2015 Alireza Shojakhani Portfolio by Alireza Shojakhani

ALIREZA SHOJAKHANI alireza.shojakhani@gmail.com

PORTFOLIO APPLYING FOR M.ARCH I 2015 - 16 SELECT WORKS 2010-2014

ALIREZA SHOJAKHANI B.ARCH PORTFOLIO

ALIREZA SHOJAKHANI

alireza.shojakhani@gmail.com No. 47, Razi Bldg. Mahan Residential Complex, Sarv Sq. Saadat Abad St. Tehran, Iran +9821 22110121

Born: 27.07.1989, Mumbai, India Currently based in Tehran, Iran

Educational Background 2007 - 2013

Faculty of Architecture | Islamic Azad University of Damavand, Iran Bachelor of Architecture, (B.Arch)

1999 - 2005

Tehran International School | Tehran, Iran Diploma, High School

1993 - 1998

The British School | New Delhi, India Primary School

Professional Experience Architecture/Design 2014

Name Architects | Tehran, Iran | Info@name-architects.com Junior Architect Developed models and drawings for interior architectural products // Managed graphic design of proposals, presentations and client correspondence // Branding, identity and logo development for international corporations // Participated in professional networking and community outreach endeavours // Illustrated computer generated imagery for a number of architectural competitions and commissioned projects

2012 - 2013

Shift Process Practice | Tehran, Iran | Info@shiftprocesspractice.ir Assistant Architect | Architectural Visualization Artist Worked on design competitions throughout concept design, design development and presentation, illustrated computer generated imagery, developed concept and program diagrams for an aviation facility master planning project, a mixed-use commercial tower and a 40 unit residential complex // Trained peers in architectural visualization and post-production techniques for project images

2011 - 2012

RMM Architects | Tehran, Iran | Info@rmmarchitects.ir Architectural Visualization Artist | Illustrator | Drafting Actively participated in the various design phases of the Shams Tabrizi Mausoleum competition, mainly focusing on producing atmospheric architectural visualizations, design development, illustrated technical drawings, developed concept and program diagrams // 3d modelling // Graphic design for presentations and publications

Skills Architecture/Design CAD

Coding Practical/Traditional

CAM

Languages English (Mother Tongue; Toefl Scores - R: 29; L:28, S: 27, W:29, Total: 113) Persian (Fluent) Hindi (Basic) Italian (Basic)

Hobbies

Conceptual Sketching | Photography | Indie Film Making | Backpacking

Awards/Achievements* 2012

Shams Tabrizi Mausoleum Concept Design | Khoy, Azerbaijan, Iran Competition Third Prize Award | Design Team Member, RMM Architects

2012

Havafanavar Pars Concept Design, Master Planning | Tehran, Iran Competition First Prize Award | Design Team Member, Shift Process Practice http://shiftprocesspractice.ir/#main *References upon request

ARCHITECTURAL PROJECTS 1 The Lodge On The Lake

The Lodge On The Lake Competition, Canberra, Australia Area: 7,000 sq.m 2013

5 Facebook City, Transforming Slum Life Through Friends Evolo Skyscraper Competition Entry, Tehran, Iran Area: Urban (Variable) 2012

9 Shams Tabrizi Mausoleum

Shams Tabrizi Mausoleum Design Competition, Khoy, Azerbaijan, Iran Area: 10,000 sq.m 2012

13 Architectural Design Thesis

B.Arch. Design Studio Thesis Project, Damavand Islamic Azad University, Iran Area: 1,400 sq.m 2013

III

RESEARCH PROJECTS 17 Shape-Shifting Landscapes

Performative Slabs Workshop, Tehran, Iran 2014

21 Fa'brick'ation, Shift

DigitalChini Fabrication Workshop, University of Tehran, Iran 2012

25 Clusters, [IN] Consistency

Shams Tabrizi Mausoleum Design Competition, Khoy, Azerbaijan, Iran Area: 12 sq.m 2011

ARCHITECTURAL PROJECTS

THE LODGE ON THE LAKE The Lodge On The Lake Competition, Canberra, Australia 2013

