Emily Ashby Portfolio

01. STUDIO NARRATIVE

Monster | Urban Housing Hybrid

Li t t le Tibetan Inn

Microcl ima[c] t ic Odyssey

reCOVER South Afr ica

02. PROFESSIONAL

Zamboni Pavi l ion

LockPark

Nantasket Water front

03. ACADEMIC SAMPLE

Inf in i ty Knot

Hurr icane House

Parasi t ic Hydrology

Studio Clay

Vor tex | Landf i l l to Landform

Venice Unvei led

CONTENTS

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E M I LY A S H B Y

Residential complexes have not seen significant shifts in program and type in over half a century. Housing is inherently modular, and typically produces a homog-enous typology. Larger, more figural programs, such as gyms, theaters, and libraries, have more formal freedom and variation. By combining programs, part-modular and part-exceptional, into a build-ing hybrid, housing functions as public space and integrates more fluidly with the urban fabric.

“Hybrid” can be understood in three metaphors: “centaur,” “manimal,” and “cyborg.” The centaur is half-man, half-beast, preserving typologi-cal distinction. The manimal negotiates both typologies into a new merged form. The cyborg is something other en-tirely, and does not necessar-ily rely on previous models or precedent.

AGGREGATE GROUPS

HYBRIDIZE AGGREGATES

boolean folding twisting lofting

SECTIONAL EFFECT

plan [below] A B C D

plan [above]

SINGULAR CONNECTION

GROUPING CONNECTIONS

PERPENDICULAR [Z] PARALLEL [X] PARALLEL [Y] OBLIQUE [XY]

perpendicular [xy] perpendicular [xy] perpendicular [xy] kink [xy]

omit oblique intersection

perpendicular [xy] perpendicular [offset y] perpendicular [offset x] perpendicular [offset xy]

VOLUMETRIC - regular PLANAR PLANAR VOLUMETRIC - irregular

AGGREGATE GROUPS

HYBRIDIZE AGGREGATES

boolean folding twisting lofting

SECTIONAL EFFECT

plan [below] A B C D

plan [above]

SINGULAR CONNECTION

GROUPING CONNECTIONS

PERPENDICULAR [Z] PARALLEL [X] PARALLEL [Y] OBLIQUE [XY]

perpendicular [xy] perpendicular [xy] perpendicular [xy] kink [xy]

omit oblique intersection

perpendicular [xy] perpendicular [offset y] perpendicular [offset x] perpendicular [offset xy]

VOLUMETRIC - regular PLANAR PLANAR VOLUMETRIC - irregular

ARCH4020 Research Studio / Spring 2014 / Washington DC

Critics - Robin Dripps + Ghazal Abbasy

MONSTER | Urban Housing Hybrid

A web of transformations be-gins to describe the possible relationships between process operations. The resulting spatial taxonomy acts as precedent and reference to aid in formal gen-eration and aggregation. More-over, awareness of families and strains aids in the development of a formal language to de-scribe the monster.

plan disturbances understood through surface and volume

Physical parameters adopt-ed from zoning restrictions, unit dimensions, circulation grades, sunlight require-ments, and site-specific pressures serve as the “grid” from which to introduce deviation. Systematic de-viations, or disturbances, locate secondary program within the modular hous-ing field. Exceptions to the

system and normal deviation occur as “the monster.” This unpredictable formal “slip” requires the system to tempo-rarily break and reassemble. “Monster” moves acknowl-edge diversity and specificity of site and design intention, becoming signature places, the identifiable landmarks within a landscape.

Aggregation [grid] Disturbance [field] Monster [figure]

ground interaction - floor 2 interlocking systems - floor 6 tower levels - floor 12

Lower density housing modules with a higher ratio of public space and accessibility hover over the edges of the site, built on a ramping circulation logic. This low-density model inter-sects with and plugs-in to the high-density tower module, de-fining key formal and program-matic “monster” moments.

[left] lower-density units - woven aggregation

[below] facade interplay with high-density unit aggregation

[top right] Housing integrates with rec-reational programs, sharing circulation and street frontage, forming relation-ships through shared amentities.

[top left] Public programs and parks at ground level encourage interactions between residents and the surround-ing community.

[lower left] Shared circulation at the intersection of housing types and rec-reational program space.

[lower right] The agitated ground plane invites, through directional cues, visi-tors and residents to cross paths and explore the site.

urban analysis parametr ic study concepts

sequential sections

Each residential building study explores an urban consideration such as sunlight, views, circulation, and activating the street level. Iteratively diagram-ming abstract responses to address these parameters generates formal and organizational design ideas.

