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137 JORALEMON ST, APT 5
BROOKLYN, NY 11201
hello@leigha.tv
www.leigha.tv
DESIGN PORTFOLIO FALL 2014
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GSAPP CLOUD & ARCHITECTURE ONLINE LAB ........
EXTREME CITIES ...............................
PLEASURE BOX .................................
CLOUDS .......................................
MAKING ROOM ..................................
BUELL HYPOTHESIS .............................
FORECLOSED: THOUGHTS ON A WALKING CITY .......
BE ALARMED ...................................
LONG DIVISION, BUILD A BETTER BURB ...........
BEETLE WRESTLER ..............................
SELECTION OF GRAPHICS ........................
SELECTION OF PUBLICATIONS ....................
SELECTION OF STUDENT WORK ....................
2011-PRESENT
2012-13
2014
2014
2010-13
2011-12
2011-12
2010
2010
2008
2013-14
2009-13
2011-14
LEIGHA DENNIS
Team: Leigha Dennis, Troy Conrad Therrien, Jochen
Hartmann (Teaching Assistant)
Established in 2012, the GSAPP Cloud Communications group
works with the dean, faculty, students and staff of the school
to develop experimental forms of online communication. As
a studio within the school, the group is working to dene
its role through actively developing new tools and services
that help GSAPP maintain its ambition as a laboratory for
architectural education.
The Architecture Online Lab is an experimental practice
which aims to develop the inquiries, tools, protocols, and
frameworks of thought and action to be consumed, advanced
and critiqued as we continue to question and dene
architecture online. The lab explores how architects can
utilize digital tools to reinvent methods for representation
and communication, and what interactivity means for the
nature, use and translation of space. Our approach is both
discursive and practical, operating in and on new and
traditional forms and media, and by creating our own through
working prototypes.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITYS GRADUATE
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE,
PLANNING AND PRESERVATION
CLOUD COMMUNICATIONS GROUP AND
ARCHITECTURE ONLINE LAB
GSAPP CLOUD/AOL
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GSAPP CLOUD
THE GSAPP HOMEPAGE PULLS FROM A NUMBER OF LIVE FEEDS IN
ORDER TO KEEP NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS UP-TO-DATE
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THE GSAPP WEBSITE AND REAL-TIME FEEDS
PULLING TAGGED EVENTS FROM THE GSAPP EVENTS WEBSITE
PULLING FROM STUDIO-X LOCATION TUMBLR BLOGS
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GSAPP CLOUD
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WWW.ARCH.COLUMBIA.EDU
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GSAPP CLOUD
STUDIO KAZYS VARNELIS, SPRING 2012
AN AGGREGATION OF COURSE BLOG LINKS FILTERED BY PROGRAM, SEMESTER AND LOCATION
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COURSE BLOGS
STUDIO KARLA ROTHSTEIN FALL 2012
SEMINAR KNOWN UNKNOWNS SPRING 2012 INSTRUCTOR: JANETTE KIM
Some courses use microblogs as tools for
research and collaboration, while others
use them strictly for presentation purposes.
Each blog is customized to t the particular
needs of the students and instructors.
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GSAPP CLOUD
Each event is color-coded by location,
corresponding to the seven Studio-X
regions, conveying at a glance the breadth
of global activity.
The GSAPP Events calendar aggregates
all GSAPP related events into one website
promoting events, but also acting as an
archive by hosting image galleries, Flickr
galleries, videos and chats.
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GSAPP EVENTS
VIEW BY MONTH (DEFAULT)
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GSAPP CLOUD
RANDOMIZED HOVER IMAGE LOCATIONS
EVENT PAGE WITH POSTER, IMAGE GALLERY, VIDEO, TWITTER HASHTAG CONTAINER, AND COMMENTING
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GSAPP EVENTS - WWW.EVENTS.GSAPP.ORG
VIEW BY WEEK
VIEW BY SEMESTER
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GSAPP CLOUD
HEADER BACKGROUND IMAGE IS RANDOMIZED
SORT INDEX BY YEAR (DEFAULT)
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GSAPP BOOKS - WWW.BOOKS.GSAPP.ORG
SORT INDEX BY AUTHOR, EDITOR, DESIGNER
SORT INDEX BY TITLE
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EACH PUBLICATION IS PHOTOGRAPHED
BOOK PAGE
GSAPP CLOUD
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GSAPP BOOKS
VIEW AND SORT BY SERIES
THE MISREADING TUMBLR BLOG EDITED BY CRAIG BUCKLEY AND REVOLVING GUESTS
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ARCHITECTURE ONLINE LAB
MAIN PAGE SHOWS A SINGLE CAMERA. VIEWS CAN BE CLICKED THROUGH OR CHOSEN FROM THE INDEX
The End of Year Show occurs annually
and exhibits the research and design
work produced by GSAPP students. This
microsite documented the 2013 exhibition
as it was designed and built live from 9
webcams located throughout the spaces
of Avery Hall. It captured the enormous
transformation of the school over a short
period of time, and surveyed how the work
is viewed and experienced.
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END OF YEAR SHOW 2013
INDEX PAGE
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GSAPP CLOUD
Network Architecture Lab: Kazys Varnelis, Leigha Dennis
Architecture Online Lab: Leigha Dennis, Troy Conrad Therrien
Building Megalopolis, as one project of Extreme Cities, was
a 4 week workshop and exhibition located at Columbia
University GSAPPs Studio-X New York from May 1-30, 2013.
The project was a collaborative effort including Mark
Wigley, C-Lab, The Network Architecture Lab, David King,
Architecture Online Lab, Neil Donnelly (exhibition designer),
Studio-X, and a host of students.
The Network Architecture Lab, which included an Advanced
Graduate Studio, researched the Megalopolis 50 years into
the past in order to project possible scenarios 50 years into
the future.
