2018, Comprehensive studio, MArch, Uoft
In collaboration with Mariano Martellacci
At its core, a photo archive houses a collection of moments and experiences captured in the physical form. They could be historic moments, or simply a selection of everyday experiences. On its own, a photograph provides a glimpse into a particular point in time, but when a group of photographs are brought together they form a narrative. The narrative we have been asked to design for is Toronto’s story. We began this project with the question, “what does it mean to store physical photographs and can the physicality of the photograph be expressed through the built form?” With the rise of digital cameras, the contemporary photo archive has become immaterial, and intangible. The metaphor of the cloud is often used to describe current digital storage. In contrast to this we could describe our project as a rock. A solid mass that is made up of a collection of curated experiences and framed views. The building is embedded in the landscape and houses a central vault which acts as the physical and metaphorical structure in which the rest of the building relies. The vault invites you to circulate around it, cut into it, and emerge from it as a means to access the variety of experiences and public program that it supports. From interior to exterior, the project is defined by the circulation around and into it. Introverting itself from the city though the use of form and material, the project provides a space to contemplate and explore Toronto’s history.
2017, Studio project, MArch, UofT
This project proposes a new education and research facility be built at the Ontario Food Terminal. The goal of the multi-use building is to promote a cultural shift in our food, agriculture, and trade system towards local and sustainable food production. The building would help increase the demand for local produce through the Food to Cafeteria program which will supply local produce to all the public schools, universities, and hospitals within the GTA. The complex will also house the Office for Local Sustainable Food Awareness, an organization committed to promoting public awareness for local sustainable farmers.
2017, Super Studio, MArch UofT
Taking Mies Van Der Rohe’s Lafayette Park as inspiration, this project proposes a series of affordable mixed income residential and community buildings that are designed to emerge from and frame the surrounding landscape. With walkability, visibility and cycling circulation at its core, the project explores the idea of the City as Park when re-envisioning this Toronto urban block slated for development.
2016, Studio project, March, UofT
This multi-story museum explores the use of structural forms as a means to span and shelter the site of ancient ruins.
