Road to Recovery: Bringing the Outdoors In

Patients in oncology centers experience extreme physical and psychological anguish due to illness. Patients spend a lot of time in these facilities, often during the most turbulent times in their lives. Current healthcare facilities are designed around medical technology. Medical centers thrive on scientific ingenuity and innovative technology. However, through this process the wellbeing of patients is disregarded almost entirely, leaving healthcare facilities barren and cold. Incorporating biophilia into the design of healthcare facilities provides for a patient’s health and wellbeing. Utilizing biophilic design with a focus on health and wellness within healthcare design can transform the recovery of patients as they seek care. This thesis investigates how designing for a patient's wellbeing can benefit their medical experience. The philosophy for the design of this thesis is to utilize biophilic design approaches to focus on the wellbeing of patients as they receive care. This includes design strategies that include natural elements, views to nature, as well as a biophilic approach to materiality and lighting. The context for this project is a cancer center that incorporates biophilic design with the technology of modern medicine resulting in a facility that is designed for a patient's wellbeing

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