The Architecture Online Lab designed and built an
interactive research tool, which organized content along
a horizontally scrolling timeline and provided a number of
ltering options. The timeline was built as an opensource
project with aspirations to be used by other research
projects at GSAPP.
BUILDING MEGALOPOLIS
EXTREME CITIES
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ARCHITECTURE ONLINE LAB
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EXTREME CITIES, BUILDING MEGALOPOLIS
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ARCHITECTURE ONLINE LAB
CONTENT SCROLLS HORIZONTALLY ALONG A TIMELINE
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EXTREME CITIES, BUILDING MEGALOPOLIS
PROJECT PAGES INCLUDE TAGS, DATES, AND DESCRIPTIONS
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ARCHITECTURE ONLINE LAB & NETWORK ARCHITECTURE LAB
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EXTREME CITIES, BUILDING MEGALOPOLIS
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ARCHITECTURE ONLINE LAB & NETWORK ARCHITECTURE LAB
MUSCHENHEIM FELLOW,
TAUBMAN COLLEGE
PLEASURE BOX
Final Final Final, Taubman College, University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, MarchApril 2014
As the 2013-14 William Muschenheim Fellow at the University
of Michigans Taubman College of Architecture and Urban
Planning, I investigated issues of domesticity as they relate
to ambient digital culture, and tested new protocols for
intellectual property rights in architecture during an age of
rapid image and information dissemination. My fellowship
work combined research through teaching in graduate
and undergraduate design studios and seminars, and the
production of an interactive exhibition, titled Pleasure Box,
which engaged an over-connected audience.
Pleasure Box engages a distracted user, attempting to
reveal human relationships with objects and physical space.
The installation provides an outlet to disconnect. Smart
phones capture video inside randomly timed lock-boxes,
transporting them to new worlds created with a variety
of digital and analog environments. Meanwhile, users are
detached, left to ponder other pleasures, making the choice
between an everyday reality or a simulated reality.
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PLEASURE BOX
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EXHIBITED IN TAUBMAN GALLERY
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PLEASURE BOX
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SELECTION OF INTERIOR VIEWS
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PLEASURE BOX AND CLOUDS
_FINALFINALFINAL EXHIBITION IN ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN
MUSCHENHEIM FELLOW,
TAUBMAN COLLEGE
CLOUDS
Final Final Final, Taubman College, University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, MarchApril 2014
Clouds, ARPA Journal Issue 2, forthcoming
Clouds is a photo essay that documents the self-storage
industry as the cloud storage for domestic objects. If todays
Clouds act to provide data storage with remote servers,
then what are self-storage facilities if not the clouds to our
homes? As a critique of contemporary aestheticization of
data centers and of consumer relationships with objects, the
project investigates storage space as both the embodiment
of a stagnant past and of latent futures.
Photographs were taken throughout the geography between
New York City and Ann Arbor, Michiganthe locations of the
photographers two homesand were recently exhibited at
the University of Michigans Taubman Gallery.
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CLOUDS
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A SELECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS
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CLOUDS
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A SELECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS
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_FINALFINALFINAL EXHIBITION IN ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN
CLOUDS
Team: Terri Chiao, Leigha Dennis, Deborah Grossberg Katz,
Joseph Vidich, Peter Gluck
Making Room Showcase & Symposium, Japan Society of
New York, November 2011
Making Room, Exhibition, Museum of the City of New York,
JanuarySeptember 2013
A project of The Architectural League and Citizens Housing
and Planning Council.
Five architectural teams were commissioned to speculate
on the future of housing in New York. Proposals were meant
to expose existing and outdated building regulations that
make nding safe and agreeable housing difcult, along
with the policies that make building new housing models
nearly impossible. Throughout the workshop and exhibition
process, members of the city government and citizen
activists were involved, and in the end, the administration
allowed a selection of these regulations to be broken on a
test site.
Selected Press:
Rethinking Ways to Divide Living Space, The New York
Times, Nov. 10, 2011.
New York City Planners: Pack Em In!, Forbes, Nov. 14, 2011.
Imaging New Housing Models for a Changed New York, The
New York Times, Nov. 16, 2011.
Adaptation and Experimentation: New Housing for New
York, Urban Omnibus, July 18, 2012.
Making Room, Domus, March 5, 2013.
A HOME OF ONES OWN
MAKING ROOM
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MAKING ROOM: A HOME OF ONES OWN
A Home of Ones Own doubles the density of the typical
25 x 100 lot found in New York by creating an apartment
building of micro-lofts. Designed for single inhabitants
and small families, the buildings twenty compact units,
232 square feet each, are smaller than a typical studio,
but their fteen foot high ceilings and large mezzanines
provide a sense of open space. The building has a twenty-
foot frontage, leaving a ve-foot side yard that provides
diffuse light and ventilation to the units. The micro-lofts
are completed by shared building amenities, including a
laundry room, childrens play space, and communal work
tables, which are located in common spaces on each oor.
