columbia university gsapp / m.arch ‘13 / rym2104@columbia.edu

r e b e c c a y o u n g m a r r i o t t

Cover image: Harlem Demographic Timeline, 1910-2010

“Cities are where life is most precarious; they are also where we have the greatest tangible opportunity for improvement,

intervention, and change.”

- Richard Rogers

Water / Sustainabil ity

Urban Hydrology Lab

Columbia University, GSAPP // Fall 2010Core Studio 1 // Critic: Christoph Kumpusch

The Urban Hydrology Lab’s form and function are inspired by

water’s movement in relation to land. Specifically, the water

conditions of the site over time. By mapping the projected sea

level rise and resulting flood plain in Lower Manhattan, I found that

the site on the Peck Slip could be flooded by the next century.

Since 1600, the shoreline of Manhattan has gradually been

expanded. As the water levels rise due to global warming, the

shoreline will inch back to its historic locations.

Tools // ArcGIS / Autocad / Illustrator / Photoshop

The lab reflects the past by reaching

historic shorelines and prepares for future

phenomena by allowing water to flow over

its roofs. It embraces current conditions by

being absorbed into the site, providing an

outdoor landscape for the public.

Filter Feeder

Columbia University, GSAPP // Fall 2010Core Studio I // Critic: Christoph Kumpusch

Tasks: Design a backpack able to purify one gallon of water and

map the trajectory from the point of origin to the source of water.

My goal was to design a backpack that related to the human

body. The result is a backpack that utilizes the filtration abilities

of organisms and the kinetic energy produced by walking.

As evidenced by the ability of waterborne diseases to kill millions

of people every day, the human body cannot filter and purify

water.

A group of mollusks, known as filter-feeders, can.

Therefore, my the backpack contains zebra mussels, voracious

eaters of bacteria and debris.

Tools // Illustrator / Photoshop / Rhino

Remediation Park

Princeton University // Spring 2009Junior Independent Work, SpringCritic: Catherine Seavitt-Nordenson

For my spring junior studio, I designed a national park

in Sabine Pass, Texas, just south of the Gulf Coast

Intracoastal Waterway. In response to the assignment to

build structures for visitors to observe the surrounding

area, I transfomed the flat landscape to create natural

viewpoints. Circular land berms function as ramps,

leading visitors to optimal vistas. The park provides

vistas of natural beauty, but also raises awareness of the

clouds of pollutants, threatening the ecosystem.

Tools // ArcGIS / AutoCAD / Illustrator

Yves Klein Museum

Princeton University // Fall 2008ARC 374: Computing and Representation

Since Yves Klein’s artwork and writing often centered

around the theme of the void, I designed the gallery

spaces to make the visitors feel as though they were in

the void. As one walks across the platform through the

central gallery space, one feels like one is floating, like the

suspended paintings. The reflective walls, ceiling, glass,

and water, create the sensation of the infinite void.

Tools // 3D Studio Max / V-Ray / Photoshop

E-Cube-Librium

Visualization Marathon // Fall 2011GE Grand Prize WinnerTeam: Kimberly Nguyen / Damon Lau / Cheng Hsin Lee

E-Cube-Librium is a new interactive tool for visualizing and

solving imbalanced world development. By configuring social,

economic, and environmental data in terms of a Rubik’s Cube

analogy, the cube represents a country’s growth with inversely

proportional categories placed opposite each other. In each

cube, we are searching for stable equilibrium and positive, bal-

anced development that can be sustained over time.

Tools // Rhino / Grasshopper / Illustrator / Excel

HAITI 1990-1995 1995-2000 2000-2005 2005-2010

2005-2010

2005-2010

2000-2005

2000-2005

1990-1995 1995-2000

1990-1995 1995-2000

BRAZIL

USA

Surface / Pattern

Chiesa

Spring 2008

Lost in Venice, I took a small winding street that suddenly

opened up into a piazza with a beautiful church.

Digital photograph adjusted in Photoshop.

Pistoia, Italy

Syracuse University in Florence // Spring 2008ARC 398: Architectural Concepts and Representation

On each of my architecture field trips around Italy during

my semester abroad in Florence, we spent the day analyzing

architecture through sketching. This series of sketches studies

the relationship between Cattedrale di San Zeno, the Bishop’s

Palace, and the Comune of Pistoia.

Graphite on paper.

Cones of Vision

Columbia University, GSAPP // Spring 2011Architectural Drawing and Representation II

In order to represent the three-dimensional surface of a Roman bas-relief in

two dimensions, I projected cones perpendicular to the surface contours.

Since lines of sight between figures on the bas-relief tie the composition

together, the “cones of vision” are pulled towards the eyes of the figure’s partner.

Tools // Rhino / Grasshopper / Illustrator

Community

Information Commons

Columbia University, GSAPP // Spring 2011Core Studio II // Critic: Yolande Daniels

The Information Commons is a language and culture library in

Downtown Manhattan, between Chinatown and Soho. A grand

staircase continues from the sidewalk and weaves through the library,

pulling the active, diverse street life of the neighborhood into the

learning and community spaces.

Tools // Rhino / 3D Studio Max / Illustrator / Photoshop

The library’s intention is to

foster community engagement

and cultural exploration by

guiding visitors from spaces of

individual activity to spaces of

communal activity.

On a site where a dense, ethnically diverse area

transitions into a more spread out, predominately

white neighborhood, the Information Commons brings

together a multicultural neighborhood by addressing

multiple publics with its large collection of material in

foreign languages and its community spaces.

Capitalist Commune

Columbia University, GSAPP // Fall 2011Core Studio III // Critic: Robert MarinoStudio Partner: Allison Conley

The Capitalist Commune is a mixed-use project, housing

1000 residents above an open market, retail space, and

a school. While residents share common, flexible space

between units and communal rooftop gardens, the project

encourages residents and non-residents to capitalize on

their individual skills by running a market-stall or renting

time in one of five communal kitchens.

Tools // Rhino / 3D Studio Max / Illustrator / Photoshop

The project is located in East Harlem, New York, which lacks

access to fresh produce. Although 125th Street has a popular

array of retail stores, East Harlem as a whole is also lacking

in retail area. Most of the retail stores on 125th Street are

commercial chains; high prices per square foot excludes local

or boutique stores from the neighborhood. Market stalls

would support local businesses, entrepreneurs, and farmers.

The housing unit

clusters are terraced,

sloping upwards to the

northwest corner of the

site. This form, along with

the clusters positioned at

a 45 degree angle to the

street grid, maximize sun

exposure.

Bayou Market

ULI/Hines Urban Design Competition // Spring 2012Team: Nick Greenberg, MSRED / Andrew Mazotti, MSREDCaroline Bauer, MSUP / Doneliza Joaquin, MSUP

Bayou Market is a joint proposal by myself and a team of Real Estate

Development and Urban Planning students for a culinary-themed

district on a 23-acre site in Downtown Houston. The site, which currently

houses a USPS distribution center and surface parking lots, would be

transformed into a mixed-use neighborhood anchored by a culinary-

themed public market, waterfront park, and transit center.

Tools // Rhino / 3D Studio Max / Photoshop