Sweetgrass Performing
Arts Center
Arts Center
Student: Jenna Reneé Ims
Professor: John Maze
Course: Design VI (Urban Landscape)
Rhythm + Weaving:
One cultural staple of Charleston’s Gullah culture is their music, particularly African drumming music and dance. Over the years, this evolved into the genres of blues and jazz. Many street performers that you find in Charleston still incorporate the variety of musical genres today. I happened to find a song which begins with a steady drumming rhythm which gets layered and complex over time, and then saxophones solos which add dynamic movement to the piece. This eclectic piece became the inspiration for my facade and overall organization of a performing arts center.
One cultural staple of Charleston’s Gullah culture is their music, particularly African drumming music and dance. Over the years, this evolved into the genres of blues and jazz. Many street performers that you find in Charleston still incorporate the variety of musical genres today. I happened to find a song which begins with a steady drumming rhythm which gets layered and complex over time, and then saxophones solos which add dynamic movement to the piece. This eclectic piece became the inspiration for my facade and overall organization of a performing arts center.
Villa + Palazzo
Student: Jenna Renée Ims
Professor: Lisa Huang + Peter Sprowls
Course: Design VIII (Vicenza Institute of Architecture)
Urban v. Rural:
The Italian landscape takes on many forms and functions. While living and studying abroad in the Veneto region of Northern Italy, those rural and urban conditions were obvious in their presence. The dichotomy of the Italian villa and palazzo typologies became an area of focus for this project. In my travels, I was exposed to many different agritourism dynamics that the locals ran. Some were organized out of their households, others were established in shops within the city. These different experiences are what inspired my villa + palazzo project as I attempted to play with the idea of public and private in relation to agritourism in this region.
The Italian landscape takes on many forms and functions. While living and studying abroad in the Veneto region of Northern Italy, those rural and urban conditions were obvious in their presence. The dichotomy of the Italian villa and palazzo typologies became an area of focus for this project. In my travels, I was exposed to many different agritourism dynamics that the locals ran. Some were organized out of their households, others were established in shops within the city. These different experiences are what inspired my villa + palazzo project as I attempted to play with the idea of public and private in relation to agritourism in this region.
33 Vanta West
Students: Jenna Renée Ims, Kady Cramer, Lily Jantarachota
Professors: Alfonso Perez + Judi Monk
Course: Design VII (Hyper-Urban Landscape)
Light + Dark:
To look up in New York City, is to be overcome with a sense of insignificance in comparison to the vast scale of the buildings. The relationship to the sky in this place is in the physical manifestation of touching it, but it wasn’t always this way. What if you could bring back the night sky? Building a literal planetarium in New York City would be an impossible feat. In fact, an observatory would have to be miles high in the sky in order to block out to necessary light pollution. However, architecturalizing this idea could be both an interactive and innovative attraction.
To look up in New York City, is to be overcome with a sense of insignificance in comparison to the vast scale of the buildings. The relationship to the sky in this place is in the physical manifestation of touching it, but it wasn’t always this way. What if you could bring back the night sky? Building a literal planetarium in New York City would be an impossible feat. In fact, an observatory would have to be miles high in the sky in order to block out to necessary light pollution. However, architecturalizing this idea could be both an interactive and innovative attraction.
Marfa Bell Foundry
Student: Jenna Renée Ims
Professor: Amanda R
Course: Design III (Ruins)
Breath + Decay:
Ruins project takes place at an abandoned airfield in Marfa, Texas where traces of the once operating base can still be seen from aerial satellite images. Taking from the palimpsest of what was once there, I wanted to breathe new life into this site while honoring the artifacts of the past. Through the process of mapping, diagraming, and making modules, I attempted to create a living and working space for the site’s new purpose... a bell foundry.
Ruins project takes place at an abandoned airfield in Marfa, Texas where traces of the once operating base can still be seen from aerial satellite images. Taking from the palimpsest of what was once there, I wanted to breathe new life into this site while honoring the artifacts of the past. Through the process of mapping, diagraming, and making modules, I attempted to create a living and working space for the site’s new purpose... a bell foundry.