Local regulations needing modication to build this
proposal:
Minimum Unit Size
Density Controls
Side Yards
Parking
Lot Size: 25 x 100
Lot Coverage: 56%
Zoning District: R7A
Max FAR: 4.0
Total Floors: 5
Building Height: 73-8
Density: 340 units/acre
Gross/oor: 1800 sq/ft
Net/oor: 1158 sq/ft
Units/oor: 3 to 5
Units/total: 20
Unit area: 232 sq/ft
Floor to oor: 15-6
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TYPICAL BUILDING ENVELOPE
STANDARD NYC LOT 25 X 100
BUILDING ENVELOPE
U
P
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UP
UP
UP UP UP UP
UP
UP UP
UP UP
UP UP
UP
UP
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UP
UP
UP UP UP UP
UP
UP UP
UP UP
UP UP
UP
UP
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D
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U
P
U
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D
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UP
UP
UP UP UP UP
UP
UP UP
UP UP
UP UP
UP
UP
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MAKING ROOM: A HOME OF ONES OWN
GROUND FLOOR - WITH ADA UNITS
THIRD FLOOR - WITH BUILT-IN UNITS
FIFTH FLOOR - WITH OPEN UNITS
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LOW-RISE DENSITY
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MAKING ROOM: A HOME OF ONES OWN
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TYPICAL FLOOR - MODEL
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MAKING ROOM: A HOME OF ONES OWN
PRIVATE SPACE SHARED SPACE
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TYPICAL FLOOR - FULL AMENITY PRIVATE APARTMENTS WITH SHARED SPACES
PRIVATE SPACES
SHARED SPACE
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EXHIBITED AT THE MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
MAKING ROOM: A HOME OF ONES OWN
Reinhold Martin, Director Buell Center
Leah Meisterlin, Lead Researcher
Anna Kennoff, Coordinator
MTWTF, Designer
Research Team: Jordan Carver, Leigha Dennis, Jake
Matatyaou, Andy Vann
The Buell Hypothesis is the result of a years worth of research
into the history of public housing and its perception in the
America public sphere. It was accompanied by in-depth site
analysis, qualitative and quantitative, locating ideal sites for
new public housing following the 2008 mortgage crisis. With
an essay challenging the ideas, expectations, and roles of the
public, written by Reinhold Martin in the form of a Socratic
Dialog, the hypothesis was used as the workshop brief for
Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream, an exhibition at
the Museum of Modern Art in 2012.
REHOUSING THE AMERICAN DREAM
THE BUELL
HYPOTHESIS
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THE BUELL HYPOTHESIS
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INITIAL DRAFT LAYOUTS
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SOCRATIC DIALOGUE SITE AND SUBURB CASE STUDIES
THE BUELL HYPOTHESIS
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3 SECTIONS: SOCRATIC DIALOGUE, HISTORICAL, SITES STUDIES
HISTORICAL PRIMARY SOURCES, NARRATIVE AND CHRONOLOGICAL PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECT CUT SHEETS
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COMMENTS ON FORECLOSED
ARTICLES EXPAND TO SHOW CONTENT AND COMMENTS
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HOME PAGE, SORT BY DATE
Columbia Universitys Buell Center
collected and edited commentary on the
Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream
workshop and exhibition, a collaborative
project between the Buell Center and
the Museum of Modern Art, which took
place at MoMA PS1 and MoMA, New
York from May 2011August 2012. Each
comment, selected from print, web, and
social media sources, is tagged with a
variety of metadata. The project acts as
an objective catalog and database of the
shows perception in the public sphere,
documented in a print publication and
sortable website.
The web project was a collaboration
between the Buell Center, GSAPP Cloud
Communications, and MTWTF.
Publication and Website
February 2013
COMMENTS ON
FORECLOSED
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SORT BY IMAGE
SORT BY VIDEO
SORT BY CITATION
COMMENTS ON FORECLOSED
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SORTABLE DATABASE OF ARTICLES, COMMENTS, TWEETS, IMAGES, VIDEOS
SORT BY THEME
VIEW ARTICLE COMMENTS
VIEW TWEETS
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Project Lead for MOS, Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample
Filmmaker and Photographer: Christopher Woebken
Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream, Museum of
Modern Art, May 2011August 2012
In the summer of 2011, New Yorks Museum of Modern
Art invited ve teams of architects, planners, ecologists,
engineers, landscape designers, and other specialists to
develop proposals for housing that would open new routes
through the mortgage-foreclosure crisis in the United States.
The suburb as site, each team was asked to investigate
a regional suburban city. The MOS team was selected to
consider the city of Orange, New Jersey, a suburb of New York
City. Producing materials throughout a three month summer
workshop hosted at MoMAs PS1 Contemporary Art Center,
the work was exhibited at MoMA from February to August of
2012.
Selected Press:
See Comments on Forecloseda project of the Buell Center
for American Architecture, GSAPP Cloud Communications
Group, and MTWTF.
www.commentsonforeclosed.com
THOUGHTS ON A WALKING CITY
ORANGE, NEW JERSEY
FORECLOSED:
REHOUSING THE
AMERICAN DREAM
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FORECLOSED: THOUGHTS ON A WALKING CITY
Although the Orangeslocated near New York Cityare, like many
older East Coast commuting suburbs, well served by regional rail,
they still have high rates of foreclosure and unemployment. For
the last several years, the township of the Oranges (which includes
East, South, and West Orange, as well as the City of Orange) has
been seeking to create three Transit Villages, consisting of mixed-
use development within a walkable, half-mile radius from existing
rail stations. We undertook an in-depth analysis of one of these
projects, in the City of Orange, considering municipal budgeting and
infrastructure, public health, and models of ownership that could
promote exibility and diversity.
The Orange rail station lies at the center of the proposed site.
Around 15% of the land within a half-mile radius of the station is
composed of municipal buildings and vacant land. Public streets
and sidewalks in a traditional gridded plan make up 22%, costing
the city an estimated $642,958 annually in maintenance. Our
proposal eliminates many of these streets and replaces them with
three-story structures with a mixture of commercial, ofce, and
residential spaces, including a variety of live-work spaces. These
new ribbons of buildings, which rewrite both the physical and social
space of Orange, are in part developed as public housing.
This radical urbanism is made possible by a system of portable
mortgages, where ownership is not tied to a particular space. It
is a micro-governmental cooperative structure, where the local
residents participate directly in determining the qualities of their
neighborhood. Unlike earlier urban renewal models, which proposed
the wholesale reworking of a site, here new and old structures
coexist: streets of traditional single-family houses are juxtaposed
with the new ribbon development. A rich variety of spaces and
relationships are created, including ground-oor shops and services
that are accessible to all residents. Pedestrian experience is primary
in the overall development of this once vibrant suburb.
