Portfolio
Please enjoy this abridged selection of some of my work, both graphic and written.
ACADEMIC
Connecting & Enhancing
Coney Island
Urban Planning Studio
Columbia GSAPP
May 2024
With a team of nine classmates, I helped to compose a report in service of the Coney Island Alliance, for inclusion in their application to NYC's Dept. of Small Business Services (SBS) to form a Business Improvement District (BID). I was elected design lead and was one of two project managers.
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As part of the report, the Alliance asked us to conduct a district business inventory. I felt a simple count would not paint a full enough picture, so I developed criteria for assessing neighborhood storefront vitality, employing it towards the completion of a more comprehensive, socially-aware inventory.​​
How can we strengthen commercial vitality throughout Coney Island, enriching and serving both the Mermaid Avenue Corridor—with its local residents and businesses—and the Amusement Area—as a unique, culturally-rich destination enjoyed by the masses?
Our Research Questions:
How might urban planning tools such as the establishment of a Business Improvement District narrow—or widen —the gap between these two Coney Islands?
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Photo by me.​​
Jaywalking: A Comprehensive Overview
Intro to Transportation Planning
Columbia GSAPP
December 2023
This paper was threefold. First, I conducted exhaustive research on the history of jaywalking, outlining changes in its legality alongside shifts in culture and society.
Second, I utilized light fieldwork, existing literature, and statistical regression models to investigate who jaywalks, why, and how.
Lastly, I critique jaywalking as a "problem," reenvisioning it instead as a symptom of car-centric urban planning. What if cities–and their traffic laws–were designed more with people at the forefront?
It turns out that despite the purported prevalence of jaywalking throughout the United States, there is little to no hard data on it. Actual metrics lacking, I pivoted to its legality. I scrutinized the nation's jaywalking laws, dissecting differences while mining for trends by mapping legality against 10+ variables.
Searching For Patterns:
Ubiquitous and Misunderstood: Sidewalk Sheds in New York City
In New York City, sidewalk sheds—colloquially known as scaffolding, meant to protect
the public from falling objects—are everywhere. Despite their ubiquity, they are consistently misunderstood—if they are even acknowledged to begin with. And, although New York is so regularly analyzed by urban studies scholars, sheds are near absent from the literature. My thesis attempts to remedy both matters, novelly portraying in full both sidewalk sheds’ history and present stature. I use a mixed-methods approach involving interviews, GIS, observation, and a survey, collecting my own quantitative and qualitative data and evaluating existing material.
Senior Thesis, Departmental Honors
Columbia University
May 2021
Over the course of an entire academic year, I first investigated what sidewalk sheds are, where they are found, when they are used, and why they are so numerous. Then, I explored how they are experienced and conceptualized by pedestrians, how they are being reimagined, and how they may be reenvisioned in the future.
I discovered that, in May 2021, New York’s streets may have possessed over 370 miles of sidewalk sheds, many of which had ominously aged beyond their years. A scaffolding company at the forefront of sidewalk shed design was so impressed with my thesis that they offered me a job; over the next three years, I've seen firsthand how this shed "epidemic" has worsened.
Ultimately, I concluded my thesis by stating that examining sidewalk sheds encourages a new understanding of the city as simultaneously temporary and permanent– I still stand firmly behind this belief.
ALL PURCHASE PROCEEDS FUND MY SERVICES AND CONTINUED EDUCATION
Maré Sahara
In Rethinking the Mediterranean, historian David Abulafia employs the Sea as a heuristic device, using it to explore the ways in which vast open spaces divide and link. In this project, I test his claims by taking them to the extreme: What if the Sahara Desert was a sea?
Mediterranean Maps
Columbia University
May 2021
Following traditional mapmaking techniques used to historically depict the Mediterranean and other bodies of water, I fashioned my own Portolan Chart of the Sahara Desert. I sourced vellum sheeting and created paint from found, local materials.
What's In a Name?
In this project, I investigate U.S. development through toponyms, eponyms, and more– in other words, I ask what, if anything, can be gleaned about American historical patterns of settlement and influence through an appraisal of place-names, and their distribution over time and space.
