Tomonori Tsujita

CONTENTS.
Independent Work
Private Residence (Tokyo) Private Residence (New York City) Benetton Teheran Competition Nordhavnen Competition Caesarstone Competition

PROFESSIONAL WORK
utopus llc
Texas Hill Road

urban think tank

Youth Development Center: Rusaifah, Jordan

Robert Siegel Architects

SUNY Purchase: School of Visual Arts Renovation US Land Port of Entry: Calais, Maine

platt byard dovell white architects llp

Poly Prep Lower School Jacob Burns Media Center

GRADUATE WORK
SLUM Lab: Caracas, Venezuela Monograph Studio Advanced Techniques in Digital Design Digital Detailing

Private Residence (Tokyo) Private Residence (New York City) Benetton Teheran Competition Nordhavnen Competition Caesarstone Competition

INDEPENDENT WORK.

Private Residence
2012 Tokyo, Japan
Located in the Tabata district of Northern Tokyo, the single family private residential proposal is for an elderly woman living alone, but frequently has family members visiting and staying in her aid. The scheme is based around a barrier-free living style for the client, who has limited mobility and requires multiple dialysis procedures per week. The resulting layout proposed is a studio-like first floor, allowing the client to move as freely as possible with minimal thresholds to pass for each living function. This open space additionally allows for easier survailance by the family, who had requested an integrated security system to observe her condition when they are not at home. The second floor is organized to house the alternating family members who stay in her assistance.

W.C.

W.C.

Private Residence
2012 New York City, USA
Interior renovation of a 1200 square foot private residence in Upper East Side, Manhattan. The scope of work included the renovation of the kitchen, 2 bathrooms, powder room, bedrooms, living & dining areas, and the addition of walk-in closets.

Not to Scale

BENETTON TEHERAN COMPETITION.

with Rita Afonso Eva Hermoso Barriuso

2009 Tehran, Iran

The unification of mixed use programmatic spaces within a single entity can present itself to be a intriguing proposal for an architectural proposition. For Benetton, here is an opportunity to express the brand with not just one building, but through three distinct programs, work, live and consume. Though it is a simpler proposal to create three distinct tiers of the building, such a conglomerated and short-sighted approach would not justify the foundation of what United Colors of Benetton has already created in the fashion industry. It is therefore most paramount to create an architecture that encompasses Benettons presence not by a visual reference of programmatic distinctions, but through means of unification of these human experiences and behaviors. In such proposal, Benetton is the common denominator, and not a veneer. At the particular context at the site in Teheran, it was deemed necessary to create a dialog that amalgamates both a singular (conceptually) but distinct (contextually) archicitecture. To achieve this, a fragmented facade surrounds the vertical circulation, encapsulating the program in a porous facade, that reveals the continuous vertical circulation that visibily runs through the entire building. The volumes of vertical circulation and spaces that need to be enclosed are encapsulated in this single composition running through as a monolithic structure through the building, with an open program spread on each floor for retail, office, and residential use. The Benetton offices and retail stores spaces, along with apartments on the top floor were arranged with the concept that relied on the unique way that the brand has remarkable stand on the fashion industry. The different components of each floor are intended to connect with the way Benetton has constructed its own image. United Colors of Benetton are interpreted at this site as United Volumes of Benetton.

The vertical form runs through the entire building, beginning in the vertical circulation space at the below grade parking spaces, through the private offices and conference rooms in the offices, and up to the rest rooms and bedrooms at the apartments on the top floor.

