaboration with a building material recycling center in Philadelphia that explores the cultural and environmental legacy of synthetic “miracle materials” on the post-war building industry, with particular focus on the use of expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam as a material substitute for monolithic construction.
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