Responsibilities: Concept Design, Design Development, Architectural Visualization. Area: 7,000 sq.m. Collaboration: Farshad Mehdizadeh, Mohsen Marizad, Marzieh Rajabzadeh. DESIGN BRIEF The Lodge in Canberra must provide a comfortable and secure residential environment for the Prime Minister and his or her partner and family with accommodation for occasional guests and support staff. Part of the residence building will be the venue from time to time for state occasions and important meetings, for banquets or garden parties or for special events for visiting dignitaries and the Australian community. DESIGN PHILOSOPHY Australian Indigenous art articulates a connection between people and the land, inspired from and illustrating the implicit flow of nature where all elements exist in a simultaneous state of individuality and constant symbiosis. The project endeavoured to adhere to these laws in the belief that understanding indigenous art is understanding manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relationship with nature itself. This fundamental outlook is not implemented in a naively formal or superficially visual level, but manifests itself within the most basic and formative components of the original design and its interaction with the site and surrounding natural elements.

Approach To Design Brief/Program Diagram

View From Access Road To Site

View From Conservation Area DESIGN CONCEPT 1. Implementing the values inherent within Australian indigenous art: In order to maintain the natural flow of the surrounding environment within the space and to foster the intercourse of man and nature, all interior spaces adopt a suspended cloud formation surrounding the existing trees and foliage which effectively reduces the building footprint. 2. Exploiting the advantages offered by the unique slope: Sinking the architecture into the site prevents the structure from obstructing the connection existing between the conservation areas and the lake. This unique placement also reduces accessible borders thereby enhancing security control. Further, it topographically bonds the built space to the environment from one direction while creating an iconic and diplomatic facade in the direction the structure is viewed from the city. As a response to both principles, the project introduces the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Vortexâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; as an architectural element. This is essentially a cohesive core which not only replicates the slope topography to reflect the connection between the conservation zone and the lake, but also acts as a connector and separator of interior spaces, allowing each space to maintain a unique identity while reacting to surrounding spaces. Ultimately it acts as the heart of the project, incorporating all official entrances and interior connectivity as well as official outdoor entertainment areas.

Exploded Program Diagram

External Form Generation

Entrance Hall

Entertainment Area

FACEBOOK CITY

TRANSFORMING SLUM LIFE THROUGH FRIENDS Evolo Skyscraper Competition Entry, Tehran, Iran 2012

Proposal: Slum Organizing Solution Area: Urban (Variable) Collaboration: Mohsen Marizad, Marzieh Rajabzadeh. ISSUE The 21st c. Is referred to as the ‘century of the city’ as it is expected that by the middle of the century, the world’s urban population will exceed its rural counterpart. Of this over population it is expected that 85% will be in developing countries. A major problem associated with this rapid urbanization are cities’ reliance on central systems of planning and development which have created unbalanced regions that lead to an informal urban sector of slums and urban sprawl. The exponential growth of the resulting slums is almost unavoidable since authorities lack the ability to predict urban growth and consequently fail to plan and provide for the urban poor. CHALLENGE The true challenge is to maintain a balance between accepting and contending the basic truths of slum life. Specifically, finding a sustainable response to the inevitability of rapid growing slums in developing countries by celebrating instead of contending fundamental characteristics such as lack of ownership and colonist and exponential growth patterns while simultaneously devising a system to maintain basic amenities such a spatial compatibility and security. Meanwhile, determine a means to moderate urban sprawl which results from the growth of slums. SOLUTION Devise a system of development which grows and decays based on the behaviour and interaction of multiple agents in real time, where a collective intelligence is the determining authority and decison-maker, resulting in a higher sophistication in adaptability and response than a centralized planning system which is unsustainable or unable to respond to day-to-day changes in the circumstances and need of the inhabitants. System Agents

Members

Spatial Requirements

Available Space

Existing Infrastructure

Time

STRATEGY Very simple, utilizing a current, well established and widely used data and networking system interface such as Facebook, where the members can easily access the system and respectively, the system can access their data in order to determine alterations and developments to be made to the built space or social order to meet the requirements of the members. The result is a continuous sharing of temporary space symbiotic co-habitation without any ability for ownership which eliminates incentive for permanency, while the infrastructure organizes itself, swelling or wasting away according to degree of habitation, allowing for its complete disappearance in the event of full integration of its occupants into the city proper. Meanwhile basic amenities and quality of life are met through the decisions made by the collective intelligence of the underlying network.