Health, defined not as the ab-sence of sickness, but as a ho-listic mind and body wellness, changes the way we consider health care.

Eastern medical pracices, spe-cifically in Tibet, have a long tradition of addressing more than just physical wellness. Western medicine is in con-stant flux, and leads in innova-tion. These two approaches to medicine integrate on a small-scale in the Little Tibetan Inn, a community for visiting Tibetan scholar and monks to interact with Charlottesville commu-nity partners through healthful practices and engagement.

“Alternative” forms of healing are offered int eh form of mas-sage therapy, acupuncture, chi-iropractic, and spa treatment.

The Westover Estate, in Charlot-tesville, Virginia, is the site for an intended Tibetan integrated medi-cal complex. The formerly produc-tive landscape has roots in agrarian culture.

A drastic topographic range is defined by a prominent central hill, surrounded by slighter mounds and swails. This relative topography has both systematic and phenomeno-

logical implications - from vegeta-tion patterns and circulation to buzzing insects. An underlying mapping of zones determined by topographic slope describes a gradient of qualitative data, including relative warmth, vegetation, views, and sounds. These zones outline a network of paths, in which each path straddles two distinct conditions.

[top] CNC sewing maps the build-up of thread to describe density of vegetation on site.

[middle] A diagrammatic model of the site topography provides a guide to designing accessible paths with a gradient of inclines.

[bottom] A wire diagram translates an idea, that relative topography is correlated to the measured amplitude of insects, into a spatial representation.

AB

The three regions of Tibet have distinct cultural and geo-graphic characteristics. These characteristics are overlaid in plan and section to initiate programmatic and formal rela-tionships. The Yarlung Tsang-po canyon is the deepest in the world, and Mount Everest is the highest peak. I imagine that the affects of these nat-ural phenomena have aftershocks as far as Char-lottesville, and plates shift tec-

tonically, forcing the ground up, creating an ethereal peak and a jagged canyon in the Little Tibetan Inn. Barley, the number one grain in both Tibet and Virginia, is cultivated on terraces and brought into the kitchen so that residents and visitors can share recipes and cook together. These dishes and collaborations are served in the restaurant above.

Plan Level 1 Plan Level 2 Plan Level 3 Plan Level 4

The Odyssey myth serves as the icon-ic backdrop for an urban investigation in Baltimore, Maryland. “The rosy fingers of dawn,” “weeping and wailing,” and other phrases and words meter the poem and signal quotidian patterns. These cycli-cal literary devices can be equated to the humdrum repetition of row houses in Balti-more. While The Odyssey is punctuated by events that break the norm, Baltimore lacks an event to differentiate space and break up the homogeny. Water and spatial waste

in Baltimore can be exploited as resource by punctuating the urban landscape with a microclimate journey through a story of returning home that is re-latable to all.

MICROCLIMA[C]TIC ODYSSEY[ spring 2013 studio \ lucia phinney \ parametric fiction ]

The Odyssey myth serves as the icon-ic backdrop for an urban investigation in Baltimore, Maryland. “The rosy fingers of dawn,” “weeping and wailing,” and other phrases and words meter the poem and signal quotidian patterns. These cycli-cal literary devices can be equated to the humdrum repetition of row houses in Balti-more. While The Odyssey is punctuated by events that break the norm, Baltimore lacks an event to differentiate space and break up the homogeny. Water and spatial waste

in Baltimore can be exploited as resource by punctuating the urban landscape with a microclimate journey through a story of returning home that is re-latable to all.

MICROCLIMA[C]TIC ODYSSEY[ spring 2013 studio \ lucia phinney \ parametric fiction ]

[ arch3020 research studio \ lucia phinney \ spring 2013 ]

MICROCLIMA[C]TIC ODYSSEY

The Odyssey myth serves as the iconic backdrop for an urban investi-gation in Baltimore, Maryland. “The rosy fingers of dawn,” “weeping and wailing,” and other phrases meter the poem to signal quotidian patterns. These cyclical literary devices can be equated to the humdrum repetition of row houses in Baltimore.

While The Odyssey is punctuated by events that break the norm, Balti-more’s streescape lacks an event to break up the homogeny. Water and spatial waste can be exploited as resource to catalyze an epic journey of returning home through spatially and sensorially distinct microclimate moments.

Simultaneity of Memory

roof water volume level of enclosure enclosure as height triangulate armature microclimate cells

Waste as Resource Structure as Metaphor

Words and phrases in The Odyssey symbolizing quotidian patterns are the basis for a parametric mesh of regularity. A section of this mesh, from morning (east) to night (west) is applied to a two-block area of Baltimore, where metered row houses replace literary symbols.

