Daniel Widis - Portfolio

Harvard Graduate School of DesignMaster in Landscape Architecture Candidate

Daniel Widis

DANIEL WIDIS47 Inman Street, Apt. 41

Cambridge, MA 02139dwidis@gsd.harvard.edu

704-526-5107

Master in City and Regional Planning, 2013

Bachelor of Arts, History - Highest Honors and Distinction, 2009

14/15 + 14/15

• Assisted in the drawing of diagrams, illustrations, and renderings, as well as a complete design development submission set for the Pier 4 redevelopment project on the Boston Harbor

• Formulated design development and construction drawings of an anchoring and paving suspension system for a roof terrace as part of the Pier 4 project

the development team, and the preparation of documents for weekly meetings, including presentations for the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Boston Civic Design Commission

• Constructed concept drawings, design iterations, and material/vegetative palettes for a condominium courtyard project in New York City

• Master’s Thesis published in Ecological Restoration (December 2015, 33:4) • Work from Landscape Architecture IV: Fourth Semester Core Studio published in Kerb Journal: Digital Landscapes (23)

• Work from Landscape Architecture III: Third Semester Core Studio nominated for Platform 8

“Prioritizing Wetland Restoration Sites: A Review and Application to a Large-Scale Coastal Restoration Program”

2016

2015

References available upon request

• Collaborate with instructors to improve course material and lectures, as well as provide general day-to-day administrative support

• Supported instructors in the organization of the studio by managing course documents, room bookings, and correspondences/communications with students

Candidate for Master in Landscape Architecture, 2016

3 AutoCAD, Rhino, Vectorworks, Google Sketchup, Grasshopper

ArcGIS software, QGIS

Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, and After Effects

infrastructural ruin: reservoir beach

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urban atolls

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the hanley

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a c a d e m i c w o r k

harvard graduate school of designmaster in landscape architecture

cambridge, ma

Reservoir Beach reclaims the importance of the Fisher Hill site as a public water amenity by introducing a series of inhabitable aquatic pools across the site. From singular, uniform and untouchable to multiple, varied and accessible, the role of the water basin is reinterpreted and expanded. The site is divided between a large, sweeping pool and beach, and a set of smaller, linear,

of the old reservoir – the water – repositions the site while still operating within its original historic framework. Taken as a whole, Reservoir Beach aims to meet the meet the recreational and phenomenological need of the greater city: a full-season,

immersive, total aquatic experience. 02

reservoir as resource

infrastructural ruin

infrastructural ruin: reservoir beach03

site plan

infrastructural ruin: reservoir beach 04

site model

infrastructural ruin: reservoir beach05

seasonal sections

infrastructural ruin: reservoir beach 06

As currently constituted, Franklin Park is an isolated and deteriorating landscape. Franklin Aviary dramatically reimagines the existing landscape, transforming the site into a publicly accessible space while reconnecting the site to the region’s larger

emerges as a critical juncture for migratory birds along the Atlantic coast. Dense plantings of fruit-bearing shrubs move across the now evenly graded site, attracting both wildlife and an eager public desperate for accessible park space. Instead of fences and harrowing ridges, the site’s dramatic regrading allows for the creation of flexible community spaces. Franklin Aviary

reinterprets the former Olmsted park into a valuable, year-round ecological and community resource.07

field + hedges: franklin aviary 08

site plan

field + hedges: franklin aviary09

field + hedges: franklin aviary 10

seasonal vegetation diagram

field + hedges: franklin aviary11

sunflower fields

field + hedges: franklin aviary 12

In a community constrained by severe economic and social pressures, what role can landscape architecture play in reconstituting a fragmented and isolated neighborhood? Does a landscape intervention even make sense? Focused on the neighborhood core of East New York, Pocket Rooms takes a varied approach to creating a more hospitable and socially-rich landscape. The dramatic, sweeping changes to the character and scale of two of East New York’s most inhumane streets reestablishes the primacy of the pedestrian. Afforded by these transformative alterations, the project carves out of the existing urban fabric a multi-block linear network of parks, gardens, and plazas programmatically situated to blur the boundaries between public space

and private domestic life. In turn, creating a new appreciation and potential for an otherwise maligned urban neighborhood.13