Sweetwater Wetlands
Park Pavilion
Park Pavilion
Student: Jenna Renée Ims
Professor: Stephen Belton
Course: Design V (Florida Landscape)
Horizon + Reflection:
Florida’s Landscape is dense, flat, and damp. It is built on layers and layers of marine deposits that have accumulated over millions of years to create the limestone beneath us. Within that porous limestone are reservoirs of water that make up the Florida Aquifer, supplying the entire state with drinking water purified by its own structure. Although we don’t see the process of purification in plain sight, it begins at surface level where any and all municipal watershed is gathered into larger congregations of water, in this case, a prarie. This is where this project begins.
Florida’s Landscape is dense, flat, and damp. It is built on layers and layers of marine deposits that have accumulated over millions of years to create the limestone beneath us. Within that porous limestone are reservoirs of water that make up the Florida Aquifer, supplying the entire state with drinking water purified by its own structure. Although we don’t see the process of purification in plain sight, it begins at surface level where any and all municipal watershed is gathered into larger congregations of water, in this case, a prarie. This is where this project begins.
Gainesville Art Gallery + Banquet Hall
Student: Jenna Renée Ims
Professor: John Maze
Course: Design VI (Urban Landscape)
Culture + Corrosion:
The inspiration for the mixed metal curtain wall system came from the abundance of graffiti art around the city. Since the program highlights a significant moment in someone’s life (weddings, birthdays, etc.), I wanted to choose materials that would age with time. These metal panels are offset from each other ever so slightly to allow slits of light to pass through.
The inspiration for the mixed metal curtain wall system came from the abundance of graffiti art around the city. Since the program highlights a significant moment in someone’s life (weddings, birthdays, etc.), I wanted to choose materials that would age with time. These metal panels are offset from each other ever so slightly to allow slits of light to pass through.
Ocklawaha Research + Visitor's Center
Student: Jenna Renée Ims
Professor: Stephen Belton
Course: Design V (Florida Landscape)
Hinge + Carve:
After visiting an abandoned canal lock on the Ocklawaha River, I couldn’t stop imagining what it would have been like if it were still operable—opening, closing, filling, releasing, all to allow large cargo ships to cut through the state of Florida. And then there were the doors, heavy and still, open just enough to allow a slit of light and a peek into the long and narrow lock. The place was a ruin; a place to stand the test of time. All of these observations and ideas made their way into my conceptual model which analyzed the mechanisms and operations of the lock.
After visiting an abandoned canal lock on the Ocklawaha River, I couldn’t stop imagining what it would have been like if it were still operable—opening, closing, filling, releasing, all to allow large cargo ships to cut through the state of Florida. And then there were the doors, heavy and still, open just enough to allow a slit of light and a peek into the long and narrow lock. The place was a ruin; a place to stand the test of time. All of these observations and ideas made their way into my conceptual model which analyzed the mechanisms and operations of the lock.
Cirque du Concrete
Student: Jenna Renée Ims
Professor: Elizabeth Cronin
Course: Design IV (Tower)
Suspension + Illusion:
Cirque du Soleil is well known for their state of the art performances and shows. The aerial silks and contortionists, in particular, exhibit the architectural ideas of tension, compression, and illusion. I decided to use these acts as an architectural inspiration for my tower, using materials such as casted concrete, soldered piano wire, and plexiglass to further express these concepts in a vertical structure.
Cirque du Soleil is well known for their state of the art performances and shows. The aerial silks and contortionists, in particular, exhibit the architectural ideas of tension, compression, and illusion. I decided to use these acts as an architectural inspiration for my tower, using materials such as casted concrete, soldered piano wire, and plexiglass to further express these concepts in a vertical structure.
Theo Jansen's Desert Oasis + Workshop
Student: Jenna Renée Ims
Professor: Elizabeth Cronin
Course: Design IV (Desert)
Scale + Sculpture:
Kinetic sculpturist Theo Jansen is known for his delicate yet intense wooden structures that move independently in the wind. In a sense, they are themselves creatures. Many hours and dedication goes into conceptualizing and creating these sculptures, and I thought a desert oasis and workshop would be the perfect place to for him to think, create, teach, and test his ideas.
Kinetic sculpturist Theo Jansen is known for his delicate yet intense wooden structures that move independently in the wind. In a sense, they are themselves creatures. Many hours and dedication goes into conceptualizing and creating these sculptures, and I thought a desert oasis and workshop would be the perfect place to for him to think, create, teach, and test his ideas.
Door Window Stair
Student: Jenna Renée Ims
Professor: Amanda Rutherford
Course: Design III (DWS)
Composition + Narrative:
