1

Gangi Residence

Attwood Residence

Bengbu Train Station

Xinyu Natural History Museum

Beijing Urban Planning Project

Li Jiang Old Town Research

Living Machine

Culver City Contemporary Art Museum

3 Unit Housing

Art Space

Comprehensive Portfolio • Tiffany Dell’Aquila

Tomb of Humayun, India

2

This is a 5,000 SF Design-Led-Build

custom residence that I have been working on

since Design Development in 2011. It is currently

still in progress.

This is a cutting edge, mid-20th century

residence. It employs numerous sustainable

systems such as solar photovoltaic, greywater

landscape irrigation, passive daylighting, and

radiant heating and cooling.

I played a pivotal role during the entire

progress of this project, from the Construction

Documents phase where I coordinated manu-

facturer details as well as steel shop drawings,

through Building Permitting and the current

Construction Administration Phase.

This will be a true showcase house

upon completion, which is expected to occur in

the Spring of 2014.

In ProgressGangi Architects • Gangi Residence

Complete Framing Model Used to solve numerous RFIs in advance.

Design Model Construction Progress: Master Bedroom Overhang

Water Heating & Cooling Diagram, and Radius Diagram

3Gangi Architects • Gangi ResidenceIn Progress

Design Rendering: Family Room

Design Rendering: Ramp

Construction Progress: Family Room

Construction Progress: Ramp Location

4

This is a 6,000 SF Design-Led-Build

custom residence that I worked on from

Design Development in 2011 up through its

completion in December 2012 in conjunction

with Gangi Builders, Inc.

It is located in the hills of Glendale,

and though it is sited on a prominent ridge,

the design allows for a seamless integration

with the natural surrounding environment.

I played a pivotal role while prepar-

ing the Construction Documents, coordinating

specific product and manufacturer details. I as-

sisted in the thorough vetting of details from

various window and door manufactures. I was

involved in every step of the process, including

the Building Permitting Process and

Construction Administration.

December 2012Gangi Architects • Attwood Residence

Completed Construction Interior: Family Room Construction Completion: Bedroom Entry

Design ModelSiting Diagram and Privacy Diagram

5Gangi Architects • Attwood ResidenceDecember 2012

Design Rendering: Family Room

Design Rendering: Front Entry

Construction Completion: Family Room

Construction Completion: Front Entry

6

I assisted with the schematic de-

sign and master plan for the new 323,000 sqft

transportation hub in Bengbu, China. We had

the opportunity to design the two commercial

buildings that flank the station - the train

station itself was already contracted with

Govenment agencies. Construction was

completed in 2012.

In 2013 the building was nominated

to the World Architecture Festival (WAF) short-

list for the Transportation category.

A series of small retail shops line the

perimeter of the plaza on the ground floor.

Directly above lies is a public promenade that

connects the train station to the two commer-

cial buildings.

The hotel and office buildings pos-

sess 34,000 sqft each. The facades are sloped

to create a larger footprint on the lowest lev-

els, and those facing south have been coated

with photovoltaics.

The landscaping in the plaza is ori-

ented to true north, as indicated by the large

sundial at the center. Thin water channels

course through the ground, indicating the

hour of the day, as well as lighting up at the

appropriate hour at night.

Spring 2010Paul Tang Architecture • Bengbu Train Station

7

North Building Section

Paul Tang Architecture • Bengbu Train StationSpring 2010

8 MADA S.P.A.M • XINYU Natural History Museum

Perspective of window openings

This fall I worked in Shanghai on the roof design for the

Xinyu Natural History Museum. With a structural roof system al-

ready established, my task was to design a series of window open-

ings that would reveal the complex structural system.

The architectural theme of this museum is that it is one

with the rolling mountains that envelop it. As such, the building

literally emerges from the earth with six columns that form an un-

dulating roof canopy.

A triangular grid supports this unique structural design.

A hexagon shape is naturally formed from a triangle if the corners

are trimmed. Where the columns are located, the grid converges

downward, and the triangle grid transforms into a rectangular one.

The challenge is allowing the hexagon to morph with the column.

After much exploration, I devised a way for the open-

ings to stretch proportionally while still retaining reference to the

original hexagon shape. The average hexagon diameter in plan is

about 2 meters. At the top tier, the height stretches to 3 meters. At

the second tier it becomes 5, and at the bottom the hexon height is

8 meters tall.