Private Residences

Typical Retail Plan

Benetton Office

Benetton Retail

Typical Office Plan

Private Residence Plan

Sectional Model

NORDHAVNEN COMPETITION.
with Michael Kaainoni

2008 Copenhagen, Denmark

A prefix is the internal portion of an object (a word or term [typically in text or speech]) with a distinct and reused meaning that modifies the meaning of the whole object. This idea in the utilization of a modifier to alter the function of a predicated condtion has been applied to the Nordhavnen district of Copenhagen. But simple intervention alone, however benevolent, cannot bring about an alteration of preception and function. The variations and typologies of actions and interventions must also be determined. (pre)FIX is an exploration in the modifiers that could be applied to the Nordhavnen district in its process of redeveloping the future growth and use of the neighborhood. This process in determining the variables for development was derived through a series of exercises that focused on the future expansion of Nordhavnen at its core. This outward direction then led to the introduction of a main arterial path that acts as a spine in both the existing landmass and proposed expansion. This main path is further broken down programmatically by use. Automobiles, light rail, pedestrian/bicycle, et al, each exist on their own path which converse sectionally to meet the functions of the surrounding environment. As the light rail and public transport proceed through the site, private automobiles are diverted to multi-tier parking zones to minimize traffic. Pedestrian and bicycle paths are non-adjacent to larger modes of traffic so these methods of transport can be designed at a different scale and intention that focuses on visual experience as opposed to time/speed in the case of motorized vehicles. As the path progresses further into the site, the various typologies of interventions are encountered. 1) A bridge condition, which occurs in moments where the site below must be preserved or there is an existing body of water. 2) Locations where the path inserts through an existing building. 3) Zones in which there are predominantly new construction. 4) Hybrid conditions, in which additions are incorporated into existing buildings to promote new functions and programming. 5) And the expansion of the Nordhavnen district, in which the paths are fully integrated into the platforms which progress further out into the bay. With the main path set as the spine for the site, these modifiers are formalized and iterated as a series of progressions throughout the site at specific nodal points resulting from the convergence of multiple axis introduced in the redevelopment of Nordhavnen.

(pre)

1. [pre] CONDITION
Existing condition without any intervention or alteration.

2. [re] CONDITION

Site mass extruded resulting in maximum building area.

3. [sub] DIVIDE

Zones are subdivided in the perpendicular axist to establish major connections to the main entry

4. [re] VAMP

Existing structures respected and built upon.

5. [re] NEW

Existing structures are accompanied with new structures for density and introduction of program.

6. [re] COMBINE

Existing program with new program reconfigured into a 24-hour promenade.

7. [de] STABLIZE
Future expansion of the project is achieved through the arrangment of fragmented planes stacked vertically.

SECTIONAL PATH.
The introduced path bisects the Nordhavnen district, creating a new axis to traverse into the redeveloped areas. The preposition of multiple paths which are divided by typologies intertwine sectionally, dividing, conjoining and altering. By doing so, there is an introduction of new varibles in which the redevelopment and expansion of Nordhavnen can incorporate within its master planning.

BRIDGE.
With the introduced path taking shape of a linear structure creating a new division of Nordhavnen, one of the new conditions encountered is the scenario of the path passing over an existing body of water or historically preserved structure.

EXISTING.
The path will pass through existing buildings and structures that are deemed for preservation, whether for historical significance or programmatic alteration that is beneficial to the dynamics of Copenhagen.

INTRODUCTION.
The newly introduced elements are placed on a series of perpendicular axis to the main path. Following this organizational spine, multiple nodal points are created in which multiple variables of interventions can occur.

ADDITION.
Several portions of the path will traverse through a hybrid condition of the site, in which existing buildings and structures are modified by additions allowing the reuse of already existing structure, volume and infrastructure.

EXPANSION.
Further expansion of the Nordhavnen area is focused on the idea of minimal impact into the waters. This is achieved through a series of platforms that are conjoined programmatically, and integrated through the extension of the path.

CAESARSTONE COMPETITION.
2008
A competition for a manufacturer of synthetic countertop surfaces asked to design a table for use in their showrooms that revealed the possibilities in the materials that they produced. The submitted entry proposes the application of multiple material types and colors rotated 90 degrees and stacked in a horizontal direction. The table is constructed by using the standard Caesarstone slab thicknesses of 0.5, 0.75 and 1.25 and aligned vertically. Stainless steel panels of 0.125 thick are layered in incremets of similar profile and all layers are connected through a series of threaded rods and bolted in place. There are five typical profiles that are used in a series for the construction of the table. These profiles are applied for both the Caesarstone materials and the stainless steel structural reinforcements. When implemented in succession, two opposing L-shaped shelves are created. Because the table is created through multiple layers of these profiles, one dimension of the table is a dynamic variable. Therefore the length, color, and materials for the each table created can be determined by the quantity and type of panels used.