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EXHIBITION DISPLAY
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FORECLOSED: THOUGHTS ON A WALKING CITY
MODEL PHOTOS BY JAMES EWING
SITE MODEL CENTERED ON TRAIN STATION
SCALE: 1:1000 (1/4 MILE RADIUS)
BUILDING MODEL
SCALE: 1-0 = 1/6
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THE STREET AS SITE
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FORECLOSED: THOUGHTS ON A WALKING CITY
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FILM OF ORANGE, NEW JERSEY
CINEMATOGRAPHY WITH CHRIS WOEBKEN FOR MOS
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FORECLOSED: THOUGHTS ON A WALKING CITY
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FORECLOSED: THOUGHTS ON A WALKING CITY
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FORECLOSED: THOUGHTS ON A WALKING CITY
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ITERATIVE MASSING AND SITE MODELS AT VARIOUS SCALES
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Land Ownership - Public
Public Institutions within the City of Orange Public - Education Public - Housing Public - Transportation
1/2 Mile Radius around Orange Train Station
City Of Orange Township
Housing & Neighborhood Development (Hands) *(Semi-Public)
Housing Authority City Of Orange
New Jersey State Department Of Transportation
New Jersey Schools Development Authority
New Jersey Transit *(Semi-Public)
Orange Township Board Of Education
Trustees Of The Free Library Of Orange
US Postal Department
New Jersey Economic Development Authority
15.5 %
Public Land
Public Streets
58,935-6 (linear)
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
*B
A
A
A
H
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
*B
*B
C
D
E
G
E
E
C
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
D
D
D
D
D
D
*F
*F
*F
*F
*F
*F
*F
*F
*F
*F
G
J
I
I
G
G
C
C C
C
C
A
A
A
A
FORECLOSED: THOUGHTS ON A WALKING CITY
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SELECTED DATA PUBLIC LAND AND PUBLIC STREETS
19.5 %
Public Street Land Area
*includes sidewalks and
medians
22.8%
Public Street Land Area
*includes sidewalks and
medians (not including I-28)
Public Streets - Linear Length (1/2 mile radius)
36.7 %
City of Orange Public
Streets within The Site
(1/2 mile radius)
Budget Allocated to Street Maintenance (on site)
Public Streets - Land Area (1/2 mile radius)
The Site (1/2 mile radius)-
Budget Allocation to Streets
The City - Budget Allocation to Streets
Public Streets
The City of Orange - Budget - Public Works
2007 2007
11.6%
$49,080,328
$5,728,125
2008
$1,495,500
2009
$2,695,053
2010
$2,225,060
2011 2011
4.8%
$53,051,700
$2,551,000
The City of Orange - Budget - Public Streets
City of Orange
The Site
2010 - Estimated for our specific Site (1/2 mile radius). Department of Public Works - Budget Allocation
(against the Total Municipal Budget)
Street Lighting - $535,000 (city) / $196,345 (site)
Snow Removal - $60,000 (city) / $22,020 (site)
Equipment and Vehicle Maintenance - $602,030 (city) / $220,945 (site)
Street Maintenance - $554,900 (city) / $203,648 (site)
58,935-6
$10.91/sf
4,418,519 sf
$642,958
$1,751,930
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Utilities - Water Infrastructure
Water Supply Well
1- Gist Place Well
2 - Brook Alley Well
3 - Orange Park Well
Fire Hydrant
Sewer Line
Water Line
Sewer Manhole
Orange Train Station
1
2
3
Water Lines
South Mountain
Reservation
Fire Hydrants Sewer Lines Manholes
Pumping
Station
*Connection to:
South Mountain
Reservation
-Walker Road
Storage Resevoir
-Orange Resevoir
-Campbells Pond
*Connection to
Walker Road
Storage Resevoir
*Connection to
South Orange
*Connection to
East Orange
*Connection to
East Orange
*Connection to
East Orange
*Connection to
West Orange
1/4 Mile
1/2 Mile
3/4 Mile
Sewer Length
5 in South Mountain Reservation /
2 in the City of Orange
80 miles
7 wells
City of Orange 113
126
60-70
New York City
National Average
Water Consumption
Gallons per Person per Day
FORECLOSED: THOUGHTS ON A WALKING CITY
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SELECTED DATA UTILITIES AND DENSITY
Housing and Density
5,567
(units / sq. mi)
Housing Density
0 - 5,515
5,516 - 11,030
11,031 - 16,545
16,546 - 22061
Units per Square Mile
4,159
(units / sq. mi)
Orange:
6,029
(units / sq. mi)
Manhattan:
34,757
(units / sq. mi)
Site: 1/4 mile radius
Site: 1/2 mile radius
City of Orange
New York City - 5 Boroughs
Manhattan
Queens
Bronx
Brooklyn
Staten Island
Units per Square Mile
Housing Density
4,159
5,567
6,029
10,553
34,757
7,482
11,675
13,184
2,804
1/4 Mile and 1/2 Mile Radius
from Orange Station
817
units
4,371
units
Site Housing
80
1
2
'-0
"
UP
DN
UP
DN
UP
DN
UP
DN
1
2
'-0
"
400
500
600
700
400
500
600
700
800
1985 1990 1995 2000 2005
1985 1990 1995 2000 2005
Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Housing and Household Economic Stastics Divison. American Housing Survey. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau, 1985-2005
Mean Living Area - All Housing
United States
France
Germany
United Kingdom
United States
France
Germany
United Kingdom
United States
France
Germany
United Kingdom
United States 1,883
2,123
0.46
992
Square Feet
Mean Living Area - New Housing
Square Feet
Persons Per Room
Per Capita Consumption
1974 2003 2011 - The Skinny Unit Scale: 1/8 = 1-0
Square Feet
France 964
1,218
0.60
0.50
0.43
402
438
407
1,177
890
935
964 Germany
United Kingdom
Square Footage (per person)
Square Footage (per person)
The American Living Size
300 s.f.
