2023 Portfolio

CONTENTS

CURRICULUM VITAE

WORK

SPATIAL AGENCY (THESIS PROJECT)

TWO SHEDS AND A THING

ANTI-GENTRIFICATION CAFE

LUNENBURG CAFE

JEAN VERVILLE ARCHITECTE

PETER BRAITHWAITE STUDIO LTD.

HARIRI PONTARINI ARCHITECTS

THE LODESTONE

CASE STUDY: MAISON DE VERRE

TAKING REVENGE ON MANKIND

AWARDS + RECOGNITION

FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES SCHOLARSHIP

SEP 2020; SEP 2021; JAN 2022

YEAR 3 PORTFOLIO PRIZE

JUL 2019

DEAN’S LIST

APR 2019; JUL 2019; APR 2020

SEXTON SCHOLAR

DEC 2018

SPATIAL AGENCY: A GRAPHIC NOVEL / GUIDE | APL 2022

TWO SHEDS AND A THING | JUL 2020

CO-AUTHOR

hi i’m bahia. born and raised far away from where i currently reside in the exciting montreal. it’s in my nature to think outside the box and do things a little differently, because i think we should always think critically of the world around us. i have been working in architecture after completing my masters at the university of dalhousie(i wrote a graphic novel for my thesis!), and hope to help save the world one day.

EDUCATION

MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE | MAY 2020–APR 2022

DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY

BACHELOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN | SEP 2018–APR 2020

DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY

BACHELOR OF ARTS | SEP 2011–NOV 2015

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO; MAJOR IN ARCHITECTURAL STUDIES + ART HISTORY, MAJOR IN PHILOSOPHY

FREELANCER | OCT 2022–CURRENT

N/A

EXPERIENCE ARCHITECTURE INTERN | OCT 2022–CURRENT

LUCI MASTROPASQUE INC.

STUDENT INTERN (CO-OP) | JUN 2021–AUG 2021

INPHO; JEAN-MAXIME LABRECQUE ARCHITECTE

STUDENT INTERN (CO-OP) | JAN 2021–JUN 2021

JEAN VERVILLE ARCHITECTE

STUDENT INTERN (CO-OP) | SEP 2019–DEC 2019

PETER BRAITHWAITE STUDIO LTD.

FABRICATOR | MAY 2016–AUG 2018

HARIRI PONTARINI ARCHITECTS

OTHER EXPERIENCE

TEACHING ASSISTANT | SEP 2020–DEC 2020; 2021

DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY

ANCIENT BUILDINGS, CITIES, AND LANDSCAPES

TEACHING ASSISTANT | JAN 2020–APR 2020; 2022

DALSHOUSIE UNIVERSITY

HISTORY OF MODERN BUILDINGS, CITIES AND LANDSCAPES

COMMUNITY/VOLUNTEER WORK

FACILITATOR | OCT 2022–CURRENT

WORDSWELL ASSOCIATION FOR COMMUNITY LEARNING - MONTREAL

YOUTH MENTOR/“ANIMATOR” | SEP 2018–CURRENT

JUNIOR YOUTH EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM - HALIFAX

REGIONAL DIRECTOR (TORONTO) | MAY 2016–AUG 2018

RUHI INSTITUTE

YOUTH MENTOR/“ANIMATOR” | SEP 2011–AUG 2018

JUNIOR YOUTH EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM - TORONTO

although the whole thing is a relatively large building, it was actually built incrementally, by fragments, you could say It gradually expanded in order to accommodate for the growing and ever-changing constellation of people and activities

this diagram shows the order of when things were designed and built

SPATIAL AGENCY: SOFTENING THE EDGES OF THE ARCHITECTURAL APPARATUS

our whole lives play out in the built environment, yet its production is left in the hands of just a few. recognition of inherent issues in architectural culture is not something necessarily new, and neither are efforts of its criticism, redefinition, and transformation. this thesis aimed at extending these efforts further by expanding our notion of the architectural professional practice to spatial agency by telling the story of a fictional architectural practice dubbed The Agency of Space. the story tells of the practice’s origin story, its first project as a collective, and most importantly, the people they work with and behalf of.

THESIS ADVISORS: SARAH BONNEMAISON & SUZANNE DOUCET THESIS SUPERVISOR: TED CAVANAGH

concurently...

...in their respective work places, they were both presented with countless opportunities to collaborate with other disciplines on various projects over the span of a few years...

