Anthology 2024 by Joshua Gyamfi

A. GYAMFI | WORK SAMPLE | 2024

JOSHUA

01 03 05 02 04

Armatures of Play

Troy, NY | Park | 2013 - Academic

An augmented reality public park set in a near and potential technological future.

E. Washington Forest Products Lab

Madison, WI | Commercial | 2015 - Academic

A scientific institution housing a mixed use of programs designed around the research and education of forest resources.

NATURE Lab

Troy, NY | Renovation | 2019 - Professional

A revitalization project transforming an abandoned building into a community resource.

Beacon Fire Station

Beacon | Public Safety | 2023 - Professional

An addition and renovation of an existing public safety facility into a healthier, modern fire house.

Derry Fire Station

Derry, NH | Public Safety | 2024 - Professional

A new fire department headquarters designed to serve the public safety needs of the surrounding community

introduction

As an architectural designer eager to leverage my design and problem solving skills, I am adept at developing comprehensive construction sets, programming functional spaces, and working through varied architectural details.

Beyond my technical ability, I’ve had varied opportunities to engage with my local community. I’ve planned & executed a public arts program for elementary school students. As a member of the Uniting Line Artist Advisory Panel and the first Community Engagement Chair for NOMAS (RPI), I have advocated for underrepresented artists and developed educational programs for middle school students. With NATURE Lab, I collaborated on transforming a residential building into a community health resource. My work as an independent artist further demonstrates my commitment to public art and the built environment.

In producing this anthology of selected works, my aim is to showcase my technical ability, design facility, and community focused interests.

01 Armatures of Play

Troy, NY | Park | 2013 - Academic

Set in the 2070’s, this pavilion is the park of the future. Occupying a corner of the sleepy urban city of Troy, NY, this public space anticipates a future human being with a mechanically enhanced body and computationally superior mind. In those times, play is equally important in bringing the body and mind together as it is in bringing people together in a shared augmented reality.

The Park operates as a specific surface upon which many augmented realities can be applied and experienced. The series of interlocked armatures and nested bodies form an iconic topographic object at rest. When activated by virtual reality tools, or the technologically enhanced mind, they become a playful experience for the public.

E. Washington Forest Products Lab

Madison, WI | Commercial | 2015 - Academic

The East Washington Forest Products Laboratory is a forestry focused research institute located in Madison, Wisconsin. Considering that a laboratory is a tool of learning, and as there is no reason why our tools should not be beautiful, the goal of the project is to use landscape as a tool of enhancing the daily user and visitor’s experience of the building.

Much attention was taken in developing a form with flowing lines referencing the natural environment. These moves were enhanced and charged with agenda by the introduction of an architectural hardscape that makes close contact with the massing, occasionally wrapping or segmenting the building. Together, their place within the local context is meant to be an inviting usable surface that accentuates the natural process of living in this city.

03 NATURE Lab

Troy, NY | Renovation | 2019 - Professional

The North Troy Art, Technology and Urban Research in Ecology Lab (NATURE Lab) was developed for a community media arts & environmental justice non-profit. As part of ongoing efforts to revitalize the underserved North Central Troy neighborhood, this formerly abandoned two-story residence underwent significant transformation to become the home of their environmental justice research and community health efforts.

The first floor was renovated into a biology lab and opens out to a community garden and small sculpture park. The second floor is a community health space focused on holistic practices. This project aided the nonprofit to move into a new era of their mission.

Beacon Fire Station

Beacon, NY | Public Safety | 2024 - Professional

Our firm designed the addition and renovation of an existing public safety facility in the city of Beacon, NY. After studies done by our team, existing fire stations and engine companies were consolidated into this renovated 17000 sf, 5 bay firehouse. The building now houses modern comprehensive decontamination and training facilities. It has become the home of necessary administrative spaces to serve the town’s mix of career and volunteer firefighters.

My role in this project was to draft construction documents and aid in the development of major elevation elements and detail the exterior pilasters. This was in an effort to bring the exterior façade in line with the historic aesthetic of the lower Hudson town. During the early stages of construction, I was able to respond to RFI’s and gain valuable construction administration experience.

WEST ELEVATION

Derry Fire

Station

Derry, NH | Public Safety | 2024 - Professional

Mitchell Associates worked collaboratively with Wendel Companies as the firematic consultant for this new public safety facility in the town of Derry, New Hampshire. This two-story, 30000 square foot fire station features five double-depth pass-through apparatus bays, firematic support spaces, and administrative spaces. As well as state of the art decontamination systems that promote first responder health and safety.

As part of the specialty consultant team, I performed the majority of the drafting and detailing of firematic spaces. Additionally, I selected and detailed the installation of a mechanized trolley for half-ton loads.