Exploded Axonometric Diagram

Plan & Elevations

utopus llc
Texas Hill Road Switch Light Prototyping

urban think tank

Youth Development Center: Rusaifah, Jordan

Robert Siegel Architects

SUNY Purchase: School of Visual Arts Renovation US Land Port of Entry: Calais, Maine

platt byard dovell white architects llp

Poly Prep Lower School Jacob Burns Media Center

professional WORK.

Utopus llc. Texas Hill Road

2011 Hillsdale, New York, USA Schematic Design Design Development Construction Documents Bidding & Negotiation
Renovation of an existing barn-like structure into a private residence in Upstate New York for a dancer and video artist couple. The scope of work included new penetrations in the roof for additional mechanical work, as well as infill and new penetrations along the exteior walls for window walls. Along with the interior renovation of the building, the scope of work included the replacement of the exterior finish as part of the critical maintenance work to resolve enclosure issues such as water penetration, , with a proposed utilization of corrugated sheet metal as part of a rainscreen system.

First Floor Plan

Second Floor Plan

Not to Scale

Not to Scale

Not to Scale

Utopus llc. switch light prototyping

2012
By furthere developing a series of existing custom lights completed for a previous client, Utopus LLC created an additional company, Lumifer, which focused on high end lighting products primarily for residential use. The work consisted of redesigning the components and assembly to be more applicable for quicker production, developing shop drawings, and working with several metal fabricators to ease and lower production costs.

An e-commerce site was also developed for this company, and can be viewed at www.lumifer.us

urban think tank. YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER : RUSAIFAH, JORDAN.

2010 Amman Jordan
Located in Jordan, Rusaifah lies on the outskirts of the metropolitan area of Amman. Though this workingclass district is not officially recognized by the United Nations, its main demographic are Palestinian immigrant refugees from Jordans neighboring nations. Education has become a primary concern for both the Royal Family of Jordan as well as the Parliament. In particular for districts such as Rusayfah where the overcrowding of youth and lack of educational facilities and staff have resulted in shortened school days of 4 hours a day, this has lead to an increase in illiteracy, substance abuse,loss in job opportunities and increased obesity, for the Palestinian refugees, some who have settled in the country for several generations. The request for proposal came from Jordans Ministry of Social Development to assess the local situation through meetings with the United Nations and local NGOs with vested interests in the youth development of the region. Furthermore a viable means of master planning for the Rusayfah district, as well as a programmatic and schematic proposal for a youth development center was also requested. Ultimately, with the input by local residentts and NGOs of Rusayfah and the first-year urban planning students of the SLUM Lab Studio of Columbia GSAPP, a proposal was developed incorporating a vertically stacked gym, urban agriculture greenhouse, cooking facilities, information technology center, arts and media studios, library, a crafts workshop and a small gallery space.

rusaifah amman

Projected Population Growth

Rusaifah Youth Population

Rusaifah Youth Population Enrolled in Schools

Average Water Use Per Person (Liters)

MASTER PLANNING.
A large portion of the development of Rusaifah revolves around the Zarqua riverbed which flows through Rusaifah, bisecting it into two distinct divisions. With issues of water scarcity on the rise, preserving and utilizing this riverbed will be a crucial element in developing a Rusaifah that is environmentally sustainable as well as a viable means cultivating locally produced agricultural goods. From a social perspective, several meetings were held with the Ministry of Environment, the municipality of Rusayfah as well as the mayor, and several NGOs working in the local region, including the United Nations. The program for the youth development center was developed and created as a resultant to support the master planning of Rusaifah.

