This past September I completed my Masters in Architecture at SCI-Arc, building upon my undergraduate study in Interior and Communications Design at Pratt Institute. My education and job experience have provided many challenges, and have allowed me to hone my design and problem solving skills along the way. I’ve had opportunities to work in Interior, Graphic, Web, Exhibition, and Architectural design and Non-Profit Housing Development, proving myself an exceptional project manager and a talented designer.
My recent work with Tighe Architecture provided both my most difficult and exciting project yet. Coordination for the Out of Memory exhibition demanded my attention on every aspect of the project, from materials research and vendor specification and coordination to development of the form and construction drawings and details. The exhibition, which was recently selected for an 2011 American Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum, demonstrates perfectly the combination of skills and dedication that I can bring to the table, and I was happy to return to the office after graduation to manage another short-term project for the firm.
Growing up the son of a contractor in New England, I was taught an appreciation of design and construction from an early age and spent many summers on job sites with my father. While I grew up in a relatively nondescript suburban tract home, my father's ability to customize this bland box ignited a fascination in the design process that has defined my professional and personal life since. I have always believed quality design and construction needs to be more accessible, and this ultimately led me away from high-end residential design after Pratt and into the Low Income Housing sector, where I saw firsthand the transformative power architecture can have.
I am an excellent problem solver, a great team player and communicator, and a proven designer.
Tighe Architecture, Santa Monica, CA , Project Manager
Project Manager / Awards Submission / October - December 2011
This research project takes off where the below exhibition project left off, proposing both an addition and a standalone house made of spray on polyurethane foam.
• Formal development including 3d-modelling, 2d-drafting, diagraming, and rendering
• Create 75 page awards submission packet, detailing project proposals, prototypes, and research
Tighe Architecture, Santa Monica, CA, US, Project Manager / Intern
Project Coordinator / Out of Memory Exhibition / SCI-Arc Gallery / August 2010 - February 2011
Out of Memory is an experience at the convergence of sound, material, light, form, and technology. The installation, accompanied by a site-specific musical composition, explores the spatialization of sound. The installation proposed a structural materiality of renewable polyurethane foam used as total building assembly: structure, envelope, and acoustical barrier. The interior surface of the parabolic structure was a three-dimensional realization of the musical composition, carved into the foam through on-site six-axis robotic milling.
Responsibilities included:
• Research, clarification and relation of multiple conceptual and metaphorical layers of the project into a cohesive and inter-related whole
• Formal development including 3d-modelling, 2d-drafting, diagraming, rendering, physical modelling, and vacu-forming
• Development of three dimensional surface expressing a composition by composer Ken Ueno, where a map of the piece’s sound waves was translated into a parabolic surface
• Translation of that surface into usable data map for 6-axis on-site robotic milling, requiring 12 gps-mapped locations where the 1500 lb. robot could access all portions of the surface
• Development of project text and publication materials
• Material research, sampling, and specification, with a focus on cost and sustainability
• Vendor, contractor, and sub-contractor specification and management, including installation process diagrams and drawings
• Management of several interns working on various aspects of the project
Intern / August 2010 - February 2011
• Prepare award application packet for the Spray-On-House, Tighe Architecture proposal for using polyurethane foam to create low-cost, sustainable structures. Packet included project description, materials research and comparison, drawings, renderings, physical model photos, budget, and specifications
• Prepare project manual for Low-Income Housing competition, for which the firm was selected
Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), Los Angeles, CA, US, Teaching Assistant / Website Coordinator
Making + Meaning Teaching Assistant / Foundation Program / summer 2009
• Coordinated schedules and assignments for team of four additional TAs
• Maintained program budget and liased with SCI-Arc Controller
• Maintained supplies, organized field trips, and assisted students as needed
Website Coordinator summer 2009
• Coordinated updates to graphics and data on SCI-Arc website
• Archived and posted extensive collection of student work to website
Common Ground, New York, NY, US, Communications Associate / Development Assistant
Communications Associate May 2005 – July 2008 / Development Assistant November 2004 - May 2005
• Designed website for the nation’s largest supportive housing developer, including information architecture, page composition, graphics, and color palette
• Administered the organization’s three websites: www.commonground.org, www.princegeorgeballroom.org, intranet.commonground.org.
• Advised the department of fundraising and communications on projects ranging from marketing materials and efforts, fundraising campaigns, special events, and graphics
• Managed projects for print and web with program staff, and outside designers and printers
• Wrote and edited copy for marketing materials, grant proposals and reports
• Prepared detailed financial reports for the finance department, processed donations, drafted donor correspondence and general office duties
D’Aquino Monaco Inc., New York, NY, US, Junior Designer
Junior Designer May 2003 - November 2004 / Intern March 2001- May 2003
• Coordinated aspects of architectural projects for luxury Manhattan interior design firm including construction drawings, materials selection and sourcing, and project budgets
• Created project presentations and promotional mailings
• Designed imaging and branding concepts for multiple projects
• Maintained the organization’s photo and press archives and served as staff photographer
Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), Los Angeles, CA, US, MArch, Graduate
• M.Arch degree attained September 2011
• 3.5+ GPA
• Studio work selected for publication
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, US, Bachelors, Interior Design
• BFA of Interior Design
• Communications Design minor
• Art History minor
2011 American Architecture Award, Award
Tighe Architecture awarded 2011 American Architecture Award.
"Out of Memory", was an experience at the convergence of sound,
material, light, form and technology. The installation was
accompanied by a site-specific composition by world-renowned
composer Ken Ueno. Constructed entirely of renewable
polyurethane spray foam, the interior of the parabolic structure was
a three dimensional representation of the sound-scape contained
within carved on site by robots. The project was built earlier this
year and exhibited in the SCI Arc Gallery in Los Angeles.
This marks the third American Architecture Award for Tighe.
Tighe's SCI Arc project and the related research has been exhibited
internationally, recently featured at the Prague Quadriennial, "US
Architecture Exhibit", Prague, Czech Republic and currently on
exhibition at the International Biennial de Arquitectura, Buenos
Aires, Argentina, “New World Architecture Exhibition”.
About the American Architecture Awards
The American Architecture Awards honor the best, new significant
buildings and landscape and planning projects built in the United
States and abroad by the most important architects and planners
practicing nationally and internationally.
http://www.chi-athenaeum.org/archawards/2011/_outofmemory/index.html
