Blog

Here we look at Arckit 90, a mid tier kit to the Arckit line-up, offering 230+ components. Arckit opens the world of architecture to everyone, and I'm here to help you get started by demonstrating several sample builds!

Your Arckit 90 is a free-form architectural modelling systems that enables you to physically bring your design ideas to life with speed and precision. The included pieces are based on the modular components of modern architectural building techniques, making it possible to create a wide variety of professional scaled structures.

I hope these sample models help you understand the fundamentals of using Arckit to design your own amazing structures!

Read More

Here we look at Arckit Go Plus, a starter kit to the Arckit line-up, offering 175+ components. Arckit opens the world of architecture to everyone, and I'm here to help you get started by demonstrating several sample builds!

Your Arckit Go Plus is a free-form architectural modelling system that enables you to physically bring your design ideas to life with speed and precision. The included pieces are based on the modular components of modern architectural building techniques, making it possible to create a wide variety of professional scaled structures.

I hope these sample models help you understand the fundamentals of using Arckit to design your own amazing structures!

Read More

Here we look at Arckit Mini Dormer, a starter kit to the Arckit line-up, offering 115+ components. Arckit opens the world of architecture to everyone, and I'm here to help you get started by demonstrating several sample builds!

Your Arckit Mini Dormer is a free-form architectural modelling system that enables you to physically bring your design ideas to life with speed and precision. The included pieces are based on the modular components of modern architectural building techniques, making it possible to create a wide variety of professional scaled structures.

I hope these sample models help you understand the fundamentals of using Arckit to design your own amazing structures!

Read More

Here we look at Arckit Mini Angle and Curve, two introductory/expansion kits to the
Arckit line-up, both offering 85+ components. Arckit opens the world of architecture
to everyone, and I'm here to help you get started by demonstrating several sample builds!

Your Arckit Mini Angle and Curve are free-form architectural modelling systems
that enable you to physically bring your design ideas to life with speed and precision.
The included pieces are based on the modular components of modern architectural
building techniques, making it possible to create a wide variety of professional scaled structures.

I hope these sample models help you understand the fundamentals of using Arckit to design your own amazing structures!

Read More

For the past century and half, there has been nothing like the narrative of the 14th and U-Street corridor. While complex and objectively bitter, its history is a miraculous tale, a ripe and mature story of an epic growth, a painful abatement and a re-surging revival trying to amend what once was. What makes this urban adventure particularly distinctive is its ability to bring out the longing voice of a storyteller and ignite a flame in an ambitious listener. The history of 14th and U is an ever evolving story of cultural hegemony, the chronically dialectical relationship between those who have  lived within and those who have just arrived.

 

Read More

Here, Zack and I present Arckit Model 42, a modern beach home design. As a model home on stilts (my first ever!), we divided the project into two parts: the building of the structure and the creation of the foundation. The key features of this project included a wrap-around porch and a lofted attic space. 

Read More

The study of traditional Japanese architecture in a modern context led Foster + Partners to design The Kawana House in Kawana, Japan. This delightful home is a fusion of two cultures: the Japanese love for respect and harmony of buildings with nature, and the Western world's use of steel and glass in architecture. 

Read More

Based in Richmond Virginia, KaTO is an architecture studio which engages students of architecture & design, engineering, and construction to create social projects for impoverished communities internationally. KaTO seeks to create architecture as a catalyst to advance education in these underprivileged cultures. During Summer 2017, I traveled with a team of architects and engineers to design a community center and school in La Romana, Dominican Republic. 

Read More

Based in Richmond Virginia, KaTO is an architecture studio which engages students of architecture & design, engineering, and construction to create social projects for impoverished communities internationally. KaTO seeks to create architecture as a catalyst to advance education in these underprivileged cultures. During Summer 2016, I traveled with a team of architects and engineers to design a community center as part of a large city masterplan in Monterrey, Mexico 

Read More

Here, I present Arckit Model 40, a Modular Apartment Design looking to study the architectural implications of social housing projects and the ideas around small living spaces.

Read More

Here, I present Arckit Model 39, a quickly-built container home designed to gain an understanding of solar orientation and passive lighting strategies.

Read More

RDP House is nestled in the flat grasslands of La Tomeca, on the outskirts of the hectic city of Pichincha, Ecuador. Completed in 2015 by local architect Daniel Moreno Flores in collaboration with Sebastian Calero, the home’s design uses reclaimed shipping containers to reflect the client’s passion for mechanical assemblies. Its rugged and industrial utilitarian style is punctuated by wooden interiors and glass walls that tie the container forms together. Actively designed with the client in mind, all connections and materials are exposed, indulging the client in his desire to live in "a machine whose function and construction were easily understood at every angle and level of detail."

Read More

At 100 square meters and completed in 2011, this $40,000 container home was designed by Benjamin Garcia Saxe Architects for clients, Gabriela Calvo and Marco Peralta. The vision was to create an inexpensive house made from discarded shipping containers, which would allow the couple to live debt-free in a natural landscape less than 20 minutes from San Jose, Costa Rica. With an orientation aligned toward sunrise and sunset, the home offers spectacular views of its surroundings while emphasizing feelings of comfort and freedom.

Read More

Today I present Arckit Project 36, a large office building design featuring an open office plan and large shared collaborative spaces.

Read More

Today I present Arckit Model 35A designed by Jonathan Baldauf and Arckit Model 35B designed by Zack Bishop. These models are two variants of a similar Modern Home Design footprint. With Model 35A, Jonathan and I explored different facade patterns and the incorporation of different height areas to create an impressive home design. With Model 35B, Zack and I focused on consolidating the previous floor plan, specifically concentrating on optimizing and grouping the water systems of the home. This was a highly enjoyable project that brought about many new ideas to test with future models!

Read More

Today I present Arckit Model 34, a modern home design equipped to cater to a full sized family. I specifically focused on trying to develop a program that optimized both natural lighting and ventilation.

Read More

A self evaluation of my progress in ARCH 465. Here I go over the concepts and topics from each of these classes and organize it into a portfolio where I demonstrate what I have learned and am capable of producing. It is a important part of the learning process, where I reflect on what I have learned, how I learned it, and how I know that these concepts are now a part of how I think and design. 

Read More

This semester I am taking a seminar/project based learning class, ARCH418A, looking at Zero Energy and Zero Impact Building Design in relation to Quarterfield Elementary School in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Over 50 years old, Quarterfield Elementary School is next in line for a public school renovation. Currently, the school has many problems in regard to energy use. The building's enclosure system is poorly insulated with single paned glass, the lack of efficient cavity walls with thin walls and roof, and all around low "R" value materials for both the walls and the roof. Due to the poor insulation, the indoor environment is in need of improvement with measurements for indoor air, temperature and lighting fluctuating and not consistent. With information from high performance building design, simulations and life cycle analysis, we as a class are tasked with the opportunity to submit a proposal determining the approach for re-evaluation of the site and produce a set of design strategies, recommendations and methodologies to move forwards with. My research has been to offer a set of material design recommendations that looks to provide recyclable, biodegradable and "Red List" free alternatives for major insulation areas of our building, the roof, walls and windows. So, why is material sustainability important? 

Read More