Fall 2008

9

Transformation from triangular to rectangular grid

Fall 2008 MADA S.P.A.M • XINYU Natural History Museum

View from rear plaza

Sectional render and wireframe

10

For our first design project, we col-

laborated with graduate students from Columbia.

This was our first major urban planning project.

Our given site is a large area in Beijing’s northwest

quadrant, which contains many unique adjacencies.

It borders historical areas such as the Summer and

Winter palaces, as well as several important educa-

tional campuses, such as Tsinghua University and

Peking University. Additionally, there is a large inter-

national business district and a technology district.

With over 44 students involved (22 from

USC, 13 from Columbia) we began site analysis by

breaking up into different topic groups: Built Envi-

ronment, Circulation, Demographics, History, and

Landscape. As part of the demographics team, we

surveyed several areas in the site.

We observed three major types of resi-

dential building typology: One story housing, six

story mid-rise, and the larger high-rises. The one

Beijing City. The road rings and the outline of our site.

Community space

Site Analysis • American Academy in China • BEIJING URBAN PLANNING

Infrastructure Amenities and Density

One-story Mid-Rise

Housing Typology

High-Rise

story houses were built in the ‘50s to accomodate

the massive factories in the city. In the ‘70s as the

factories were moved out of the city and a popu-

lation increase occurred, the one story houses

were replaced with six story high-rises. Typically

the worker’s family would move into these. Now,

tall high rise developments scatter across Beijing,

containing mostly middle class and some small per-

centage of lower income housing.

The one-story housing, or hutongs (nar-

row alleyways) have little to no infrastructural ame-

nities. The living conditions are inadequate, and the

people within only remain because it is their most

affordable option. When developers wish to demol-

ish an area, the government subsidizes them, but it

is not enough to warrant the move. The people that

live here are typically from outside of Beijing, and

live here by choice. As such, to call them slums is

not accurate terminology.

Summer 2008

11Demographics • American Academy in China • BEIJING URBAN PLANNING

4th Ring Road

3rd Ring Road

5th Ring RoadOne-story

Mid-rise

High-rise

Landscape

Outline of site

In the strategic proposal segment of the Beijing studio, we worked in conjunction with

students from Seoul National University.

Every person needs somewhere to live, work, obtain food, and engage in recreation. It is

given that there are many different demographics in this site. Currently, they each (lower, middle, up-

per classe) obtain these necessities from their local communities. Example: Local wet market versus

large corporate supermarket.

Interestingly, each of these demographics operates in very close proximity to one an-

other, but only to obtain some necessity provided in a different neighborhood. For example, in the

case study mentioned earlier, residents from the high rises will pass through the one story/hutong

neighborhoods as a shortcut to the street, or a grocery stand.

To accomodate all these different demographics, we propose a system of connected pub-

lic spaces, linked by developed public hubs along the subway. Rather than create something that

can only benefit one demographic over another, if all demographics can enjoy a good public space

then our goal will be achieved.

We propose the following:

1. To add two new subway stops in addition to the ones already planned by the government.

2. To develop public hubs at major transportation intersections.

3. To reconfigure the connected public spaces to better serve the surrounding tracts of residential

development.

4. Once these point sof interest have been established, to create a sytem of connective pathways

to physically bring people from one point of interest to the next.

RoadUnderground SubwayAboveground Subway

RingRoad

GreenInstitutionCorporationCommercialPublic SpaceResidential

3rd Ring Road

4th Ring Road

5th Ring Road

Strategic Proposal

Summer 2008

12

The last World Heritage example is Li Jiang. Lo-

cated in Yunnan, it has historically been a small minority

town of the Naxi peoples. In 1996, Li Jiang experienced

a devastating earthquake that damaged 90% of the Old

Town. It was quickly rebuilt, and with this new opportu-

nity Li Jiang became a major tourist destination. However,

the building construction never ended. Even until today,

the old town of Li Jiang continues to expand, with new

buildings being built to look the same as the older build-

ings, and with the outer gates being pushed farther and

farther away.

Our group studied the streets that spur off of

71 street, one of the main commercial streets. Starting

from Si Fang Jie (the main square) the price of rent goes

from 150,000 to 6,000 in the span of of a half mile. Taking

three samples from north to south, we found that the pro-

gram changed accordingly. In the north, the spurs were

completely commercial, and in the south, more residen-

tial.