SHAMS TABRIZI MAUSOLEUM Shams Tabrizi Mausoleum Design Competition, Khoy, Azerbaijan, Iran 2012

Awarded Third Place Responsibilities: Design Research, Illustrations, Architectural Visualization Area: Urban Intervention, 10,000 sq.m SHAMS TABRIZI Shams Tabrizi is a literary figure in Iran whose thoughts and life is shrouded in mystery. No written texts have remained from Shams other than attributed essays, which are ambiguous and at times poetical. We know him through the poetic works of Rumi, whose relationship with Shams was one of the most beautiful and enduring human relationships. It is said that Shams was socially isolated, mysterious and deep thinking, a prodigy of his time. DESIGN PHILOSOPHY The architecture of his tomb is associated with the understanding of timeless concepts of physical and metaphysical presence in the form of hollow and mass, creating suspension mixed with light and the flow of water reflecting the sky and other natural elements, giving it an ever changing and dynamic interface bringing it closer to the timelessness of death or [life]. The exterior is a mirror of the existential dimensions of Shamsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; poetical side as well as his dynamics and continuous transition from one season to another.

Project Overview

Tomb Interior

Project Exterior/Public Space

Site Overview URBAN CONNECTION The proposal is designed to serve as a public plaza. The entrance at the northern section, with the space it provides for optimal social and public interaction, represents the urban identity of the complex. This public space is designed to attract more visitors to the mausoleum and stand out as a memorable landmark in the minds of the local population and foreign tourists.

Hallway To The Amphitheatre

Hallway To The Tomb

Section

-2 Floor Plan

Model Sc: 1/300

Exploring The Project Layers With Light

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN THESIS Damavand Islamic Azad University, Iran B.Arch. Design Studio Thesis Project 2013 Tutor: Amir Nikkar Azad Program: Residential Complex Area: 1,400 sq.m ISSUE Iran has a long-standing history of traditional, social and religious activities that have started to fade away in the past few years due to various political, social, economic and cultural reasons. Restrictions related to the use of public spaces for planned or spontaneous interaction have left a lacuna in the area of communal activity. The contemporary Iranian architecture is a far cry from the traditional style of housing that gave importance to the various personal, domestic, social, recreational, aesthetic and even economic needs of the family. STRATEGY The project aims to mimic the traditional Iranian spirit of neighbourly-living, by adding elements that foster social interaction. Due to the rise of density and shortage of constructable land, one solution could be to stack spaces vertically, providing each floor with its own private "neighbourhood space" and also a â&#x20AC;&#x153;pausingâ&#x20AC;? space. Such spaces could offer suitable opportunities for neighbours as well as guests to interact in various common sections of the building and provide a dynamic sense of neighbourly living.

Street Level View

Shared Vertical Living-Room Early Sketches

Study Model Sc:1/200

Section A - A

View From Street Level

APPROACH The project proposes several public and more private vertical "living-rooms" at various levels of the building. The lower section contains public spaces that are open to non-residents and residents alike whereas the upper sections of the building contain social spaces that can be commonly used by the residents for multiple purposes. A number of additional elements like natural light, greenery and interesting vistas provide an enhanced experience of traditional neighbourly-living proposed by the project.