...creating an ever-changing constellation of people thinking, conversing, and acting together

they “officially’” became a collective with a name when they were required to use one when filling out a form for a competition THEY WERE HOPING TO WIN

eventually, a core constellation of 4 individuals started to form - the two architects, alongside an artist and a writer - who wished to practice differently FROM THE CONVENTIONAL WAY OF DOING THINGS.

thus, the agency of space* was born: a part of, as well as a catalyst to, an ever-changing collective of people, ideas, acts, and memories who conduct explorations and experiments concerning mutations of the urban landscape

*the name ‘the agency of space’ comes from the term ‘spatial agency’ coined by nishat awat, tatjiana schneider, and jeremy till in their online database, followed by a book in 2011, where they collected other ways of doing architecture. the database presented “new ways of looking at how buildings and space can be produced,” moving away from traditional notions of the practice, and greatly expanding it.

Surprise! that’s us!! now, we’ll tell you how we got started, and how that determined many of the ways that we continued to work, up until now

this resulted in an outrage on the part of the community, who had dreams and aspirations for a community hub. they felt that, with the property now in the hands of a private developer, their voices would be ignored.

so just a little background on the project itself:

the site is the location of the saint patrick alexndra school, which has been vacant since 2011. it was declared as surplus by the halifax regional school board and was eventually sold to a developer for $3 million dollars.

their fears were confirmed when the proposal for 2 20-storey towers was proposed to replace the school structure

YEP. AND THIS SMALL SPACE WAS THE O.G. OFFICE OF THE AGENCY OF SPACE WHEN THEY HAD THEIR FIRST PROJECT FOR THAT SCHOOL ACROSS THE STREET

THEY BASICALLY PUT TWO SHIPPING CONTAINERS TOGETHER...

...TO MAKE ONE LARGER SPACE

OH YEAH THAT’S TRUE

...AND THE SPACE WAS DIVIDED INTO THE PRINT SHOP IN THE FRONT, WORKSHOP AND SMALL TOOL LIBRARY IN THE BACK

exactly. but this space is meant to be flexible. when it’s not an active kitchen, it’s a café - like right now - and when it’s neither, then its a space where local vendors can sell their goods.

SO ALL THE BOX-LIKE FURNITURE CAN BE FLIPPED OR DETACHED TO BECOME SEATING OR COUNTERTOPS

and the kitchen is the same scaffolding system that was used in the agency’s site office for that school project many years ago. it can be assembled and disassembled easily

that makes sense. food is very much a part of our culture. we’re columbian. everything happens around eating and sharing of food

TWO SHEDS AND A THING

for this project, my partner and i decided to present the project in a graphic novel, as the pairing of images and text are more accessible to those without an architectural background, but more importantly, the idea at the heart of the project was a building built by the community for the community. thus, it was not sufficient to simply present architectural drawings that represented the project. rather, a story had to compliment the building itself to give life to what was envisioned.

COLLABORATORS: MAX BEAULIEU

INSTRUCTOR: ROGER MULLIN

DATE: JULY 2020

SMALL SHED

STEP 1: POUR

CONCRETE FLOOR

SLAB

STEP 2: ASSEMBLE

WOOD FRAME

WALL

STEP 3: ERECT

WOOD POST & LINTEL STRUCTURE

STEP 4: CONSTRUCT

WOOD ROOF STRUCTURE

STEP 5: INSTALL

ROOF FINISH

STEP 6: ADD

BUILDING ENVELOPE

1. BREAK ROOM

2. ENTRANCE

3. BATHROOMS

4. WOODSHOP

5. MATERIAL STORAGE

6. PRIVATE WORKSHOPS

7. SHARED WORKSHOP

8. LOADING DOCK

<<< NORTH END HALIFAX + GOTTIGEN STREET FOCUS

ANTI-GENTRIFICATION CAFE

many food systems, that privilege a few and leave many without food security, can perhaps learn from what is happening in the coffee community. due to the conditions required for coffee plants to thrive, top global importers of coffee rely on coffee producing countries. the third wave of coffee is a sincere effort within the coffee community to learn about bringing those global connections closer, putting names and faces to those that bring us our cup of coffee.

INSTRUCTOR: SUSAN FITZGERALD DATE:

<<< ELEVATIONS + FLOOR PLANS SHOWING T-SPLINES RHINO PLUG-IN

LUNENBURG CAFE

in an act of rebellion against needing to design in the colonial town of lunenburg, my design takes the form of a conventional gabled roof house but all solid concrete. in order for the building to be habitable, space is “carved out” to suit the program of a coffee shop and the needs of its patrons, clad all in CNC-ed wood to pay homage to the traditional boat-making craft of the area. the interior was designed with intention using the t-spline plug-in on rhino 3d where a surface can be transformed into a movable grid of points that manipulate the surface to become curved.