(200% increase)
150 s.f. 144 s.f.
90 s.f.
2,349 s.f.
(72% increase)
1,695 s.f.
The American Home
Average home, kitchen, and bedroom size
1974 vs. 2003
Home Kitchen Bedroom
Renter -
Lowest Quartile
Renter -
Highest Quartile
Owner -
Lowest Quartile
Owner -
Highest Quartile
Renter Owner
FORECLOSED: THOUGHTS ON A WALKING CITY
81
SELECTED DATA HOUSEHOLD AND CONSTRUCTION
68.4% Rent
31.6% Own
41.6% Married
40.5% Single
9.8% Divorced
8.1% Widowed
69.4% Without Kids
30.6% With Kids
60% Owner -
Paying more than
30% of income
50.1% Owner -
Paying more than
30% of income
88.6% Single Family
9.2% Condo
2.2% Other
Housing Tenure Housing Type
Median Home Size
1,918 sf
$4,279,168
Average Year Built
2010 Total Property Taxes Paid (within the site)
1905
Average Household Size
2.61 ppl
Average Family Size
3.34 ppl
Source: Zillow.com, Census American Community Survey 2005-2009
$190k
$200k
$210k
$220k
$230k
$240k
$250k
$260k
$300k
$310k
$320k
$270k
$280k
$290k
Median Home Value - City Of Orange
East Orange West Orange City of Orange
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
$80
$100
$120
$140
$160
$180
$200
$220
$240
$260
Median Home Value (per sf)
South Orange
Economics of Construction
Housing and Household Data for The City of Orange
Relationship Status Children Owner - 30% Income Renter- 30% Income
9.4%
15.6%
19.0%
27.1%
22.6%
6.3%
1.3%
5.4%
2.2%
9.3%
18.9%
21.2%
41.6%
Home Size in Sq. Ft
1000 or less
1000 - 1400
1400 - 1800
1800 - 2400
2400 - 3600
3600 or more
2000 to present
1980 to 1999
1960 to 1979
1940 to 1959
1920 to 1939
1900 to 1919
1900 and before
Year Built
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FORECLOSED: THOUGHTS ON A WALKING CITY
Location: Cancer Alley, Louisiana
Be Alarmed, Bracket: Goes Soft (Actar, 2013)
The communities that are positioned most vulnerable to
the Chemical Industry in Louisianas industrial corridor
are aficted by forces of toxicity that transcend human
perception. While the presence of harmful dust, noise and
the subjugation of space are apparent at many levels, the
power of the unseen and the unknown are the subject of this
investigation.
DETECTING TOXICITY IN THE AIR,
WATER, AND GROUND THROUGH A
NEW SYSTEM OF VISUAL
INFRASTRUCTURE
BE ALARMED
84
BE ALARMED
The industries intent to deect the transparency of information that is
ultimately necessary for the safety of the public has left an overriding
sense of uncertainty and anxiety. Toxic chemicals are released
into community environments and nearby ecologies, effecting the
consumption of air, food and water. Deposited deep below the homes
of many communities lay containers for dormant toxic waste with
unforeseeable shelf lives, and questionable migration activities.
Similarly, underground geological salt caverns are often used for the
storage of chemicals and crude oil, leaving ground water at the risk of
contamination. While the air above the ground is subject to invisible
harmful pollutants, the expanse below conceals the existence of a
corresponding precariousness.
Attempts at providing systems of security and alarm for nearby
communities have been benign and otherwise unsuccessful, resulting
in moments of panic and confusion. Alarm speakers, functional and
not, dot the landscape, while intercoms have been installed in homes
asserting a latent paranoia of surveillance and potential disaster. As
companies grow over time, acquiring farmland and entire communities,
their expansions subsume the landscape leaving homes within
unsafe proximities, sometimes only a matter of feet away. Building
directly up to property lines as a not-so-passive warning to leave, still
some homes remain if not by resistance alone, then by the reality that
there is simply nowhere else to go. For those homes that are bought
out, swaths of pastoral greenscaping are left in their place a kind of
visual illusion that everything is ne.
In many ways, these attempts have both succeeded and failed
at achieving illusions of safety. Yet, the security systems that are
implemented often act to secure the plants themselves, rather than
the people vulnerable nearby. Alarms are sounded when danger is
nearly eminent, and the only option is to ee. The events that are
alerted are extreme; explosions, massive spills, etc. However, everyday
the communities that are subsumed by the chemical industry are
sensitive to varying levels of toxins in the air, water, food, and ground.
These quantities of contamination are themselves alarming, yet go
unknown and unnoticed.
For those communities that remain, this project aims at providing
methods for monitoring, alerting, and revealing the everyday conditions
of toxicity. Designed as a kind of public service announcement and kit-
of-parts, it will provide a transparency of information that does not
currently exist for the public. Through a network of devices for seeing
the unseen, this Alarm System will present levels of ground water, river
water, and air contamination through recognizable and decipherable
forms of display: a new kind of public utility. Personal accessories
to test vinyl chloride levels within homes, in drinking water, and in
the body enable the residents to actively improve and keep their
communities safe. By establishing trending in data, concentrations
of contamination can be identied. The subterranean will be mapped
above, while the air will be inscribed. The aesthetic of infrastructure
is transformed into an active response system. Through the use of
phyto- and sensor-technology, passive and active systems will alert
of latent and harmful toxic levels, as well as provide the infrastructure
for improvement in an altered, augmented landscape. As the devices
integrate into the rural-suburban condition, if levels of toxicity become
increasingly harmful, residents will have the ability to track changes
giving enough time to evacuate in the event of danger. Over time, the
devices improve contamination through remediation and awareness,
resulting in their own optimistic obsolescence.