POTENTIAL PARTNERS.
Al Quds Community Center, Rusaifah Amman Filmmakers Cooperative Amman Institute Arab Women Media Center/Arab Youth and Modern Media The Center for the Study of the Built Environment Columbia University Middle East Research Center El Hassan Youth Award Entity Green Training FIFA Fugees Family The Humane Center for Animal Welfare, Amman Institute for Traditional Islamic Art and Architecture The International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas International Union for the Conservation of Nature International Youth Foundation Iskantalar Community Center, Rusaifah Jordan Ministry of Social Development Jordanian Renewable Energy Society Jordanian Hashimite Fund for Human Development Madrasiti Noor Al-Hussein Foundation One Drop Foundation Pepsi Royal Botanic Garden, Amman Shajara UNICEF USAID Womens Work Society, Rusaifah Youth Growing Green Youth Work Jordan

Master Plan Proposal

youth development center

Though many youth facilities in Rusaifah are built with separate spaces for boys and girls activities, the proposed youth center is designed to provide gender-neutral facilities, with girls and boys activities scheduled at different times - or integrated, should the community make that decision. The upper levels will acoomodate classroom space and computer labs for coursework in Media & Communications and Art & Design. An Editing Lab will provide equipment for use in the production of films, radio broadcasts, podcasts and web content. An Art Studio will provide space for hands-on art and design instruction, as well space for the production of crafts. Interactive Green Design features - such as graywater recycling and solar hot water heating - will minimize the buildings environmental footprint while serving as a hands-on learning lab.

Programmatic Model

robert siegel architects. SUNY PURCHASE : VISUAL ARTS BUILDING.

2009 Purchase, New York, USA Schematic Design Design Development Construction Documents
The project called for a critical maintenance and repair of the existing visual arts building, originally designed by The Architects Collaborative, at the State University of New York, Purchase College campus. Originally completed in 1975, the building has numerous flaws in construction that has lead to multiple maintenance procedures over the lifespan of the building regarding its enclosure and waterproofing systems. These errors in execution included the lack of a vapor barrier in the masonry assemblies, inadequate sloping of the rigid insulation at the roof towards the drains and a general deficiency in construction of the curtain wall system. These have lead to issues which have caused damages to both the exterior and interior of the buildings performance and habitable qualities. After an initial diagnostic investigation was performed, it was determined that a new roofing enclosure and curtain wall system would be required to resolve the pre-existing issues with water infiltration. The final scope of the project included a replacement of the existing roofing system (including a green roof), installation of a new curtain wall system and a renovation of the gallery space in the northern portion of the building.

Existing Conditions

Model Studies

Not to Scale

Not to Scale

Not to Scale

ROBERT SIEGEL ARCHITECTS. US LAND PORT OF ENTRY : CALAIS, MAINE.

2008 Calais, Maine, USA Construction Administration
As a project for the Design Excellence Program of the General Services Administration (GSA), The US Land Port of Entry in Calais, Maine was commissioned to support the eigth busiest land port of entry in the United States. The design for this project was begun by Robert Siegel Architects in 2003, with the construction of the enclosure completed in late 2008. A multitude RFIs were to be resolved during construction administration, including a task to design the millwork for the officers for Customs & Border Patrol in the non-commercial lobby. The contractor had already purchased the materials approved by the GSA, which mainly included a veneer bamboo finish surface and ballistic grade kevlar board. The final construction would have to include these as both a safety requirement and design requirement agreed upon by the GSA. The Land Port of Entry in Calais, Maine was completed and officially opened for use on November 23, 2009.

Not to Scale

Not to Scale

PLATT BYARD DOVELL WHITE ARCHITECTS llp. BROOKLYN POLY PREP LOWER SCHOOL
2007 Brooklyn, New York, USA Design Development Construction Documents Construction Administration LEED Certification
The Brooklyn Poly Prep Lower School is a private institution located in Park Slope in the Brooklyn borough of New York City for students aged four to nine. The project invovled a major contemporary addition to a historically perserved building to create additional classrooms, a dance studio, gymnasium and multi-purpose room. The project also invovled the renovation of existing interior spaces, mechanical system upgrades, finalized with a USGBC LEED Silver certification.