Type A Floorplan

22 15 14

4 2

6 1. Hallway 2. Sky Lounge 3. Entrance 4. Vertical Access 5. Secondary Ent 6. Kitchen 7. Livingroom 8. Tv Room 9. Dining Room 10 Barbecue 11. Sky Lounge 12. Indoor Garden 13. Vertical Livingroom 14. Public Dining 14 15. Public Computers 16. Master Bedroom 17. Storage 18. Fire Escape 19. Laundry 20. Kitchenette 21. Multi Purpose Hall 21 22. Sanitation 23. Guestâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Changing 24. Bedroom

20 3

7 19

11 8 24 17

16 24

24 12

VII

RESEARCH PROJECTS

VIII

SHAPE-SHIFTING LANDSCAPES Performative Slabs Workshop, Isfahan, Iran 2014

Tutor: Farshad Mehdizadeh Program: Structural Performance Research/Prototyping Area: N/A BRIEF Allowing for buildings (and life) to grow in height, the slab is an architectural element consisting of structural and mechanical features that also divides spaces vertically. Throughout the course of history, various approaches to this element have initiated the innovation of new means of construction processes and architectural styles. However, unlike vertical dividers such as walls, the potential of slabs as an interactive component have generally been overlooked. Therefore, the investigation of the slab as a means for living in height, on the one hand, and studying its performance as a structural element on the other, may prove to be of high value in enhancing the role of the slab. STRATEGY To discover and extract better performance of the slab through studying the evolution of horizontal surfaces in various periods of architecture, materiality, structure and the properties of geometrical and topological development, not only as a divider of spaces but rather as an intelligent and responsive element in the course of the development of cities and living in height.

Concept

Regular Function

Landscape

Events And Activities

Back To Regular Function

Activated Landscape/Extended Functionality

CONCEPT To inhabit natural surroundings in a non-disruptive manner by introducing a landscape that morphs to the needs of its user. The multi-layered slab consists of various responsive systems that are able to inflate on demand, providing 'pop-up' spaces for various activities and events. These spaces can then be deflated after use, returning the context to its previous state, allowing symbiotic dialogue between the user and the landscape. DYNAMIC MODEL/PROTOTYPE Using flexible properties of Balsa wood affixed on an elastic cloth, balloons and fish tank air pumps, a simple system is designed to simulate the conceptual behaviour of landscapes that are responsive to human needs. The inflation of each balloon is controlled by coded terminal valves, granting precise control over the landscape. Further more, the terminal also provides an air drain, allowing the deflation of the system. The prototype is 2m in length and 1m wide.

Prototype

Balsa Wood 1 2

Elastic Cloth

3 5 6 7

MDF Board 2X1m

8 9 10

Wooden Frame

Fish Tank Pump

Terminal/Air Flow Controlling Unit

Study Models

Shape-Shifting Landscapes

FA'BRICK'ATION | SHIFT

DigitalChini, Digital Fabrication Workshop, University of Tehran, Iran 2011 Tutors: Mani Xosrovani, Mehrad Mahnia, Mehran Haghbin, Ardavan Bidgoli Program: Prototype/Installation Area: N/A Collaboration: Yasamin Fathi, Soheil Hojjati, Payam Al-Rahman The projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s primary goal is to experiment and explore the various properties of the traditional component in modular construction, the brick. Early full-scale test models of brick walls curved in length and height are constructed by using a single element to provide an angle between each brick. Pivoted by a single edge, each individual brick is spaced out by scaled down version of bricks made of mdf wood, a smart spacing system utilizing the basic physical proportions to obtain a large number of possible formations manufacturing complex entities. Digital simulations are used to investigate the various possible and practical combinations and forms that the system provides. Additionally an analogue/digital device is envisioned to substitute the smaller modules, not only decreasing the inevitable human error factor but also increasing the flexibility by replacing a static component with a dynamic counterpart.

Shift Parametric Brick Wall, Exhibited At the University of Tehran, Faculty of Fine Arts, 2012

Mdf Scaled Down Brick

Stability Experiments

Curved In Height

Curved In Height And Length

STRATEGY The main concept is adding variation and differentiation to the conventional brick wall. Instead of using the smaller scaled-down version of the brick to build small prototypes, the idea is to take advantage of the dimensions as a spacer to lay bricks with a slight angle. The length, width and height of the modules are used to achieve three easily repeatable angles. The next challenge is to apply the angles not only in laying the bricks atop each other, but also to adjacent bricks, which eventually leads to a brick wall curved in all possible dimensions. Using this technique, virtually infinite forms and formations can be achieved by simply changing the positional sequence of the spacer. BRICK SPACING MACHINE PROTOTYPE Using the vast capabilities of gears and micro-controllers a digitally controlled dynamic brick spacing machine is envisioned to replace the wooden spacers. The creation of the prototype is possible with an inexpensive and simple system such as the Arduino connected to the Firefly add-on for Grasshopper.

