Reagan Smith - 2025 Portfolio

Reagan Smith

UNIVERSITY

PAVILLION

FABRICATION SERIES I

The first set of the digital fabrication series is analyzing the use of cable net structure. A cable net structure in architecture refers to a lightweight and flexible system composed of tensioned cables create a stable and efficient load-bearing form. This cable net pavillion is a space for outdoor university presentations and ceremonies. The design is intended to highlight the speaker as the focal point while thoughtfully enveloping the audience.

CONNECTORS --------------------------------

CABLE NET -------------------------------

PANEL FRAMES --------------------------------

GLASS PANELS --------------------------------

STEEL TUBING --------------------------------

The physical model was constructed from 2 mm steel cables, steel rods, a 3D printed connectors designed to withstand the tension of the structure, and laser-cut acrylic panels held in tension within each frame by elastic.

LIGHTWEIGHT

PHYSICAL MODEL

FRAME ---------------------------------------

TENSION CABLE --------------------------------------

SMALL WHEEL ---------------------------------------

TENSION ROD ---------------------------------------

STEEL CABLE ---------------------------------------

CENTER WHEEL ---------------------------------------

The second set of the digital fabrication series focuses on the principles of tension and suspension. Inspired by the movement of wind chimes and wind wheels, this design is crafted to sway gracefully in the wind, suspended within its frame. Unlike the taut structure of the cable net form, the steel cables connecting the wheels loosen as the structure oscillates, resulting in a dynamic, fluid aesthetic that enhances the visual interplay between motion and form.

GEODESICS

FABRICATION SERIES III

The final set of the digital fabrication series explores geodesics, which in architecture refer to structures based on the shortest path between points on a surface, often resulting in highly efficient and lightweight designs.

This project aims to develop a system that begins at the core of a dodecahedron and gradually builds outward to the outer faces while preserving a lightweight aesthetic. Utilizing six distinct forms and a variety of fabrication techniques, the design demonstrates how layering can introduce remarkable depth and complexity to an otherwise simple geometric form.

3D print

VERTEX CONNECTOR

PETAL FOLD

PETAL NODE

3D print laser cut paper clear straws

STEM

VERTEX NODE wooden dowel

CORE NODE

3D print

ARMATURE THEATRE

This architectural concept for a performing arts theater merges the abstraction of forms with traditional engineering, centered around the theme of armature. Using rubbings and inkings from salons to create the buildings poché, the design intersects two original poché drawings to support and define space, emphasizing functionality through their forms.

A non-intrusive truss system enhances usability while preserving the original form. In areas where the original poché falls short structurally, the design introduces elements like voids or indentations that echo the past, embodying the concept of drift a fusion of historical and contemporary forms to create a new, cohesive architectural expression.

In plan, you can see that the original poche was never repositioned and serves the purpose of structural columns. Where the columns did not work with the program of the building, they were removed, but many still remained in void form acting as skylights. this design is intented to test the limits of maintaining the integrity of the original poche and seeing not if forms can not be altered or changed, but rather adjusted and added to to make them functional

MUSEO DE ARTE

This project is a contemporary art museum in the heart of Rome adjacent to the famous Villa Albani. There is a pre-existing museum on this site called the MACRO Museum of Steel and Glass. It is an attempt at re-imagining the site for a contemporary art museum that more directly adresses the site through the incorporation of exterior gardens providing connection with the surrounding environment.

By analyzing the site and it's pre-existing conditions, it was found that the challange of this project was to find a way to connect such a modern program to the very ancient and traditional architectural context.

The garden imitates/abstracts from ancient roman ampitheatres and some of it's last remaining columns to guide the museum visitors into the central part of the garden. Fragmented parterres frame a circular platform for a sculpture where its placement connected with the pool and fountain.

The Facade abstacts from the look of cracked or eroded stone resembling ancient roman ruins, which helped to define the wall openings. The design is in effort to show how nothing in rome is whole, whether that is it's architecture, history, or it's art, showcasing how art and architecture still remains significant overtime even while being constantly challanged through erosion, weathering, and destruction, or even the risk it has of loosing cultural meaning overtime. Contemporary art requires the acknowledgment of time and how dependent it is of it.

NY MO[NU]MENT

Design school located on the New York Highline to provide an environment that welcomes all different kinds of design based students. The school is intended to be for temporary stay, so that many design-based students will be able to experience this type of learning environment. Because it is a cyclical school, where students and their professors stay for semesters at a time, it required spaces that both invited diverse interests, but also represented a common denominator that which all students could relate to.

The reason behind this outreaching form is to represent this common demoniator found in design based thinkers. Whether this be dance, fashion design, computer design, music, or architecture, these people have this inate desire to reach and see through towards their goals no matter how much effort it requires of them. They push themselves, stretch themselves to their limits in efforts to create.

The form was derived from tension and motion, pulling from concepts of dancers reaching out from end to end with their hands and feet as well as the tension seen is some older renaissance paintings where figures are reaching towards eachother, showcasing a sense of yearning and need, such as Michaelangelo's The Creation of Adam.

SOUTH ELEVATION

This school also incapsulates this form in a literal sense because it is reaching out from end to end towards new students every cycle, providing a sense of invitation for them to learn in the space.

In program, the design is separated by public and private areas. Because the design is in connection with the Highline, the first two floors are not only open to students, but also to the public through its downstairs cafe, lounge, galleries, and digital fabrication lab. Studios and dormatories separated from the public by being on the other side of the Highline and also in the last two floors of the school, to provide clear separation through access points.

MARS PROJECT BIM/REVIT

This is a project from BIM/Revit introduction class and delves into creating and manipulating 3D topography in Revit. This project features a studio home designed to integrate with and extrude from the mars-inspired site, showcasing the ability to combine topographical modeling with architectural design.

MARBLE OBELISK

A shading and sightseeing structure created to resemble marble quarries. It's intent is to be playful allowing one to occupy it in several different ways, either by using the indented walls as seating or to use the stairs as a place for rest. It is an entirely symectrial design referenced by works of Carlo Scarpa, offers points of access that are determined by the user or the path they are arriving from.

CREDENZA

This credenza or otherwise known as a television stand is my first larger scale furniture project. I made this to practice working with readliy available materials such as dimensional lumber and to improve my skills with traditional woodworking tools and machines. This process from start to completion took from the beginning of September 2024 to the end of October 2024. The biggest challenges I faced during this project were making sure the angles from end to end stayed parallel and the majority of the time was spent on painting and finishing.

THE SHOP

This is the Corgan Model Shop in Dallas, TX. We specialize in digital fabrication and prototyping, with expertise in computational design for precise architectural models and full-scale mock-ups. This is my professional experience in advanced fabrication techniques, including 3D printing, CNC software, and traditional woodworking, to support complex project visualization and development

PRESENTATION MODEL - CORGAN COMMERICAL TEAM (OCTOBER 2024)