85
THE SITE: CANCER ALLEY, BATON ROUGE TO NEW ORLEANS, LA
DOW
Chemical
Shintec
Morrison
ville
Bayou
Choctaw
Myrtle
Grove
Addis
Plaquemine
P
i
p
e
l
i
n
e
P
i
p
e
l
i
n
e
Myrtle Grove Trailer
Park has been
displaced as a result
of the health effects
associated with vinyl
chloride in drinking
water.
Morrisonville, a Freedman Town,
has been displaced as a result of
vinyl chloride in the air and water.
Now owned by Dow, its close
proximity to the plant was the
cause of numerous security and
Valarm issues.
Underground
Water Plume.
(direction of flow has
yet to be confirmed)
United States
Federal Govern-
ment Strategic Oil
Reserve
BATON
ROUGE
NEW
ORLEANS
CANCER ALLEY
Lake
Maurepas
Plaquemine
Addis
Norco
LaPlace
Taft
Gramercy
Donaldsonville
White Castle
Geismar
Lake
Pontchartrain
Petrochemical Plant
Waste Injection Well
Emergency Evacuation Route
Major Roads & Highways
Oil, Natural Gas,
& Injection Wells
Injection Wells
& Drinking Water
Injection Wells
Oil & Natural Gas Wells
Rivers & Streams
Groundwater Aquifer
Water Testing Locations
Drinking Water Extraction
Location
DOW
Chemical
Shintec
Morrison
ville
Bayou
Choctaw
Myrtle
Grove
Addis
Plaquemine
P
i
p
e
l
i
n
e
P
ip
e
lin
e
Myrtle Grove Trailer
Park has been
displaced as a result
of the health effects
associated with vinyl
chloride in drinking
water.
Morrisonville, a Freedman Town,
has been displaced as a result of
vinyl chloride in the air and water.
Now owned by Dow, its close
proximity to the plant was the
cause of numerous security and
Valarmissues.
Underground
Water Plume.
(direction of flow has
yet to be confirmed)
United States
Federal Govern-
ment Strategic Oil
Reserve
BATON
ROUGE
NEW
ORLEANS
CANCER ALLEY
Lake
Maurepas
Plaquemine
Addis
Norco
LaPlace
Taft
Gramercy
Donaldsonville
White Castle
Geismar
Lake
Pontchartrain
Petrochemical Plant
Waste Injection Well
Emergency Evacuation Route
Major Roads & Highways
Oil, Natural Gas,
& Injection Wells
Injection Wells
& Drinking Water
Injection Wells
Oil & Natural Gas Wells
Rivers & Streams
Groundwater Aquifer
Water Testing Locations
Drinking Water Extraction
Location
PETROCHEMICAL PLANT
WASTE INJECTION WELL
DOW
Chemical
Shintec
Morrison
ville
Bayou
Choctaw
Myrtle
Grove
Addis
Plaquemine
P
i
p
e
l
i
n
e
P
i
p
e
l
i
n
e
Myrtle Grove Trailer
Park has been
displaced as a result
of the health effects
associated with vinyl
chloride in drinking
water.
Morrisonville, a Freedman Town,
has been displaced as a result of
vinyl chloride in the air and water.
Now owned by Dow, its close
proximity to the plant was the
cause of numerous security and
Valarm issues.
Underground
Water Plume.
(direction of flow has
yet to be confirmed)
United States
Federal Govern-
ment Strategic Oil
Reserve
BATON
ROUGE
NEW
ORLEANS
CANCER ALLEY
Lake
Maurepas
Plaquemine
Addis
Norco
LaPlace
Taft
Gramercy
Donaldsonville
White Castle
Geismar
Lake
Pontchartrain
Petrochemical Plant
Waste Injection Well
Emergency Evacuation Route
Major Roads & Highways
Oil, Natural Gas,
& Injection Wells
Injection Wells
& Drinking Water
Injection Wells
Oil & Natural Gas Wells
Rivers & Streams
Groundwater Aquifer
Water Testing Locations
Drinking Water Extraction
Location
86
BE ALARMED
DOW
Chemical
Shintec
Morrison
ville
Bayou
Choctaw
Myrtle
Grove
Addis
Plaquemine
P
i
p
e
l
i
n
e
P
i
p
e
l
i
n
e
Myrtle Grove Trailer
Park has been
displaced as a result
of the health effects
associated with vinyl
chloride in drinking
water.
Morrisonville, a Freedman Town,
has been displaced as a result of
vinyl chloride in the air and water.
Now owned by Dow, its close
proximity to the plant was the
cause of numerous security and
Valarm issues.
Underground
Water Plume.
(direction of flow has
yet to be confirmed)
United States
Federal Govern-
ment Strategic Oil
Reserve
BATON
ROUGE
NEW
ORLEANS
CANCER ALLEY
Lake
Maurepas
Plaquemine
Addis
Norco
LaPlace
Taft
Gramercy
Donaldsonville
White Castle
Geismar
Lake
Pontchartrain
Petrochemical Plant
Waste Injection Well
Emergency Evacuation Route
Major Roads & Highways
Oil, Natural Gas,
& Injection Wells
Injection Wells
& Drinking Water
Injection Wells
Oil & Natural Gas Wells
Rivers & Streams
Groundwater Aquifer
Water Testing Locations
Drinking Water Extraction
Location
87
CASE STUDY: MYRTLE GROVE TRAILER PARK AND MORRISONVILLE, LA
88
BE ALARMED
89
POSTERS FOR THE PUBLIC: TO INFORM OF LOCAL TOXICITY CONDITIONS
90
BE ALARMED
91
OTHER PUBLIC INDICATORS: AIR ITSELF AS A SENSOR OF TOXICITY
Enforcing the use of articially colored vinyl
chloride could reduce the risks of high-
dosage contamination. Even with small
amounts of color, with larger quantities
of vinyl chloride, the effects would be
noticeable and disturbing .
