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Elijah Dolly

Elijah Dolly

Pittsburgh, PA, US

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Rendering of Main Stair Entrance
Rendering of Main Stair Entrance
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Urban Fabric: Reconnecting Man to Nature

ABSTRACT
Conditions:
Nature is important as a human function.
Humanity as a species destroys nature by existing.
The city is one of the most efficient constructs we've conceived - consolidation and communal use of energy/resources - but is inherently manmade and "unnatural."
Furthermore, we are spending more and more time indoors; becoming disconnected with and de-valuing the natural environment.

THESIS STATEMENT:
Solutions:
Nature remains important as a human function.
Humanity can build as it destroys.
As more people move to the cities, integrate communal and natural spaces to compensate what is being lost in innate and essential physical and psychological connections to the outdoors.

CONTEXT:
Casco Viejo, Panama - The Old City
Inseparably tied to the rock reefs which protected the old castle from attack, these rocks are as much a part of daily life as the water that covers them when the tide comes in and the tight, cobblestoned street sections that weave through the 16th century building fabric.

CONCEPTS:
Man and Nature - Re-establish connections between man and nature, blur the line between gridded and organic.
Urban Space - Develop the underutilized and abandoned public realm into a lively and functioning "outdoor building."
Ground Plane - Ease circulation, unlock naturally cool and shaded usable space, and maintain visual connection from plazas to beach/water and vice versa.

 
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Status: School Project
Location: Panama, Panama

 
Site, Plaza Herrera, nestled into Casco Viejo - The Old City
Site, Plaza Herrera, nestled into Casco Viejo - The Old City
Maximal Use of All Spaces
Maximal Use of All Spaces
Early sketch model of site; fluid connection of unused spaces.
Early sketch model of site; fluid connection of unused spaces.
Rendering from Water
Rendering from Water
Final revit model, overall aerial.
Final revit model, overall aerial.
Final Revit model, aerial from old wall.
Final Revit model, aerial from old wall.
Series of shadow diagrams, showing site is shaded for most of the year.
Series of shadow diagrams, showing site is shaded for most of the year.