PLATT BYARD DOEVELL WHITE ARCHITECTS llp. JACOB BURNS MEDIA CENTER
2005 Pleasantville, New York, USA Design Development
Jacob Burns Media Center was designed as an educational institution for students to learn the various aspects of film, television and audible recordings as an extracurricular activity outside of the normal academic curriculum.

SLUM Lab: Caracas, Venezuela Monograph Studio Advanced Techniques in Digital Design Digital Detailing

graduate WORK.

SLUM LAB : CARACAS, VENEZUELA.

FALL 2007 Caracas, Venezuela Urban Think Tank [Alfredo Brillembourg & Hubert Klumpner]
The Barrios district of Caracas, Venezuela is one that is currently treated as an isolated island by it surrounding districts of a formalized city. The individuals living in the Barrios district serve the citys commerce, and are integral to the sustainabillity of Caracas, much like any other individual living and working in this city. However, the region in which they subside has been largely ignored by politics, and has become a region of insufficient fiscal support by the city. In order to gain notice as a district worth greater support by the city, the Barrios must progress into a region that is more greatly supported by itself, rather than the reliance on charitable funds. For this to be achieved, a pavilion is proposed in the lower area of the Barrios facing the formalized city. This pavilion is an extension of the existing infrastructure, and creates a layer that does not currently exist. A clear horizontal plane. This open area is utilized as an urban plaza, allowing multiple uses as a location of public assembly, seasonal markets and festivals. The lower level will also integrate into this pavilion, with multiple markets and businesses. This pavilion will be integrated with a cable car system running along the perimeter of the Barrios proposed by Urban Think Tank through an additional line that projects from the top of the hill to the pavilion below. The introduction of a space as a commercial open market hosted by the Barrios brings the potential of increased trade and commerece not only within the district, but for businesses that surround the Barrios as well. It is through this exchange of goods and services between the people of the Barrios and the city which can begin to become more integral with the progression of Caracas.

Formal City

Barrios District

MONOGRAPH STUDIO.
SPRING 2008 LOT-EK [Ada Tolla & Giuseppe Lignano]
The purpose of the Monograph Studio is as follows (Written by Ada Tolla & Giuseppe Lignano) This is your last studio, the one that will complete and prefect you as an architect. No architect is complete without a Monograph. No architect exists without a Monograph. A monograph is your personal visual manifesto. A monograph is not a portfolio. A portfolio is comprehensive; a monograph is deliberately incomplete. A portfolio is objective; a monograve is subjective. A portfolio is universal; a monograph is personal. A portfolio explains; a monograph mystifies. A portfolio speeds through; a monograph hesitates. A portfolio is stable; a monograph is unstable. A portfolio is honest; a monograph is deceptive. A portfolio is graphic; a monograph is theraputic. This is going to be the studio where you finally make your monograph. Its going to be a studio about books, about printed images and about paper. It is going to be a dirty, papery studio. Everything you produce will become a document within your book. You will design this book as your conclusive and prospective project, and make intelligent and complex decisions about how to organize it. There will be no pin-ups, no PowerPoint, no projections. Everything you do: drawings, renderings, models, research, will be presented as part of your in-progress monograph. Every model will become a photo of a model. Every object will become an image. Every review will be a book review. If its not part of the book, it doesnt exist. There will be two parts to your book and to your experience this Spring, developed in parallel to make your a better narcassist and a better altruist, to continuously interfere with and affect each other:

Part One: Your Self Every hero must have a story. Every story must have a book. You will invent this hero. You will become this character. Through a process of highly experimental and intuitive steps, you will synthesize self, story and book. You will have 50 pages, many images and a deceptively neutral format.

