Misaligned

categoryArchitecture, Computational Design, Data Visualization

yearF2025

site14th & S St NW, Washington DC

toolsRhino, Grasshopper, D3, Adobe Creative Suite

Can architecture hold space for a democracy in flux?

The proposal, titled Misaligned, reimagines D.C.’s grid to explore how architecture can support democratic engagement. Instead of relying on a single formal gesture, the project breaks activity into smaller, adaptable spaces. Shifting the building slightly out of alignment with the grid produces edges and pockets that encourage people to pause, meet, or move through the site in different ways. These small adjustments allow the boundary itself to become an active part of the experience.

Axonometric drawing of the Misaligned proposal at 14th and S Street NW, the scaffold structure set slightly off the city grid.

site analysis

Site mapping over L’Enfant’s grid, marking moments of movement, play, and cultural significance.

01Site mapping, looking at L’Enfant’s grid, placing moments of movement, play, and cultural significance.

Thresholds collage of the surrounding neighborhood: 14th Street nightlife, creatives, the S Street edge, Garrison Elementary School, and the alley.

02Reflecting the surrounding spaces and movements.

The project sits at the corner of 14th Street and S Street, a part of Washington D.C. shaped by a lively mix of residents, artists, small businesses, and the daily routines around Garrison Elementary School. The site is positioned within the larger armature of L’Enfant’s plan, where the strict grid meets diagonals and creates a network of shifting intersections. This context guided the decision to work with alignment and misalignment as both spatial and social questions.

process

Four plan diagrams showing the proposal shifting progressively out of alignment with the city grid. — The misalignment with the grid is an act of spatial dissent, a refusal of predetermined order in favor of adaptive, responsive, inclusive environments where the public continuously negotiates its own terms of engagement.

Program diagram: circulation through the scaffold structure. — 01circulation

Program diagram: vegetation across the scaffold structure. — 02vegetation

Program diagram: massing within the scaffold structure. — 03massing

features

Eleven numbered analog site texture samples, scanned in black and white. — 01site textures

Perforated steel, hole sizes varying with the source texture. — perforated steel

Grasshopper definition mapping texture brightness to perforation radius. — grasshopper script reads the analog site textures and turns their light and dark into the perforation pattern of the steel.

Exploded axonometric of the stackable modular pods. — 02stackable pods

Within this framework, reprogrammable and insertable modular pods hold programs like gallery rooms, library nooks, bike storage, and small meeting spaces. They sit lightly inside the scaffold structure and can be rearranged as needs change.

Exploded diagram of the polycarbonate cloud structure and its position within the scaffold. — 03floating structure

Taking precedent from the Rolex Learning Center by SANAA, the central element of the project is the cloud structure, made of polycarbonate. Its soft topography, embedded seating, and open sightlines create a shared room for discussion, listening, and gathering. Designed and iterated using Grasshopper.

what if

What if pedestrian counts decided where the building opens?

Using data from the pedestrian counters, I could see how the flows fluctuate with the seasons peaking around June and July, falling off through winter. In the design process this made way for a series of thresholds and site entries.

Linear regression with seasonal adjustment. Growth rate: +15% annually based on 2020–2024 trends. Data: DDOT automated pedestrian counters along the 14th Street corridor.

1920s – 1960s

Black Broadway

U Street is the heart of African American culture Duke Ellington, the Howard Theatre, thriving Black-owned businesses along 14th Street, an affluent Black middle class around Logan Circle.

April 1968