The two primary waste resources in Baltimore are water and space. Rainfall on permeable and imper-meable surfaces is cross-referenced with a spatial proximity to faces of existing buildings, setting up a gradient of enclosures. These form an armature, which houses micro-climate cells.

A new interactive water infrastruc-ture network collects and filters water creatively, making spaces that highlight water in each stage of this process. Rather than harm-ful runoff flooding the highway, the harvested water is used for residen-tial and agricultural purposes.

Field. The final destination, home, lifts the ground as a celebratory community market. A strategically shaped roof allows for inhabitation above and below, as well as directing water into a terraced irrigation system.

urban analysis of path and place as program generator

Forest. A forgotten courtyard between abandoned buildings is redesigned as a forest, with glowing “tree structures collecting water and emitting it as a foggy mist, creating a magical, damp environment for moss to flourish and creatures to thrive.

The reCOVER initiative, under a Jef-ferson Public Citizen Grant, brings together academic, civic and pro-fessional organizations to address tangible needs through design. In partnership with the University of Vir-ginia’s Water and Health in Limpopo project; the University of Venda in Thohoyandou, South Africa; the Mu-kondeni Pottery Cooperative; and the Arup Cause Program, the reCOVER team has focused on a multi-phased, multi-sectorial implementation strat-egy of a ceramic water filter factory and landscape design prototype. The design is a product of cultural immersion, environmental sensitivity, and resource propogation.

SOUTH AFRICA’S CLAY ROUTEARRANGEMENT OF CLAY FACILITIES WITHIN THE COUNTRY’S LATOSOL CLAY DEPOSITS

CRITERIA FOR THE PLACEMENT AND NETWORKING OF FUTURE FACTORIES:• Clay facility must be within the existing Latosol deposit• Each administrative zone has its own facility, assuming that each administrative zone has its own chief and administrator• Clay facility must be within a certain distance of a major river for access to water for mixing clay and testing water filters• Clay facility must be within a certain distance of an urban area for access to building materials

FUTURE FACTORIES + NETWORKsites that serve as possible locations for filter factories based on the outlined criteria

URBAN AREASregions of South Africa with the building supplies, populations, and market for a filter factory’s success

LATASOL CLAY DEPOSITS + WATERWAYSareas framed by access to raw materials

A NEW CONNECTIVITYa system of factory prototypes develops over time,

creating an infrastructure of physical connections as well as a sharing of techniques, materials, and

educational practices

MUKONDENI

SOUT

H AF

RICA

POPU

LATI

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49,99

1,300

LIMPO

PO R

EGIO

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OUTH

AFR

ICA

LOUIS TRICHARDT

MUKONDENI

POLOKWANE

POPU

LATI

ON -

5,439

,600

MUKONDENIPOTTERYCOOPERATIVE

GPS

- EAS

T 30

.1084

, SOU

TH -2

3.254

0PO

PULA

TION

- 2,3

75

MUKO

NDEN

I, SOU

TH A

FRIC

A

RONDOVALS FACTORYSHED

FISH POND

CLAYDEPOSIT

POTTERYCO-OP

JOJO TANK

MUKO

NDEN

I POT

TERY

COL

LECT

IVE

GPS

- EAS

T 30

.1084

, SOU

TH -2

3.254

0

670

669

668

667

666

+ LP665

671

672

673

+ HP673.5

SOUTH AFRICA’S CLAY ROUTEARRANGEMENT OF CLAY FACITILIES WITHIN THE COUNTRY’S LATOSOL CLAY DEPOSITS

CONTEXT MAPS

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CONT

EXT

+ DI

AGRA

MS

reCOVER SOUTH AFRICA[ summer 2012 \ anselmo canfora \ erin root, irene preciado, timothy morris, luke gates ]

south africa limpopo hamashamba mukondeni

FUTURE FACTORY + NETWORK

LATASOL CLAY DEPOSITS + WATERWAYS

URBAN AREAS

The reCOVER Initiative, un-der a Jefferson Public Citizen Grant, brings together aca-demic, civic, and professional organizations to address tan-gible needs through design. In partnership with the University of Virginia’s Wather and Halth in Limpopo project; the Univer-sity of Venda in Thohoyandou, South Africa; the Mukondeni Pottery Cooperative; and the

Arup Cause Program, the reCOVER team of four under-graduate students focused on a multi-phased, multi-sectorial implementation strategy of a ceramic water filter factory and landscape design prototype. The design is a product of cul-tural immersion, environmental sensitivity, and resource propa-gation.

