Fall 2021: Welcome Back Students

4+ Months at Columbia GSAPP in New York City

Prototyping for the Shared Kitchen

Insert dramatic statement! After a really exciting start to the semester, I was ill prepared for how fast the remainder of the semester continued. Transitioning back into academia, after working professionally for five years, proved more jarring than anticipated. With my schedule revolving around a four-month semester, it created a time compression that needed adjusting to. With that being said, I tried my best to make the most of my investment (Columbia = monetary investment). I attempted to design an architectural product and began the journey towards spatial technology.

Core III — The Productization of Architecture

Led by professor and professional Michael Caton, we were prompted to reimagine the architectural value chain. We were asked to pair up architecture with another actor in the AEC process. Along with Architecture, the actor selections were between development, construction, manufacturing, or operation. My partner, Jennah Jones, and I ended up pairing Architecture and Development.

Sited in the Melrose District in the Bronx, we wanted to redefine the typical project development process. With an architectural project development, a developer gathers funding from financial institutions, accredited investors, and public funding. This situation tend to allow equity to be shared between accredited investors and developers while the operation handles the interest on their debt financing. Our idea was an attempt to include end users and community members at the beginning funding process in order to share a piece of the pie.

ReVEST Product Interface

Value Proposition: “We aim to disrupt the existing development value chain and create a virtuous cycle by making the Bronx community members equity investors in the development of their neighborhood.”

Melrose Apartments on 151st St

We created the product called ReVEST. This product will be used by the end users and community members for neighborhood information, risk education, and investment actions. After entering their home address, verifying their address with a mailed access code, ReVEST identifies the users tax district. With their tax district, this product will allow users easy access to information about the market dynamics and the current gentrification (if any) of their district. ReVEST also allows user to use app to explore viability of a project using the Housing Development Dashboard created by Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley. Once a user believes a new project is viable, they can allocate funds towards neighborhood projects and share in the development and hopefully land appreciation of their communities.

This project had two parts, the product (ReVEST) and the project (Melrose Apartments). To find out more about the project, feel free to check it out on my website!

Measuring the Great Indoors — Shared Kitchen Prototype

Instructed by Violet Whitney, we were prompted to think about life or technology beyond telepresence. How can we break the formal boundary of some recent communication technologies, and create a more spatial experience?

For this project, I partnered with Karan Matta, Kylie Walker, and Takashi Honzawa to create the Shared Kitchen prototype. Our goal was to use intentional abstraction, to provide the experience of cooking together and simulate the feeling/awareness of another person’s presence. With the rise of the remote work and learning environments, we can begin to feel isolated. We believe slight movements and subtle sounds are some things that may combat this isolation and allow us to feel more connected to each other’s presence.

Shared Kitchen System Diagram

Using Processing 4.0 and a fiduciary tracking base, we created a state tracking JavaScript which changed based on the fiducial x-position in relation to the input camera. Depending on the users x-position, a webhook get request would be send to our IFTTT recipe’s. With specific IFTTT recipe’s assigned to a users x-position range, our prototype will change the spatial state of our partners kitchen. Below is our prototype in action. Check out our code on GitHub.

Prototype Implementation

Ultimately, this project is very much a prototype that may or may not have much implementation in the real world. My next project of this sort will remove the fiduciary tracking and replace it with blob detection via computer vision. The Shared Kitchen was a catalyst into spatial intervention through digital means. As our world continues towards digital interface and interaction, an Architects role will continue to be redefined. With transnational firms racing to create their own metaverse, architecture may not be limited to the physical world in order to create meaningful space.

In summary, this semester had been a whirlwind that flew by. At points it feels detached and protected from the “real world” where marketability and profit margins drive decision. Other times I am happy to back in the lab experimenting with ideas, learning new technologies, and ultimately enjoying the idea of “play”, again. As I continue my path towards experimentation, I hope to obtain new skills and concepts that build my understanding of technology and data structures. Until next time, Aloha!