People's Pocket Park: Main Streets as a Center of City Life (2020)
As an organizer at Climate Urgency in the Built Environment, I was the co-lead on a winning competition entry submitted to the Urban Design Forum's “City Life After Covid: Call for Ideas.” I led conversations on the structural inequalities exacerbated by the pandemic and developed a prototypical strategy to implement permanent green streets in disadvantaged parts of NYC. Using data extracted from GIS, I identified populations who suffer from high asthma rates, overcrowding, and lack of green space. Using CAD, V-Ray, and the Adobe Creative Suite, I designed the project as well as the visual narrative explaining how it can alleviate hardship. Ultimately our work was published in the Urban Design Forum’s Gallery of Urban Ideas alongside the work of many distinguished practitioners.
The Adobe Stigma (2014)
In the Fall of 2014, I engaged in a Senior Independent Study at Connecticut College and ultimately published a research paper called The Adobe Stigma. For this project I researched the stigmatization of vernacular materials in Mexico. As an intern for Root Studio in Oaxaca Mexico, and a precursor to my research, I worked on an endeavor to house 22 indigenous families while collaborating with rural towns on the utilization of affordable, resilient, and regenerative local supply chains.
Building in Oaxaca (2014)
During my time in Oaxaca, I kept an informal blog called Building in Oaxaca to keep my friends and family in the loop with regards to my experiences. At the time I had only recently decided to major in Architectural Studies. Joao Boto Caeiro was my mentor during a pivotal moment in my trajectory, and Root Studio provided a model for the consolidation of my values and expertise. During the summer of 2014, blogging was a way for me to document a meaningful experience through cultural observations and illustrations.