PSUEDO-COLOR
92
BE ALARMED
93
PUBLICLY DISTRIBUTED PAMPHLETS: TOXICITY SENSOR DEVICES
94
BE ALARMED
95
PUBLICLY DISTRIBUTED PAMPHLETS: TOXICITY SENSOR DEVICES
96
BE ALARMED
PHYTO-COLORED GRASS
PHYTO-COLORED POPLAR TREES
MONITORING LIGHTS
MONITORING WELLS
97
THE DEVICES: SENSORS, REMEDIATORS, AND BOTH
CAPTURE DOMES TREE TAGS
STREET SIGNAGE
98
BE ALARMED
1
2
3
MONITORING WELLS
MONITORING LIGHTS
TREE TAGS
HOME DEVICES
STREET SIGNAGE
(*AT A HIGHER RESOLUTION)
MONITORING WELLS
MONITORING LIGHTS
TREE TAGS
HOME DEVICES
STREET SIGNAGE
MONITORING WELLS
TREE TAGS
99
THE ROLLOUT: IN PHASES ADJUSTING TO TRENDS IN THE COLLECTED DATA
4
5
6
PHYTO-COLORED GRASS
PHYTO-COLORED POPLAR TREES
CAPTURE DOMES
100
BE ALARMED
101
THE ROLLOUT: IN FULL EFFECT
102
BE ALARMED
103
THE AMERICAN DREAM
COEXISTENCE WITH INFRASTRUCTURE
104
BE ALARMED
105
THE INVISIBLE IS REVEALED: BUT IT IS ALL ABOUT TIMING
THE ALARM SYSTEM DISPLAYS INCREASING TOXICITY OVER TIME, ALLOWING ENOUGH TIME FOR EVACUATION
106
BE ALARMED
107
OPTIMISTIC OBSOLESCENCE: LIFE AFTER CONTAMINATION
108
BE ALARMED
Network Architecture Lab: Kazys Varnelis, William Prince
(Parc Ofce), Kyle Hovenkotter, Momo Araki, Alexis Burson,
Leigha Dennis (project manager)
Build a Better Burb Competition, 2010, First place
Designing Suburban Futures: New Models from Build a Better
Burb, June Williamson (Island Press 2013)
Long Division is a regional planning strategy embracing both
voiding and densication to t the needs of local populations
and Long Islands over-saturated geology. The project was
selected rst place in the Build a Better Burb Competition,
hosted by the Long Island Index and the Rauch Foundation in
2010. In 2013, the work was published in Designing Suburban
Futures: New Models from Build a Better Burb edited by June
Williamson.
ESTABLISHING A REGIONAL
STRATEGY TO PROMOTE BOTH GROWTH
AND CONTRACTION IN LONG ISLAND
LONG DIVISION
GROWTH ZONE
NO-GROWTH ZONE, AQUIFER RECHARGE
110
LONG DIVISION
Suburban re-development must be regional. Our proposal
for the Build a Better Burb competition divides Long Island
into two zones based on infrastructural and ecological
factors: Western Long Island is already relatively dense,
integrated into the metropolitan area by rail while eastern
Long Island is undeserved by infrastructure. Moreover, Long
Island sits on one of the most productive aquifers in the
country and needs to defend this to assure its future.
To this end, we propose no-growth zones for the east and
north where the aquifer is deepest and closest to the
surface. As the population of that area ages, communities
such as Riverhead revert to dense villages surrounded
by sustainable farming, nature preserves and other uses
compatible with aquifer preservation while serving as an
amenity for the vacation region of the Hamptons and for the
dense west.
In the west, we propose a second-city approach, creating a
viable set of dense centers both as a support area for New
York and also as independent, productive communities.
Typologies aim to increase diversity between communities
and create identity rather than homogeneity in downtowns.
Instead of searching for one solution, we propose a set of
solutions for housing, open space, and productivity, each
responding to an areas population: e.g. seniors, aspiring
minorities, recent immigrants, and artists/artisans. Over
time, outlying areas within suburbs will become voided to
serve as buffers that sustain community identity.
GROWTH ZONE
CONTRACTION ZONE
LESS CITY SUSTAINABLE CITY
MORE SUBURB SUSTAINABLE SUBURB
To the East:
Where the potential for recharge is highest,
we suggest controlled contraction of the
population, rather than growth. Here, the
transit infrastructure is the least developed
and the population the oldest. Inhabitants
move to remaining villages, and the
suburban expanses from which they have
ed become voids that are compatible
with aquifer regeneration, such as nature
preserves, and sustainable agriculture.
To the West:
Towns that are already well integrated with
metropolitan transit, such as Hempstead,
Levittown, Babylon and Islip, will become
productive centers for new growth and
vitality.
GROWTH ZONE
CONTRACTION ZONE
111
GROWTH AND CONTRACTION
SALT WATER
UPPER GLACIAL AQUIFER
GARDINERS CLAY BARRIER
JAMECO AQUIFER
MAGOTHY AQUIFER
RARITAN CLAY BARRIER
LLOYD AQUIFER
BEDROCK
SALT WATER INTERFACE
FLOW OF GROUND WATER
GROUNDWATER DIVIDE
PRE-DEVELOPMENT CONDITION:
EQUILIBRIUM
POST-DEVELOPMENT CONDITION:
IMBALANCE
WATER IN = WATER OUT
WATER IN < PUMPING + WATER OUT
CONSEQUENCE: SALTWATER CONTAMINATION
OF AQUIFERS
GROUNDWATER
PUMPING
SALTWATER
INFILTRATION
RAINWATER
RECHARGE
NATURAL
DISCHARGE
RAINWATER
RECHARGE
NATURAL
DISCHARGE
112
Despite the fact that the island sits on
the states largest aquifers, it is likely to
experience a water crisis by the end of the
century. Prior to development, recharge
and discharge were at a rate of equilibrium,
but both the withdrawal of water from
the aquifer and development have placed
a negative load on the system, causing
saltwater inltration. One day soon, the
island may face the fate of Brooklyn and
Queens, which have contaminated their
aquifers and now have to import water from
upstate New York.
