More Than A Marker

In Late August of 1619 “20 and odd” enslaved Africans forcibly arrived at Old Point Comfort, Virginia after a treacherous journey across the Atlantic Ocean. This arrival of would mark the beginning of slavery as we know it today. Fast forward to the year 1861, about a month after the start of the civil war, three enslaved men would escape to freedom at Fortress Monroe, formally known as Old Point Comfort. Out of their escape came the Fort Monroe Doctrine, which came to be known as the Contraband Decision. This decision would lead to the freedom of thousands of enslaved African Americans during the civil war. At the same location that the institution of slavery would begin, is the same location that the institution of slavery would begin to end. Now, in the present day, three markers lie at the site of Fort Monroe to tell this story. One to the First Landing of Africans, one to the three men and their escape, and one to what would become Freedom’s Fortress. In response to those three Markers, I’d argue that they are not enough. This story and all of its components were turning points in American history. This story should be told with more than a marker. We’ll never fully know or can even imagine the thoughts and feelings the people who went through this had, but one could wonder how it felt for them to be kidnapped from their homeland, being brought to this place in which they’d never been, being stripped from their family and culture, or just simply going from being surrounded by massive Baobab trees to Oak Trees. To have no idea what would lie ahead for the next 200 plus years. I pose these questions in thinking of what More than a Marker could be. In what ways can architecture communicate stories of great impact that have often been overlooked or condensed? How can it go beyond a marker, bust, or statue, or be used in addition to? How can design evoke emotions and feelings towards those stories? Then, in telling these stories through the architecture how will it be a timeless piece in that it is visited for generations to come

Envisioning the Future at Prince George's Plaza, MD

Final project for ARCH 407: Graduate Architecture and Urban Design Studio IV (Spring 2021). University of Maryland, College Park.The semester was divided in 3 projects. For project 3, the studio worked with Prince George's Planning Department on creating urban design schemes for the Prince George's Plaza Transit District including analyzing relvevant case studies, site visit to Prince George's Plaza, site documentation/analysis, and design proposals rooted from historical research while responding to complex contemporary issues (social inequality, safety, climate change, urban ecology, public health, local/global economies) in order to produce urban design master plans, street sections, perspectives vignettes for near-term and long-term 2035 year plans.Prince George's County Planning Department (PGPD

Bioclimatic Design: Research at Assateague State Park

Final project for ARCH600/611: Urban Studies and Planning Studio (Fall 2021). University of Maryland, College Park.Through their work with the National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland (UMD), the Maryland Department of Natural Resources commissioned this report from the university’s Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS). This research study, conducted in a graduate level design studio, began with a shared vision that people and nature can co-exist in a mutually beneficial relationship. Angela Baldwin, Park Manager at Assateague State Park, and her colleagues from NOAA, the Maryland Park Service, the Chesapeake Coastal Service, and other DNR offices, challenged the University of Maryland team to test this vision in the design of a new day use facility for Assateague State Park, a much-beloved, special place that is increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The climate crisis requires architects to deepen their understanding of resilient design strategies. These range from place-based climate-responsive knowledge rarely taught in schools of architecture, to more technically advanced tools such as computer energy modeling, efficient mechanical equipment and on-site renewable energy.Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MDNR