Aerial of LiJiang Old Town

View of Mu Fu / Old Town Li Jiang Research of 71 Street, Li Jiang

71 Street (Spurs) • American Academy in China • LIJIANG OLD TOWN Summer 2008

1371 Street (Spurs)• American Academy in China • LIJIANG OLD TOWN

Analysis: Spur 2

Area near Spur 1

Area near Spur 2

Area near Spur 3 Analysis: Spur 3Analysis: Spur 1

Commercial

Commercial with Housing

Tourist Housing

Local Housing

Restaurant

Summer 2008

14

11. Open Air + Helipad

10. Cafeteria + Wind Display

9. Science Center Admin

8. Living Machine Admin

7. Laboratory Offices

6. Laboratories

5. Multi Media

4. Enclosure Display

3. Classrooms

2. Auditorium

1. Ground floor

B. Living Machines

Positive Pressure

Air Exhaust

Negative Pressure

Off-Site Cool Air Intake

View to immediate surroundings

Ground Circulation

View to downtown

VERTICAL SITE CONDITIONSScale: 1/16” = 1’-0”

Reuse

Vegetated Roof

Vegetated Balcony

• Slows Runoff• Blocks UV• Increased Insulation

EVAPOTRANSPIRATIONScale: 1/16” = 1’-0”

N

BERNOULLI EFFECTScale: 1/16” = 1’-0”

N

PROGRAM BREAK DOWNScale: 1/16” = 1’-0”

N

PASSIVE SUMMER COOLINGScale: 1/16” = 1’-0”

+ Speed

- Pressure

RAINWATER COLLECTIONScale: 1/16” = 1’-0”

Rainwater Drain

Purification + Pump

Potable Water Reused

Irrigation Water

Exposition Park • Living Machine Spring 2008

Circulation Patterns

Entry Into Living Machine

This project focuses on a sustainable, concrete high rise structure located in Exposition Park between the California Science Center and the African American Museum. The building’s primary function is to display sus-tainable technologies to the public. It will showcase a Living Machine, which is an effective, space-efficient system of purifying and re-using water. It involves de-scending levels of tanks for water filtration, and each step can be viewed by the public. The floors higher up have laboratories for visiting scientists and office space for administrative purposes. Two vertical cores support the passive infrastruc-ture of the building, and allow photovoltaics and sun shading devices to be mounted on the south facing side. The topmost floor contains weather sampling in-struments, air purification, and wind turbine systems.

Summertime Passive Cooling

EXPOSITION

Scale: 1/128" = 1'

Visitors/Locals

Employees

Service

Legend

Landscape, South Face

15

7

8

9

10

Exposition Park • Living MachineSpring 2008

Roof, Wall, and Foundation Details

1) Roof Construction: Seed Mixture System Substrate Fallnet Filter Sheet Floraset Separation and Protection2) Sheet Metal Gutter bent to shape3) 12 mm Fiber Cement Sheet4) Guardrail

1) Aluminum Ventilaing Element2) Computer Controlled Sun Shade Louver3) Computer Controlled Window Vent4) Operable Window5) Mirror Soffit

1) Subsoil Drainage System2) Steel Dowels Foun dation Wall to Footing3) Premolded Filler and Sealant at Expans ion Joint4) Concrete Ground Slab5) Waterproofing6) Thermal Insulation7) Foundation Footing

Plans Program by Floor

11. Open Air + Helipad

10. Cafeteria + Wind Display

9. Science Center Admin

8. Living Machine Admin

7. Laboratory Offices

6. Laboratories

5. Multi Media

4. Enclosure Display

3. Classrooms

2. Auditorium

1. Ground floor

B. Living Machines

Positive Pressure

Air Exhaust

Negative Pressure

Off-Site Cool Air Intake

View to immediate surroundings

Ground Circulation

View to downtown

VERTICAL SITE CONDITIONSScale: 1/16” = 1’-0”

Reuse

Vegetated Roof

Vegetated Balcony

• Slows Runoff• Blocks UV• Increased Insulation

EVAPOTRANSPIRATIONScale: 1/16” = 1’-0”

N

BERNOULLI EFFECTScale: 1/16” = 1’-0”

N

PROGRAM BREAK DOWNScale: 1/16” = 1’-0”

N

PASSIVE SUMMER COOLINGScale: 1/16” = 1’-0”

+ Speed

- Pressure

RAINWATER COLLECTIONScale: 1/16” = 1’-0”