Because of these threats to the water
supply, any strategy for Long Islands
future must also take into account the
preservation and expansion of voids, the
most productive sites for recharging the
aquifer.
LONG DIVISION
LONG ISLANDS FRESH WATER INFRASTRUCTURE IS IN DANGER.
Automobile sales once contributed
large revenues for local governments,
but in downtown Hempstead vacant car
dealerships now abound. By replacing
these with micro-industry dealerships that
sell digital fabrication and prototyping
equipment we can promote backyard
industries. This dealer will be more than
a sales lot. On-site design, maintenance
and distribution facilities enhance the
dealership type into a hybrid of ofce,
industrial, and retail spaces.
113
EXPANDING VOIDS WHILE ENRICHING DOWNTOWN CENTERS
REPLACE NONPRODUCTIVE DOWNTOWN SPACES INTO NEW SITES
FOR GROWTH.
MAINTENANCE AND
DISTRIBUTION FACILITY
DESIGN AND PRODUCTION
OFFICE
SHOWROOM
STREETFRONT DISPLAY OF
MICRO INDUSTRIAL MACHINES
114
LONG DIVISION
URBAN ELDERS:
ELDERLY HOUSING
COMMUNITY CENTER
BOTANICAL GARDEN
MICRO-INDUSTRY:
SINGLE/MULTI-FAMILY HOME
FABRICATION MACHINE
URBAN MARKET:
FARMERS MARKET
FLEA MARKET
GREEN MARKET
AMERICAN DREAM:
2000-2500 SF APT.
GARDEN ALLOTMENT
FOOD CROP
MICRO-INDUSTRY DEALERSHIP:
FORMER CAR DEALERSHIP LOT
COMPANY HOUSING
OFFICE
URBAN FORUM:
PERFORMANCE VENUE
COVERED GATHERING SPACE
OUTDOOR THEATER
115
HYBRID TYPOLOGIES
ARTIST/ARTISAN:
LIVE/WORK UNITS
SHARED WORKSPACE
COOPERATIVE GALLERY
MOSAIC:
MULTI-FAMILY
DORM/COMMUNAL
EXTERNAL COMMUNAL SPACE
SMALL SCALE RETAIL
GRAMMAS HOUSE:
ELDERLY HOUSING
CHILDRENS MALL
FAMILY HOTEL
TRANSIT CENTER:
TRAIN STATION
DAILY USE AMENITIES
RIDESHARE
BIKE STORAGE
BUS TERMINAL
CO-OP OFFICE:
SHARED OFFICE
WORKSHOPS
COMMUNAL SPACE
RETAIL BASE
CONCIERGE DEPOT:
MOBILE SERVICES (FOOD, HEALTHCARE)
DISTRIBUTION
URBAN BACKYARD:
PUBLIC PARK
GATHERING SPACE
BARBEQUE
URBAN PLAY:
TENNIS, HANDBALL,
VOLLEYBALL, BASKETBALL
BLEACHERS
URBAN FARM:
GREENHOUSE
ALLOTMENT GARDENS
116
LONG DIVISION
117
THE HEMPSTEAD INSTANT CITY
These hybrid typologies take advantage of specic
demographic clusters to strengthen community identities.
Taking cues from Archigrams Instant City, new productive
buildings inll downtown Hempstead and deliberately
overwhelm the area with economic and cultural growth.
These refreshed districts are not tied to a specic form
or plan, the matrix provides ingredients and a strategy for
building new burbs.
118
LONG DIVISION
Only if we think biglooking at the health of
entire regionsand think boldlyrejecting
accepted ideas that suburbs cannot be
changed can we rebuild the nation to face the
challenges of this century.
A NEW BEGINNING
in collaboration with Natalie Jeremijenko, Chris Woebken
OOZing, Van Alen Institute, New York, December 2008
An apparatus that enables humans to wrestle with the
strongest animal in the world, the rhinoceros beetle. The
device includes a head-and-body mounted display that
equips humans with the appendages necessary to interact
with the animal. A camera, attached to the mechanism,
directly engages the beetle and communicates with a
display inside the human wrestlers helmet. The system
utilizes a network of switches and motors to scale the
actions of the wrestlers, granting similar manipulative
capacities and an even playing eld; an architecture of
reciprocity.
BEETLE WRESTLER
120
BEETLE WRESTLER
121
OBJECT AND SCHEMATICS
TFT
DC MOTOR
PULLEY
PULLEY
WHISKER SWITCHES
FIX TO CEILING FIX TO CEILING
72
1
9
.
5

DC MOTOR
24V SWITCH
TFT DISPLAY
JAW MOTOR
JAW CONTACT SWITCH
CAMERA
FUSE 4A
CAMERA
TFT
plug to mains: 24V Transformer, Camera, TFT
122
BEETLE WRESTLER
A SELECTION OF GRAPHIC DESIGN
GRAPHICS
124
THERRIEN BARLEY WEBSITE
125
WEB DESIGN
HEADER LOGO DISAPPEARS AND REAPPEARS AS CONTENT SCROLLS
A SINGLE PAGE WEBSITE WITH SCROLL-TO LINKS IN THE NAVIGATION
126
COLUMBIA GSAPP HOLIDAY CARDS
127
PRINT DESIGN
128
KIN & COMPANY IDENTITY
IN PROCESS