The roof collection system redirects all the rainwater to header tanks, which are placed below the roof and utilize gravity to distribute the water for drinking, cook-ing, bathing, and pottery pro-duction. During heavy rains, the overflow of roof water runoff bypasses the header tank and travels directly to a large secured, partially in-ground concrete cistern.

The initial site strategy derives from a spatial timeline delin-eating the process of ceramic water filter manufacturing. The intention is to identify and logi-cally support workflows across the site, from clay deposit to factory to display and shipping areas, while accounting for wa-ter use through the process. The workflow considers how the individual or groups of potters work during isolated and col-lective tasks.

Calculations have shown that the total water collected ofver the span of one year from roof runoff will be sufficient to support the Mukondeni Pottery Cooperative based on a daily 20-liter-consumption for each of the 45 women of the Cooperative. In addition, the collected water would support the production of ceramic filters, which require four liters per filter.

timeline of pottery-production

Since 1947, accomplished craftswomen from the fillage of Ha-Mashamba in Limpopo, South Africa have been using a local clay deposit to create a varety of functional and deco-rative pottery. In 1998, forty of the original potters formed the Mukondeni Pottery Coop-erative and began to work in a facility built by the municipal government. The cooperative provides the potters of Ha-Mashamba with a livelihood while the region benefits from the continued production of an iconic symbol of local culture.

view from community center to studio and factory

[top] view from community center to studio and factory

[right] view from pottery studio onto terraced landscape

The Folly

Evolved Shed Form

Surface / Volume Pavilion

Urban Igloo

A zamboni functions as the star in the unique spectacle of ice-re-surfacing. Seasonal outdoor ice-skating is a community favorite in Kendall Square, and the current shed housing this object of util-ity and entertainment is an unin-spired eyesore. The design con-cept for a zamboni pavilion is to incorporate storage with an iconic public space and art amenity.

Four design “families” find in-spiration from garden follies, scandanavian household glass, ice scuptures, and graphic floral wallpaper.

[ Fall 2014 \ Utile \ designer \ Elizabeth Christoforetti ]

ZAMBONI PAVILION

Urban design considerations, either prioritize the existing landscape form or emphasizing a relation-ship to adjacent lobby entrances.

motion of locks - open

motion of locks - closed

urban design considerations

A collaboration between Utile and Spurr envisions a celebration of the Charles River locks that separate the river from Boston Harbor. As a part of the BSA-sponsored Green Links competition, “LockPark” identifies a miss-ing link in Boston’s bike and pedestrian network. Swing-ing decks are geometrically calibrated to address the need to bridge across active flood control gates. The resulting artificial topography intro-duces the potential for cre-ative recreation while provid-ing access and activation to the underutilized route.

[ Summer 2014 \ Utile \ Design + Graphics ]

LOCKPARK

Nantasket Beach has a rich his-tory as an active public space. Paragon Park, an amusement park in the 1960s was a long-time icon of the area, supporting a sig-nificant tourism economy. This unique identity has faded as the park was eventually removed and maintenance of the shore has not kept up with flooding from regu-lar storm surges.

A seven-block strip of land, bounded by ocean on one side and bay on the other, is the neck between mainland and the pen-insula of Hull. This neck sees the some of the worst flooding and traffic congestion. In collabora-tion with Nelson Nygard, Utile has proposed a new two-way traffic distribution, as well as a phased ladder block division.

PhasingExisting

Full Build-out

[ Summer 2014 - ongoing \ Utile \ Tim Love ]

NANTASKET REVITALIZATION

Block Massing

The proposed four-story rowhouse typology, adapted from an earlier project collaboration, addresses the flood zone by delegating the ground floor to garage.

6’ front porch 4’ back porch 8’ parallel parking

The block section introduces a new boardwalk and bike lane parallel to the ocean. The devel-opment of these blocks takes a resilience initiative to address flooding with a forty-foot “dunes-cape” offset. Ramps cut through the dunescape to a four-foot raised boardwalk lined with retail. Three levels of residential provide a much-needed mixed-use housing program. The bay-side is treated as a smaller-scale village concept, pairing row-houses with public ground-level parking, accessed through shared alleys.