You will be the Subject and the Author, the Analyst and Analysand (Shrink and Patient) You will document your own vision. The vision will be the catalog and ultimate memoir of all of your lifes work to date, as well as its opposite, a mystery novel and disaster movie that unsettles and remakes what you think you know how to do and what you think you have produced. The vision will be original, yet dictated by difficult assignments along the way, unpredictably effecting and affecting your architecture. Part Two: Your Home Every building must have a book. Every book must have a building. You will invent this building. You will develop this architecture. Through a process of highly conceptual and intuitive steps, you will synthesize home, building and book. You will have 50 pages, 2,000 square feet and a seemingly generic site. You will be the Architect and the Client, the Subject and the Object. You will design your house. The house will be the fulfillment and ultimate expression of all of your architectural thinking, as well as its opposite, something entirely new, unprecedented, a three-dimensional manifesto for the rest of your career.

And as a pause, a suspension and a deeper reflection: the trip. You will travel somewhere far and close, an outer and inner journey. Strange and familiar, terrible and tranquil (the definition of sublime). Not a trip to look at architecture, a trip to imagine architecture. Pure inspiration. A siteless visit. A fabrication and an installation. A spiritual journey to a physical place: the desert. This studio is not for everyone. This is an unusual and uneasy studio. If you want to take this studio, you must be ready to honestly dig and discover, imagine and invent. We are looking for confused and courageous students. We require risks. We suggest sincerity. We define success by asking you to try hard and fail hard, then try hader and fail harder. There is nowhere to hide. There are no compromises and there are severe limits. Everything you make will be severely constrained by a printers Crown Quarto format: 7.44 x 9.68. You will get surprisingly used to this. Your monograph will be an inner journey. Your monograph will be your personal visual manifesto. Your monograph will be You. You will be well on your way to finally existing as an architect.

ADVANCED TECHNIQUES IN DIGITAL DESIGN.

with Seth Adams Katherine Heck Michael Kaainoni

SUMMER 2007 Hernan Diaz Alonso

Towards a Pathalogical Creation of Form: Paralyzed Force The investigation into the creation of form further codifies the initial intent of the project which is inspired by psycho-spatial pathlogies that have precedent or analogue in the historical spectacle, focuses on the development of a series of cells through experimentation that is at once a representation of itself as a fetishization of neo-traditional media and a variation of a generative rule system. Based on the idea of rupture and the radical transformation of a historical spectacle at many scales and densities, the formal manifestation of the system would seem as inevitable as a force of nature, the vectors sinuously and elegantly grow and decay to create networks. Rupture and transformation are metaphrically physical events but synthesized from analysis of the second segment of the study that collision occurs at many scales and densities. Among others occuring:

Delicately and elegantly. Poetically and transparently. With the same magnitude as violence. With quiet authority that has greater force.

DIGITAL DETAILING.
with Terry Chen Shin Kang

FALL 2007 Proxy [Mark Collins & Toru Hasegawa] The continued advancement of BIM, scripted process, and computational design has opened new territories of work for architects. The class operated within a series of digital and physical migrations: between different software and geometric platforms, between design and documentation and between extensive porperties (weight, size, form) and intensive performances. Focusing on a digital workflow that can deliver true innovation in building systems, the work of the class was supplemented throguh the facilities of the Avery FabCon + Carlton Laboratories to develop proofof-concept prototypes. The assignment was to create a overhanging structure between Avery and Fayerweather Halls at Columbia Universitys main campus. The project focused on the process of tesselation through fabrication of the tesselated form. Though a warped NURB can be converted relatively easily computationaly, can lead to issues of tangible fabrications based on size and angle of the calculated form. In an attempt to mediate this issue, the application of SolidWorks and ModeFrontier allowed the relocation of control points of the tesselated object. However the focus was not necessarily to change each individual triangulation, but to better understand and modify the control point of a group of every six triangles at the converging apex. This allowed to change the relationship of an unbuildable triangulation to a buildable one, by using the tolerance of an adjacent triangle. By this approach, it is possible to create a tangible final assembly that very close to the orignal conceptual form. From that point, ECOTECT was also utilized for solar path analysis to determine the best configuration and alignment of the system. Finally, to reveal the method of design towards fabrication, the surface is suspended, held at the control points that were modified.

2012 Tomonori Tsujita