program map

pocket rooms 14

concept diagrams

pocket rooms15

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streetscape alterations

pocket rooms

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site plan

pocket rooms

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sections

pocket rooms

P E D E S T R I A N M E D I A N

R E C L A I M E D W O O D P L A Y E Q U I P M E N TC L I M B I N G N E T SR U B B E R P L A Y M O U N D S

R E C L A I M E D W O O D P L A Y E Q U I P M E N TS W I N G S E T

B I O S W A L E

S T R E E T P L A N T I N G

of traditional spatial relationships between work and home, and the rise of an increasingly nomadic creative class, there is a generational tension to live “off-the grid” but not completely disconnected from amenities of modern living; a desire to be

type of urbanism responding to some of these questions. Centered around the creation of new marshland in Jamaica Bay, the project posits a future disconnected from the urban chaos of New York City, yet still undeniably connected to it.19

view from the water

urban atolls 20

landform catalog

urban atolls21

urban catalog

urban atolls 22

working model

urban atolls23

infrastructural sections

urban atolls 24

p r o f e s s i o n a l w o r k

reed hi lderbrandwinter 2014/15

cambridge, ma

Pier 4 is a place unique within Boston’s waterfront. Capitalizing on the phenomenological qualities of the site – dynamic ocean winds, an occasional salt spray, the rhythmic tidal change – Pier 4 presents an entirely new and unique vantage point to engage downtown Boston and the larger harbor. The site’s history is reinterpreted through tectonic vocabulary that re-frames the relationship between land and sea. This approach is expressed in both the material choices of the project – coastal vegetation, granite pavers, wood decking – and the programmatic potentials and experiences capable on site: to be suspended over water, to step down to the water, to ascend to a panoramic overlook. Pier 4 expands traditional notions of the urban waterfront park

without losing its intrinsic sense of place.

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2015

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harborwalk vignette

pier 427

harborwalk section

pier 4 28

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17.50

13’

10.78’

1.29’

1.5%

pier 429

paving details

pier 4 30

Constrained in space, and subject to challenging environmental conditions, The Hanley is a complete redevelopment of the lower lobby of an existing residential tower in New York City. Blurring the boundaries between interior and exterior, the project reconceptualizes what was originally a spatially, visually, and programmatically fractured space. During schematic design multiple iterations were explored, but two were presented to the clients - each offering their own unique vegetative

and material palette. Option one focused on a dense planting of shade-tolerant bamboo and the installation of a perforated metal grate that would seemingly “float” across both the interior and exterior spaces. The second option centered around the

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the hanley 32

r e s e a r c h + c o m p e t i t i o n s

harvard graduate school of designmaster in landscape architecture

cambridge, ma

Drawing inspiration from local New Orleans’ jazz traditions of parading in “main lines” and “second lines”, the Underline aims to transform an economically depressed, spatially disjointed neighborhood into a thriving, dynamic, and healthy community. The project actively engages and embraces Interstate I-10, which runs directly through the site; rather than see the elevated

highway as an impediment, the Underline reconceptualizes and transforms a ubiquitous piece of American infrastructure into a new a new type of “urban canopy.” Energizing the space underneath with retail, community-minded programming, and light

structures The Underline animates and energizes an otherwise inert and cold landscape.34

the underline

B I O - I N N O VAT I O N

D O W N TO W N

G A R D E N D I S T R I C T

T U L A N E

BAYO U S

T . J O H N

F R E N C H Q U A R T E R

M A R I G N Y

H I S TO R I C T R E M E

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night rendering

the underline 36

High seas, is a radical departure from most of the current discourse on sea level rise and threats posed by storm surge. Established practice focuses on the construction of physical, heavy infrastructure: levees, dams, sea walls, etc. High seas

completely rejects this approach by acknowledging the inevitability of land loss; with land retreat comes ocean gain, and set of opportunities and affordances previously absent. High Seas claims the ocean itself and the ocean floor as potential “ground” for landscape architecture. Through the systematic manipulation and deployment of physical “planters,” and the subsequent

strategic planting of giant kelp, a new culture, economy, and ecology can emerge that recognizes sea level rise not as a threat, but an invaluable opportunity.37

kelp planting section

high seas 38

high seas

d i s s i p a t e df o r c e

v a r i a b l e s u r f a c e f o r g r e a t e r h o l d f a s t g r i p

k e l p h o l d f a s t a n c h o r i n g s y s t e m

t i d a le n e r g y

y e a r 0 y e a r 1 5 y e a r 3 0

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kelp planter model

high seas 40

Daniel Widisharvard graduate school of designmla candidate - 2016