INSTRUCTOR: PETER BRAITHWAITE/ADRIENNE GERRITZ

APRIL

AXO SHOWING T-SPLINES RHINO PLUG-IN

DIAGRAM OF ‘CARVING’ STUDY

JEAN VERVILLE ARCHITECTE

jean verville architecte is a firm based in montreal. it is motivated by learning about the decompartmentalization of the art disciplines and the creation of artistic hybridization. during my co-op placement with the firm, i was lead for a residential project that was to be designed and built during my time with the firm—a term of 8 months. i also worked on editing final project photos for the project ‘MSO’, imagery for permits to the city, diffusion graphics for past projects, and tasks contributing to the efficiency of the inner workings of the office.

CARIBOU POINT STUDIO/PICTOU, NS

PETER BRAITHWAITE STUDIO LTD.

peter braithwaite studio is a design/build firm, where its employees are composed of not only architects who design its projects, but also carpenters who build them. peter, the firm’s principal, oversees it all.

i had one client with whom i directly corresponded with to develop and draft the design of his home and its several iterations. in addition to that, my other responsibilities consisted of putting together award entries and presentations, corresponding with both clients and suppliers, conducting field visits at various stages of construction, receiving calls from potential clients, ordering items and material for construction, and assisting with AutoCAD drawings for various

BATHURST RESIDENCE/BATHURST, NS

PRESENTATION MODEL PATTERSON THEATRE/STRATFORD, ON

HARIRI PONTARINI ARCHITECTS

during my two years at hariri pontariti architects, i was part of their in-house model shop team, which was divided into two; one for each principal architect. my team worked exclusively on projects designed by siamak hariri at different stages of the design process, from fabricating concept models to 1:1 models of details. my time there consisted of preparing laser cut files, model assembly, manufacturing pieces, drafting plans for model shop use, and editing model photos.

THE LODESTONE

this community center is located in the city of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. the inspiration for the design was based on a lodestone - a magnet - with the idea that the surrounding community will be drawn to the project. the project was conceptualized as a thin concrete shell that covers boxes of light that contains all the programs for the community center. additionally, i wanted to experiment with presentation since i am naturally resistant to drawing everything digitally. so i decided to chanel my perry kulper and do my entire final presentation with handdrawing and layering on trace, and a lot of spray glue.

INSTRUCTOR: THOMAS EVANS

DATE: JULY 2019

INSTRUCTOR: THOMAS EVANS

DATE: JUL 2020

CASE STUDY: MAISON DE VERRE

an axonometric drawing using ink on vellum of the maison de verre located in Paris, France. the drawing includes the building’s context which was important in studying the maison de verre in order to better understand the project, the client and the intentions of the architects.

COLLABORATORS: BRITTANY LETWIN, JACK WERE, IRFAAN KASMANI

INSTRUCTOR: SHANE ANDREWS/PETER BRAITHWAITE/ADRIENNE GERRITS/NIALL SAVAGE/CRISTINA VERISSIMO

DATE: FEBRUARY 2019

creating architecture is like creating a work of fiction: we take everyday events and objects and join them together in a completely new, previously unimagined way. when envisioning a new built environment, we may take surrounding contextual information, knit them together to see what emerges and from it, create a space. in this design process, we are producing architecture birthed from our imagination. stretching lines between darthmouth to halifax and from halifax to darthmouth creates a messy web of entanglements against the abstracted backdrop of the project site. but what do you see? do you see what i see? can we always justify the monsters that we create? drawing done using pen, paper, trace paper and spray glue.

TAKING REVENGE ON HUMANITY

for a representation course, we were to combine fact and fiction for an assignment, bringing together conventional drawing approaches and information, with conceptual, narrative based drawing explorations.

INSTRUCTOR: MICHAEL PUTNAM/NIALL SAVAGE DATE: APRIL 2020

director of the original 1954 film Godzilla, Ishiro Honda, commented on the theme of the movie: “the theme of the film, from the beginning, was the terror of the [nucleur] bomb. mankind had created the bomb, and now nature is going to take revenge on mankind.” set from the viewer’s perspective atop the citadel, an important element to halifax as well as the project’s site, both dartmouth’s waterfront and halifax’s waterfront is in clear view. building upon the themes of the A1 drawing, lines are stretched between the two sister cities, and Godzilla, a consequence of mankind’s creation, has emerged from the water to attack the city.