By using organic shapes that were inspired by nature we were able to create a block that serves many purposes in urban and natural settings. The Mingo block is able to create a variety of patterns from a variety of distances.
Collaboration with Olivia Scalora
The class was given 1515 Mount Royal as a site, the building was divided into 25” by 25” squares. The program for the building was an art museum that has continuous movement through the individual squares. This square used Marchel Duchamps painting “The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelor's Even (The Large Glass)” as the parti. The large glass comments on gender roles, sexual identity, lust, and the role restrooms play in today's society.
When receiving the program for the North Ave site, I researched what it meant to Reside in the Reservoir Hill neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland. I read the book titled “The Beautiful Struggle” written by Ta Nehisi Coates, an African American man who was born and raised in the same neighborhood as the site. By reading the book I was able to gain a greater understanding of the culture I was designing for. Nehisi pushes the concept of education and how it can begin to shape the community around you.
Understanding Coates perspective I looked to the middle school that sits directly across the street, and made it a major focus of my designing. I wanted to create a relationship between the two sites in order to form a stronger bond to the community, having the people who live near the site accountable for it. The form of the building was developed to welcome and receive community members from every entryway direction. By promoting
architecture that expresses concept or function through form, cultures begin enrich the lives of those who experience the design.
Understanding Coates perspective I looked to the middle school that sits directly across the street, and made it a major focus of my designing. I wanted to create a relationship between the two sites in order to form a stronger bond to the community, having the people who live near the site accountable for it. The form of the building was developed to welcome and receive community members from every entryway direction. By promoting
architecture that expresses concept or function through form, cultures begin enrich the lives of those who experience the design.
The program of the site hits on three lacking components around the Reservoir Hill neighborhood: Education, cafe, laundry, and physical health facility. I designed this place as a gathering place, something that is lacking around the site and middle school. The building is designed showing the potential of North Ave.