Spatial History & GIS
Columbia University
December 2020
I mapped seven place names across the United States, pairing each map with a time graph that charted settlement dates. By tracking names instead of those who devised them, new trajectories of influence and development were revealed. I went on to present this paper at the 47th Annual National Social Science Historical Association Conference.
Island Hopping
This history project highlights New York's many "lesser" islands and their unique role in the city's development over time. Many were endowed with uses not feasible elsewhere in the vicinity; their presence enabled New York to grow unlike any other major American metro.
19th Century New York
Columbia University
May 2019
Using GIS and multiple historical maps, I recreated the shorelines of New York City's islands as they changed over time. Their shifts in usage mirrored larger citywide trends.
The Hills & The Rails
In this project, I explored the history of Forest Hills, a neighborhood in New York City's borough of Queens. Developing hand-in-hand with the subway and commuter trains, I asserted that the neighborhood exemplified rail-driven growth– with both its benefits and drawbacks.
Urban Ecologies
Columbia University
May 2018
Despite owing much of its growth to the rails, much of Forest Hills is considered a transit desert. In my conclusion, I urge the expansion of public transit across the city and beyond.
Hidden Manhattan: Lesser Known New York City Histories
For this capstone, I sought to answer how New York City’s past manifests itself in the present. I set out to conduct Manhattan neighborhood studies structured by a list of predetermined places of interest I wanted to visit. After photographing nearly four hundred, I chose two hundred and compiled them into a book detailing what I’d learned, complete with heavily researched descriptions. I was especially fascinated by the lesser-known histories associated with each site. I learned more about the city I love, honed in on my photography skills, and continued my passion for walking long distances. In all, I took 7,101 photos for this project.
Senior Thesis, Honors
LREI - Elisabeth Irwin High School
June 2017
This project was a solo project, although I completed it with support and guidance from faculty advisors. Over the course of several months, I designed my own schedule, planned my workload, and self-curated the final product– a hard-cover book. I had it copyrighted, and it was displayed and sold at a school-wide event at the end of term.
Born and raised in New York, I have long since fallen in love with the city. I take extreme delight in peeling away the layers of history and learning more about my hometown. My goal is to inspire others to dig deeper and appreciate their city as I do.
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I focused on Manhattan purely because I did not have time to explore other boroughs: I hope to do so in the future!
ALL PURCHASE PROCEEDS FUND MY SERVICES AND CONTINUED EDUCATION
Chinese Provincial Flags
Roused by my NYC flags project (see right), my understanding of "good flags," and my knowledge of U.S. State flags, I created flags for each Chinese province with my Mandarin teacher. Flags were each designed with input from denizens and former residents of each province.
Honors Project
LREI - Elisabeth Irwin High School
March 2017
The above flags, from left to right, top to bottom, are: Jiangsu, Hebei, Anhui, Ningxia, Tianjin, Jilin, Tibet, Xinjiang, and Gansu. The previous tile shows a slice of the Beijing flag. Chinese legal doctrine forbids provinces from having flags.
New York City Flags
In this project, I studied the North American Vexillological Association's definition of a "good flag" and employed it towards a redesign of New York City's flag, after realizing (much to my dismay) that it did not meet the criteria. I also redesigned each borough's flag (yes, they exist).
Honors Project
LREI - Elisabeth Irwin High School
December 2016
The two flags on this project's main tile are my updated New York City flags. The bottom of the two is inspired by the flag of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where the city's founders hailed from. Below are the five borough flags (from left to right, top to bottom: Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, The Bronx, and Brooklyn) plus an alternate Brooklyn flag. Each were influenced by existing flags.
PROFESSIONAL
Urban Umbrella
Although I did not create the original Urban Umbrella logo, text and font included, throughout my time at the company I have been tasked with manipulating it, implementing it across multiple scenarios in varied ways. I am in charge of all company graphics and visual design elements.
May 2021 - Present
I've created graphics using the Urban Umbrella logo and silhouette (my rendition) for use on merchandise and marketing paraphernalia, such as clothing, magnets, stationery, and more. I've also provided visuals, including site and company photography, to help realize company marketing campaigns. Lastly, I've crafted the vast majority of the company's brochures, sales materials, presentations, and pitch decks.
