Category: Work-Visible

On the boards

In progress: Before and after exhibit concepts…

Bike Durham Streetscape

How could 5 lanes of underutilized asphalt be transformed to better serve the humans that live here?

A quick sketch for Bike Durham, utilized for in-person advocacy work and of course, The Instagram:

Not rush hour on Roxboro Street, but not far from it, either. The road is hilariously over-sized near downtown:

‘Megawatt’ Exhibit

How do you explain complex energy concepts to a horde of hyper middle schoolers?

Graphics & Illustrations, Work in Progress! Client TBA when the exhibit opens

AEDAN Workshop

Starting in 2018, I worked with Wes Aycock, James Clark, and the rest of the AEDAN design-build crew to create finely crafted landscapes and structures. As of May 2024, I’m moving on to other adventures, and supporting AEDAN on an as-needed basis.

I served as Lead Designer on the following projects, coordinating the design processes and executing most of the design work from Pre-Design through Construction Documents and Construction Admin. Thanks to the owners and build crew for making the magic happen!

Lead Designer: Steven Valenziano
Art Direction & Oversight: Wes Aycock and James Clark (owners of AEDAN Workshop)
Build crew: Scott Dempsey, Jeff Silvius, Carl McCracken, Joe Burns, Tazdyn Sargent
Consultants: Andy Terrell of Lysaght and Associates, Alan Parker of Goliath Tech, Chris Wolfe of Bryant Durham

Tinyhaus (WIP)

Aka: Steven’s Tiny Passive-House.
Client: Personal project; evenings and weekends
Specs: 2 inches of exterior polyiso insulation, continuous air and water barrier, standing seam roofing, cedar T&G + 26ga steel siding, and about 3,876 lessons learned 😅

Above: this tinyhouse is preferred over a normal house by 9 out of 10 flying insects
Below: it’s bigger on the inside!!!

Above: as an expert-level materials hoarder, I’ve been carrying the piece of aluminum (bright metal around the vent hood) around with me since 2010 😂😭. It was very satisfying to finally cut it up and put it to good use.

I apologize for the above detail, which worked for my purposes but may make a real architect’s eyes bleed 😎

CREDITS
Thanks to all the kind folks who’ve helped me out along the way: raising walls, banging nails, carrying heavy stuff, yelling insults and encouragement. In no particular order:

  • Mom & Dad
  • Mel
  • Kelly
  • Dan
  • Sid
  • Fred
  • James
  • Wes & Caitlin
  • Olivia

Please send me an angry text if I left your name off the list! 🙏

Bike Durham Zine

Illustration, words, and design by SV, as part of a larger publication to be released in 2023. Art direction, editing, font selection by Bike Durham (Carmen Kuan & Justin Laidlaw).

Mural: Bay Area Discovery Museum

A whole-building environmental mural that aims to immerse visitors in the wonder of nature while integrating tightly with the hands-on museum exhibits…

CREDITS:

  • Mural design and install by Steven Valenziano 👋
  • Huge thank you to Marlene Chen and Alan Maskin of Olson Kundig for the opportunity to contribute, and to Elizabeth Friedrich of BADM and Alex Meyer for coordinating the install!
  • Exhibit design by Olson Kundig
  • Project management by Alex Meyer of Meyer Technical
  • Exhibit Production and Install by Pacific Studios
  • Morgan Womble-Dahl for his implementation ideas.
  • Final thanks to Mark Sabatino & Gizmo Art Production for commissioning the little mural that inspire this big one!

Gizmo Mural

Approximately 8×12 feet size, this mural depicts a few of the sculptures that Gizmo Art Production has built and installed in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Other fun stuff scattered throughout: a playful jab at the CEO’s music habit, Janis Joplin’s house, Miss Doubtfire’s house, 3 bikes, moustaches, a very prominent paintbrush, and grafitti by Barry McGee.

Medium: India Ink

E. Coli Muller Plot

I helped scientist Rohan Maddamsetti create a Muller Plot and supporting diagrams for his paper on E. coli evolution.  Rohan provided the raw data and we worked together to merge it together into the final diagram using Adobe Illustrator.

The paper was awarded the “1st Centennial Award For Population And Evolutionary Genetics.” More info from the Genetics Society of America.

The full scientific article: Adaptation, Clonal Interference, and Frequency-Dependent Interactions in a Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli