Questioning Perception through the Alchemy of Light and Color
To what extent can light, color, and photographic manipulation redefine spatial perception to provoke emotional responses and challenge conventional architectural and artistic interpretations?
This thesis explores the intersection of light, color, and space through a series of experimental investigations using various mediums. It examines how spatial environments can be constructed and transformed with light as a primary material, not only as a structural element but also as an emotional and perceptual force. Drawing inspiration from light artists such as Carlos Cruz-Diez, James Turrell, and Nancy Holt, my work investigates how light and color can actively shape spatial experiences and challenge conventional architectural approaches.
A key factor to this exploration is the phenomenon of the afterimage—the residual optical impression left on the retina after exposure to intense light or color. By utilizing this effect, the project examines how visual interpretation extends beyond immediate spatial surroundings, creating transient experiences that blur the line between reality and illusion. Additionally, through photography and post-production techniques, further manipulation of these effects transforms the captured light and color into new translations that highlight the ambiguity of perception.
As individuals interpret color and light differently based on their personal, cultural, and physiological contexts, the results encourage multiple—and maybe even conflicting—readings. This opens the possibility of controversy, as the interpretations of space, form, and meaning diverge, challenging established notions of light as a passive or decorative element.
By blending physical experimentation with digital manipulation, the research underscores the potential of light and color as fundamental building materials capable of shaping immersive, adaptable environments. Ultimately, this contributes to the ongoing dialogue on how artistic and technological innovations in light can redefine spatial design, perception, and emotional engagement in contemporary architectural practice.
images of a physical model consisting of walls with different
opacities arranged in a grid formation under RGB lighting
blue & yellow
red & green
red & green
derived from photo (below)
FOURTH YEAR (2023-2024)
The Camera Balloon - Plein Air
No New Jails: Radical Futures for Chinatown
We began this project with a critical perspective on the renders presented by the city for the proposed Manhattan-based prison at 124–125 White Street. These abstracted images—always exterior ground-level views with an applied watercolor Photoshop filter—serve as the primary mode of representation for the proposed 500-foot jailscraper, disseminated by the DDC, the DOC, and the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice.
By intentionally obscuring the prison’s function as a site of enclosure and detention, these visuals are designed to garner citywide support for the borough-based jail initiative following the planned closure of Rikers Island. They appear alongside narratives that attempt to reframe prisons as civic assets to their neighborhoods and to the city at large, supported by an $8 billion budget for the construction of four new detention centers in New York City and allocations for “new neighborhood investments”, such as the expansion of MOCA’s headquarters at 215 Centre Street.
This film traces the history of 124–125 White Street as a carceral space and explores architecture’s complicity in systems of racial capitalism—from the construction of The Tombs to the Manhattan Detention Complex, to the jailscraper scheduled for completion in 2032.
Drawing on drone and camera balloon footage we captured of the demolition site, archival materials, and audio from public forums discussing the Chinatown jailscraper, we aim to destabilize these sanitized and abstracted images and narratives by foregrounding the material consequences of this construction project for both the surrounding neighborhood and incarcerated individuals.
Laurel Canyon has always been a connector of the city of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. From the 1800s where it provided water as a resource for the Native Americans to present day as a route not only connecting two urban fabrics but also maintaining the culture that has been created throughout history in the Hollywood Hills. Transforming into a dirt path during the 1900s, Laurel Canyon Boulevard started from opposite ends; West Hollywood and the valley. As development of each city started to grow, the two paths met in the middle of and intersects many other notable roads like Mulholland Drive. This path in the hills cultivated a sense of escape into nature for many actors, musicians, artists, and writers. The peak of its culture happened during the 60s and 70s where the folk music scene grew and attracted a lot of attention into Laurel Canyon. However, as more people flowed in, the beauty of the nature in the canyon started to disappear; the structured fabric of the cities began to overtake the natural paths provided by the topography of the hills. Housing prices increased, and it became less of a retreat for artists to focus, and more for the rich to have a vacation home.
The intersection of Laurel Canyon and Mulholland Drive is a clear representation of the urban infiltrating the past; a closer look at the four quadrants produced by this intersection shows the land behind the boundaries of studio city have already been covered by housing projects built on the less steep parts of the hills. Whereas the steeper parts are mostly left untouched or houses built follow the topography. This intersection of the hill and the ridge creates an overlook onto the valley half of Laurel Canyon Boulevard; a view of Studio City, where the cultural history developed.
This archive is a collection of the unseen past that the people presently living or passing by Laurel Canyon might not know. Placed at ground level with the intersection at Mulholland Drive, the collection consists of ten different segments in the form of sections taken on the road, as if one were driving through. The path through the archive is a mimicry of Laurel Canyon Road, allowing for a full immersion through the hills. There is a range of one to three floors depending on the height of the section, which gradually increases through the archive due to the topography of the hill; the information is also organized chronologically from the start of its geological history to its present day cultural documents. For each segment, the two sides of the wall contain different material; one being the side where you can watch clips or listen to sounds pertaining to the history and the other side being the actual library, storing documents, photos, etc. There are stairs leading up and connecting to every floor and every segment except for when it is split by the middle path. The archive is a record of its whole history; from the water the route provided, to its slow development into a man made path and how it became a center for culture through its sublime nature.
THIRD YEAR (2022-2023)
Fall Studio - Housing Analysis
Formal and Spatial Typology Analysis
Assignment 2
Social and Innovative Theme Analysis
Assignment 3
Scale and Site Analysis
Assignment 4
Final Hybridization
Fall Structures
Fall Building Tech
Spring Studio - Housing Design
SECOND YEAR (2021-2022)
Spring Studio - Design
Spring Structures
Spring Environments
Fall Studio - Design