The Third Rail
The Third Rail has afforded me incredible creative license over the years. I have produced countless designs for stickers, scarves, flags, and other soccer-related merchandise, as well as for marketing materials, social media campaigns, public-facing initiatives, special events, and large-scale banners known as "tifos, displayed in the stadium during the game.
August 2017 - Present
My designs for The Third Rail are influenced primarily by New York City and its diverse iconography. I also take inspiration, of course, from our soccer club, New York City FC, and its players. I value attention to detail. I very much enjoy expressing myself and my love for my city and team through The Third Rail!
Columbia GSAPP
April 2024
ASU Navigators
June 2024
BTM Capital Partners
March 2022 - October 2022
NY Junior Tennis & Learning
July 2022 - August 2022
Class of 2021 Committee
February 2021 - May 2021
Columbia Alianza
September 2019
PERSONAL
"400 Years" Jersey
2024 is the 400th anniversary of Dutch settlers first arriving on the shores of what is now known as New York City. I wanted to pay homage to that (while simultaneously recognizing the land as that of the indigenous Lenape) via a NYCFC soccer jersey. I do this primarily through the inclusion of maps and symbols that I rendered from historical documents. I also honor the 500th Anniversary of Giovanni da Verrazzano's sailing of New York Harbor, the first known European exploration of the area.
March 2024 - July 2024
"New Cambria" Map
Inspired by related coursework on urban development across the colonial and postcolonial Americas and granted ample time during the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic, I decided to create a map conceptualizing my own hypothetical city, showcasing what I'd learned about different modes of growth and planning over time. Dubbed "New Cambria," I drew maps from its origins as an indigenous settlement through to the present, noting every-thing from topography to transit.
March 2020 - January 2024
The Subway That Could've Been
Over several years, catalyzed by both frustration over and love for my city's public transit, I embarked upon a pet project exploring all proposed and planned extensions to the New York City Subway system past, present, and future. I carefully amended the current New York City Subway map to include many of these lines. The base map was designed by the 1979 MTA Subway Map Committee.
November 2021 - December 2023
Custom Jersey Trio
By now, it hope it's clear that my favorite soccer team is New York City FC, a club that I've had the honor of working alongside for several years via The Third Rail. To express my passion for my city and team, I created three custom jerseys: (1) A white "bolt" kit; (2) A light blue "pigeon" kit, with feather patterning; and (3) a "Parks" kit, inspired jointly by New York City's Parks Dept. and my friend on the team, Keaton Parks.
January 2023 - August 2023
U.S. Banknotes:
Redesigned
A friend challenged me to redesign the United States' paper currency as he felt our banknotes were too "plain" when compared to those of other nations. I took inspiration from our existing iconic paper currency as well as from general American symbology, conceiving more colorful, dynamic, diverse renditions replete with security features and hidden elements.
January 2021 - January 2023
New States, New Plates
As a young teen, I found some old license plates that my family had saved. This sparked a hobby for license plate collecting. And, so, it was only logical that while working on a research project about U.S. statehood movements (see The United States That Could've Been, below), I was driven to design iconography- and history-informed license plates for some of those could've-been states.
July 2017 - December 2022
"Champions" Scarf
I designed this soccer scarf to honor NYCFC's
first championship, the MLS Cup, in 2021.
New York City Football Club
February 2022 - June 2022
The United States That
Could've Been
Beginning as an honors project in high school inspired by the 2016 Presidential Election, I investigated what the United States of America could've looked like had all legitimate statehood movements throughout its history been successful. I created two maps detailing these new states; one portraying them all, the second portraying only those I deemed came closest to actualization.
October 2016 - March 2022
The Schwab Mansion
My interest in “lost history,” historic preservation, and New York’s ever-changing cityscape resulted in this set of pencil drawings. In my neighborhood is the Schwab House, an apartment building built in the early 1950s. It was preceded by the Schwab Mansion, once the largest single-family home in Manhattan. I wondered what the block would look like had it not been demolished.
March 2020 - August 2020
