Tori P. Vaughn

The Hutongs of Beijing are essential elements of its urban fabric. The hutongs continually evolve and change over time. Our project captures the essence of this continual building and rebuilding as well as its aggregation over the last four hundred years by helping to restore the historic Hutongs of the city and bring more people back to the area.

This project is an investigation of the internal space created in the making of a stair and the possible atmospheres that could accomodate the stair. This study explores the capabilities of generative design and how it could not only lighten the construction of the stair for economic gain and to reduce material waste. The project also seeks to explore the aesthetic qualities of object produced with generative design. The fully assembled stair evokes curiosity, wonder and excitement and could encourage and support many different atmospheres, architectural programs and people.

The project proposed would be home to a new building sciences program at the University of Kentucky. The project began with site analysis of a section of the University’s campus that was traditionally filled with overflow parking and some academic programs that had trickled over due to lack of space on the main academic campus. It felt disconnected and unplanned. The first task was to provide a new and comprehensive plan for what would be called the “Innovation District.”

After creating a new district plan we designed a new home for a proposed building sciences department, that would call the district home. We positioned the project in the center of the new district to create an anchor for the district. It was connected to the all the other buildings and academic programs on the site to encourage a collaboration and sharing of ideas between the disciplines.

Contrast : This collaged image examines the pervasive contrasts between the ancient Chinese buildings and the modern architecture that is evident throughout Beijing. The development of Beijing relies on its ancient history, a city that continually builds upon and reinvents itself over time producing thousands of years of growth which we see today.

Juxtaposition : This collaged image compares Beijing fashion to architecture. The intention of this comparison places fashion and architecture near one another while creating a contrasting effect. The image shares similar color tonal value across the women’s clothing, the architecture, and the country to enhance the composition while demonstrating the juxtaposition of the objects as representative of the Chinese influences used to create “place” in Beijing and China.

Pattern : This collaged image represents the emergent patterns of place in which people live or visit Beijing. The images use an overseas tourists’ pattern of movement as a generator; these movements are typically linear. The collage uses densely layered lines to depict frequently visited sites and to articulate the most popular travel routes.

The humble 2x4 or 2x8, of Western construction, recalls the traditional ceramic roof tiles of the Eastern world. The screen will be designed and fabricated using innovative technology like The Living’s project at Princeton. The prototype will be produced in a manufacturing system designed for CNC production.

This spatial study began in Quixel Mixer. This software allows for the creation of 3d textures. In my studies I defined two specific groups. ‘Study A’ could be described as soft, malleable and/or porous. ‘Study B’ could be described as pixelated, rigid and/or geometric. Those studies were translated into more spacial studies in Autodesk Maya. The goal of the studies in Maya was to merge the qualities of Study A & B from Quixel.

The final installation was an inflatable the public can interact with that gently inflates and transforms throughout the day. It then gently deflates overnight to return to its starting form. When visiting the inflatable for a short period of time the inflation would be hard to perceive. However, seeing the inflation hour to hour, the change is more obvious.

This is a precedent analysis of the Quincy Market in Boston, Massachusetts. The form and function of markets throughout history were researched and analyzed through drawing in a studio-wide precedent study.

The conceptual driver of this design is to use unique and differing light effects, to see how they interact and how they can be used as a material to define space. Another goal for this design is to create more habitable greenspace in downtown Lexington. Programmatically, this market includes a fresh goods market, a “Made in Kentucky” market, greenhouse and butterfly garden. The exterior is also programmed with a playground, koi pond, and a pollinator habitat.

In collaboration with: Jose Luster and Chaysen Smith

The intention for this project was to take on the task of reinvisoning a well known and wildly used household object and also integrating the modern techniques and technologies accessible to us as designers. The product we are exploring is the common dish. The “everything dish”, as we like to call it, is something that has remained stagnent, we are aiming to give a fresh breath of life into it. With the help of generative design, through Fusion 360, we seek to inspire the innovation and redesign of a product that may be viewed as outdated or unchanged and encouraging exploration through the scope of evolving modern technologies.

This project was focused on the genesis of a town and the definition of a town. The concept for the site planning was based on the element of the Greek city of Athens. There is a representational countryside, Agora, Propylaea and Acropolis.

This was a geographical study of three cities from three different areas of the world. The cities are comparable in size, population and density. The green indicates parks or other public green space. It raises the question of cultural impact on the availability of green space.