[ ARCH2010 Foundations Studio \ Mara Marcu \ Fall 2011 ]

INFINITY KNOT

An abstracted exploration of a spatial diagram becomes applicable to organization in inhabitable architecture. Hy-brid modeling techniques and materials translates diagram to design- in the understanding of material properties and joinery, gradients of transparency, both literal and phenomenal, and structural system logics.

redirect runoff in pattern of birm, mound and swail intersect logics inhabit ground circulate

roof material by orientation

Dripps + Phinney Residence is situated at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, nestled amidst vineyards, rolling hills, and forest. The existing struc-tures are aligned with a geo-logic ridge and fault line, plac-ing it in the direct path of most storms. A concept for a safe house emerges, with its formal qualities derived from an in-tersection of the landform with the existing residence, gardens, and microclimates.

HURRICANE HOUSE [ Dripps + Phinney Studio \ Summer 2013 ]

street attractions by age

spatial representation of crime

Children are a parasite of society, dependent in every way. The city is designed by adults primarily to serve adults. While children do not reciprocate contribution in specific tangible ways to society, they are invaluable in intangible ways. Children have a joyful way of seeing and interacting with their environments. Their inter-ests, concerns, and priorities are unadulterated. A city devoid of life, might gain immensely from adopting a

par•a•sitenoun1an organism that lives on or in an organism of another species, known as the host, from the body of which it obtains nutriment.2a person who receives support, advantage, or the like, from another or others without any useful or proper return, as one who lives on the hospitality of others.

childlike vibrancy. Lynchburg, Virginia, is disconnected. Automobile traffic discon-nects people from the street life, hard edges distance the city from its position on the James River, and crime-ridden streets inhibit safe public space. Parasitic Hydrology looks at the city through the eyes of a child in order enliven the streets of through a playful use of texture, water, and a gradient of enclo-sures.

In a symbiotic rather than destructive fash-ion, a light scaffold network in a variety of permutations directs roof runoff to a planted water channel.

Faceted roof landscapes fold into facades as a hydrological spectacle connecting citizens to the James River.

The roof affects interior and exterior urban life by additng an inteintional layer of natural sur-veillance specifically in areas of high crime.

Street Life

Carving out a public realm activates street through water, texture, and a variety of enclo-sure.

transverse section

ARCH2010 Foundations \ Mara Marcu \ Fall 2011

STUDIO CLAY

In a collaboration with a local Charlottesville business, City Clay, this studio designed a new community pottery studio on a local infill site.

Vertical circulation integrates with additional functions - stor-age, display, and partition - in a gradient of porosities. This figural move takes inspiration from the unique program, while responding to differing edge conditions across the site. Individual “pod” studios at a child’s scale are on tracks, cantilevering out for individual work and sliding in for group lessons. An external armature supports the pods and frames views. Movable screens located by shadow studies adapt with daily and seasonal cycles.

phasing strategy

distribution center public space

phased build-up

The existing Charlottesville land-fills are closing and we no longer can hide trash off-site via this infrastructure - it must be dealt with locally. Trash is now the generator of a new urban system driven by waste infrastructure, and Charlottesville’s strip mall and suburban landscape become cultural artifacts, adapted into new type of urban form gener-ated by waste processing and landfill strategies.

On Route 29, the waste output of the commercial strip is stored in place as linear landfilling, cre-ating inhabitable public space along the highway. The build-up

of these landfill forms create spectacle along the drive, and reflect the outputs of the com-mercial system, all while creating a new source of energy for new developments through methane production in the landfill.

New pockets of density are cen-tered around collection, distribu-tion, storage, and processing of waste. The emergence of neigh-borhood collection facilities, sorting , and processing facilities, and storage and manufacturing facilities become hubs of mixed use commercial activity and pub-lic space.

Venice has historically been and continues to be molded both geographically and cultur-ally by its situation at the edge between east and west, lagood and land, antiquity and moder-nity. Routine fluctuations of an-thropological [tourism, cargo, transporation] and ecological [hydrologic, atmospheric, bio-logic] inputs and outputs over-lap and intersect at the water’s edge.

New insertions both manifest existing relationships and offer new opportunities for interactin an d discovery, act-ing as a conduit to regulate and facilitate a process-driven connection between people, the natural, and the built envi-ronment by buffering harmful ship emission, facilitating fluid accessibility, and responding dynamically and symbiotically to ebbs and flows.

grocery

port

library

gondola construction

vaporetto stop

art college

restaurantpublic office

faculty residencechurch

alleys

canals

guidecca canal

grand canal

grocery

port

library

gondola construction

vaporetto stop

art college

restaurantpublic office

faculty residencechurch

plan level 2 plan level 1 transverse section

outdoor rooms circulation landscape truss deformation LED cable wall