Curved In All Directions

Brick Spacing Machine, Analog Prototype

Digitally Simulated Formations

Digitally Controlling The Spacing Machine

Brick Spacing Machine, Digital Prototype 24

CLUSTERS | [IN] CONSISTENCY AA Tehran Visiting School 2011, Manufacturing Simplexities, Tehran, Iran 2011 Tutor: Djordje Stojanovic Program: Prototype/Installation Area: 12 Sq.m Collaboration: Khashayar Shafagh, Oveis Shahnaee The project aims to explore organizational and structural properties of clustered formations. In a gradual process, rubber components are bound to form a structure. Initially they form a number of smaller structures, identifiable by the apparent centrality, density and the proximity of the binding components. Secondly, these smaller structures merge to form associations and larger entities. Very same principles of attraction and proximity are observed for their structural and organizational effect and have been employed in the manufacturing of the large scale prototype, comprising a large number of rubber bands. Study departs from Isozaki’s project ‘Clusters in the Air’ from 1962.

Module Generation Process

MODULE GENERATION Each module consists of two main elements: 1 - 5 x Elastic Rubber Bands 2 - Joints ( Staples ) By connecting the rubber bands with staples various formations are achieved, which are later on used in the construction of the full-scale model. The utilization of staples grants the freedom to make use of as many rubber bands as required, thus giving the system the possibility to grow in multiple dimensions, forming a number of interesting shapes and sizes with various structural properties. Furthermore the staples also serve as linking points for the modules, allowing further expansion of the system.

Cluster Formations

Study Models

Pulley System Detail

Structure/Exhibition Space

Wall Connection

Main Frame

Structure

Exhibition Space Section

Main Frame

Structure

Building Process

STRUCTURE/MAIN FRAME The exoskeleton supporting the installation consists of two main sections: 1. The dynamic structure: Reaching up to more than 4 meters in height, a manageable access to the top levels for easy installation of the modules is essential. Taking inspiration from the flag pole pulley system - a height adjusting machine - capable of permitting various height transformations is designed. 2. The main frame: Keeping in mind the concept of â&#x20AC;&#x153;mid air suspensionâ&#x20AC;?, transparency and durability are the two main factors considered while designing the main frame. Transparent fishing lines are used, keeping in view the virtual invisibility and the reasonably high tensile strength of this material.

AA Tehran Visiting School Exhibition, Clusters Installation, University of Tehran, Faculty of Fine Arts, 2011 30

ALIREZA SHOJAKHANI | B.ARCH PORTFOLIO

ARCHITECTURAL PROJECTS The Lodge On The Lake The Lodge On The Lake Competition, Canberra, Australia Area: 7,000 sq.m 2013

Facebook City, Transforming Slum Life Through Friends Evolo Skyscraper Competition Entry, Tehran, Iran Area: Urban (Variable) 2012

Shams Tabrizi Mausoleum Shams Tabrizi Mausoleum Design Competition, Khoy, Azerbaijan, Iran Area: 10,000 sq.m 2012

Architectural Design Thesis B.Arch. Design Studio Thesis Project, Damavand Islamic Azad University, Iran Area: 1,400 sq.m 2013

RESEARCH PROJECTS Shape-Shifting Landscapes Performative Slabs Workshop, Isfahan, Iran 2014

Fa'brick'ation, Shift DigitalChini Fabrication Workshop, University of Tehran, Iran 2012

Clusters, [IN] Consistency AA Tehran Visiting School 2011, Manufacturing Simplexities, Tehran, Iran Area: 12 sq.m 2011

ALIREZA SHOJAKHANI | B.ARCH PORTFOLIO