Rainwater Drain

Purification + Pump

Potable Water Reused

Irrigation Water

NN

B

2

3

4

5

6

16

Our focus here is the Culver City Art District. In a meeting we had at Culver City Hall, we presented our analysis of the district and our proposal of how to best nurture the art community. The area needs to be re-zoned to accomodate commercial and artistic development, as it is currently light industrial. The streetscape can become pedestrian friendly by widening the sidewalk, increasing landscaping, narrowing lanes, and removing inappropriately scaled billboards. We also proposed the Culver City Contemporary Art Museum, which will serve as the heart of the art district. The museum is a renovation of an existing office building, we had to preserve the shell but could build up from within. Located on La Cienega just north of Washington, it will incor-porate mixed-use program such as housing, cafés, a bookstore, and gallery space.

Site Analysis • Culver City Art District Fall 2007

Site Organization and Context

Perspective looking north on La Cienega

17Culver City Contemporary Art MuseumFall 2007

Basement Ground Floor

Foyer transverse section East Façade

Third Floor Fourth Floor Fifth Floor

N

East Façade (Scale: 1/32" = 1')Foyer transverse section (Scale: 1/32" = 1')

ART SUPPORT

10.  Administration11.  Director's Office13.  5 Offices14.  Conference Room15.  Employee Kitchen and Lounge

ART SUPPORT

16.  Art Preparation and Storage17.  Loading Dock18.  Toilets19.   Live Work Lofts20.  Artist in Residence Apartments

ART SUPPORT

21.  Mech + Elec Rooms22.  Janitor Closets23.  FREIGHT ELEVATOR24.  Elevator Machinr Room25.  Data / Computer Rooms

Fifth floor plan (Scale: 1/64" = 1')Fourth floor plan (Scale: 1/64" = 1')Third floor plan (Scale: 1/64" = 1')

99 8

7

7

7

1

2 1

9

9

8

8 8 8 7

921

23

21

23

21

23

7 10 8 7

777 78

Fall 2007 Final Project • Culver City Contemporary Art Museum 29

10. Administration11. Director’s Office13. 5 offices14. Conference Room15. Employee Kitchen and Lounge

16. Art Preparation and Storage17. Loading Dock18. Toilets19. Live Work Lofts20. Artist in residence Apartments

21. Mechanical & Electrical Rooms22. Janitor Closets23. Freight Elevator24. Elevator Machine Room25. Data / Computer Rooms

18 Echo Park, Los Angeles • 3 Unit Housing The project consists of three housing units situated on a 4,810 sqft lot in Echo Park. In addition to solving this logistical challenge, I addressed a serious problem inherent with suburban hous-ing: social isolation. This is perpetuated by a lack of unit identity and public space. To resolve this, a central com-munity space was made a priority. Acces-sible only by pedestrian gates, the space is enclosed by the surounding three units. Open porches supporting roof gardens above allow neighbors to interact while maintaining a sense of personal privacy. Unit identity is fostered by, each compact floor plan is different from the next.

Sitting adjacent to Temple Street is Unit 3 with a backyard as a buffer zone. Units 1 and 2 share a party wall, and are arranged next to the back alley. The park-ing lot also serves as a transition zone from public to private. This allows for a distinct articulation of each unit while still uniting them in a cohesive design. Garbage disposal and parking for residents is located toward the back alley, and guests can park on Temple Street and enter the complex by foot. Additionally, clerestory win-dows face north to take advantage of day lighting while minimizing solar heat gain.

Site PlanUnit arrangement

Perspective of Courtyard

Fall 2006

19Fall 2006 Echo Park, Los Angeles • 3 Unit Housing

Solid-Void Diagram Sections

Plans

Public-Private Diagram

20 ART SPACE

Canyon View Perspective of Gallery

Spring 2005

Centralized organization CirculationGround manipulation

Located within the USC campus, this art space exhibits large sculptural works like those of Richard Serra. To ac-comodate this the main gallery space has been condensed into one central area. A two story space is created by extending into the earth one story and up into the sky one story. This creates a canyon-like experience, formed by trian-gular planes exploring the notion of an informal shelter. These explorations are used to create three separate areas: the main exhibition space located below ground, the offices located at ground level along the western border, and the audio/visual rooms located at ground level surround-ing the main gallery space.

21Spring 2005 ART SPACE

Pencil drawing of the east-west section Pencil drawing of north-south section

View of the galleries from ground floor View of offices, elevator, and entry to main gallery space