ana otelea portfolio
ana otelea portfolio
about education
experience
2oo9-2o15: “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urbanism, Faculty of Architecture | Bucharest, Romania
september 2o15-present : internship, Miralles Tagliabue EMBT | Barcelona, Spain
2o11 - 2o12: Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Faculdade de Arquitectura | Lisbon, Portugal 2oo4 - 2oo9: “Saint Sava” National College | Bucharest, Romania skills OS: Windows, OS X software: AutoCad Rhinoceros with VRay Rendering Grasshopper for Rhinoceros Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign ArchiCad 3ds Studio Max Google SketchUp practical: model making technical surveying construction site supervision diploma and certifications RIBA part II architecture diploma, 2o15 | valedictorian Rhinoceros and Grasshopper certificate Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English UISS Swedish Certificate
september-december 2o14 : internship, TGIN Arquitectura | Barcelona, Spain july-august 2o14 : internship, PZP Architectura | Bucharest, Romania july-september 2o13 : internship, PZP Architectura | Bucharest, Romania september-december 2o12 : internship, French Chamber of Commerce | Bucharest, Romania april-june 2o12 - volunteer, Técnica Livraria, architecture bookshop | Lisbon, Portugal languages romanian - native english - - fluent french - fluent spanish - fluent portuguese - fluent swedish - intermmediate italian - intermmediate contact anna_otelea@yahoo.com +40 742231004
contents 2o15 Miralles Tagliabue EMBT | internship a selection of work including competitions in Tuscany, Shanghai and Guanghzhou and projects in Paris the Romanian Consulate in Barcelona | final studio project at UAUIM Horizontal interferences | master thesis at UAUIM
2o14 TGIN Arquitectura | internship preparing and assembling the Martyrium exhibition Justice headquarters | studio project a stage for Hamlet | scenography project
2o12 Cultural Centre in Campolide | studio project
internship at Miralles Tagliabue - EMBT The time spent at the studio was an exceptional opportunity to experiment with dynamic shapes, vibrant colours and rich cultural surroundings.. My involvement in the design process helped shape a playful range of elements - from a Tuscan facade moduled after the logics of Fibonnaci’s sequence to a Chinese balcony inspired by the works of Hans Christian Andersen, part of a refurbishment comission, as well as add to the ongoing project for the Clichy Monfermeil metro station in Paris. Mixed media (collages, scale models, video animations, virtual reality glasses) were used as complementary parts of a mosaic intended to emphasize the conceptual background, spatial relations and perceived atmosphere of these very distinct projects.
facade and interior concept | conversion of an existing building in Shanghai into a Nordic themed hotel
conceptual collage for faรงade balconies
interior proposal - suite
facade and interior concept | conversion of an existing building in Shanghai into a Nordic themed hotel
interior proposal - standard room
the invisible castle | competition for a luxury resort in Monticello, Tuscany
masterplan for resort and adjacent residential area
section through the main building
landscape insertion
models and collages for several projects including the Paris Clichy Montfermeil metro station and Guanghzhou Bridge competition
textile pattern for interior panels in Paris shading pergola in Guangzhou
scale model for the pergola structure in Paris
scale model for the bridge masterplan across the Pearl River in Guangzhou
the Romanian Consulate in Barcelona The new Romanian Consulate in Barcelona was chosen for the final diploma project as a fictitious response to an actual demand, since the institution is currently lodged in a space insufficiently equipped for its growning needs, and the intention for finding a different headquarters had already been expressed. Its first phase was the definition of the urban insertion parametres. The project dealt with a very rich built environment, the Sarrià neighbourhood, one of the city’ s oldest urban structures, dating form the XVIIIth century. The main challange was trying to mediate the problematic proximity between this historic part of town and the contemporary extension of a high traffic route, the Via Augusta, right at its border. The solution was to replace the coarse vicinity of exposed partition walls and residual spaces with a permeable intervention, an urban plaza, a green corridor and an intimate courtyard imagined as the negative space between the built mass. The project is divided into five distinct volumes, long and narrow, inspired by the typologies encountered in Sarrià. Each of the volumes house different functions: the consular residence and guest house, with a courtyard between them (open to the secondary street but inaccessible to passers by, as it is elevated from the ground), the Chancellery, open towards the main plaza, the Romanian Cultural Institute, an exhibition gallery and conference space. These entities are formally brought together by an undulating roof, its surface intended as a conversation between the various heights of the neighboring buildings. The materials used play on the duality between interior and exterior – the exterior skin, which composes the consulate’ s urban image, is clad in locally extracted stone, while the interior’ s exposed concrete provides a reserved yet compelling background, with several emphasized areas where the white marble enveloping the outside enters the building (for instance, inside the consul’ s chambers).
facade and interior concept | conversion of an existing site analysis building in Shanghai into a Nordic themed hotel
facade and interior concept | conversion of an existing building in Shanghai into a Nordic themed hotel
insertion
public space options
permeability towards the old neighbourhood
the green promenade
the plaza
facade and interior concept | conversion of an existing connection building in Shanghai the into visual a Nordic themed hotel
facade and interior concept | conversion of an existing building in Shanghai into a Nordic themed hotel
underground level | main entrance
ground floor level
facade and interior concept | conversion of an existing building in Shanghai into a Nordic themed hotel
second floor level | consul’ s chambers
forth floor level
facade and interior concept | conversion of an existing building in Shanghai into a Nordic themed hotel
the consul’ s residence | private office
facade and interior concept | conversion of an existing building in Shanghai into a Nordic themed hotel
horizontal interferences | natural and built horizon in Barcelona The winding silhouette of the horizon defines the urban scenery in Barcelona. Its major planning and expansion episodes, starting with the modern era, have respected the city’s close relationship with the natural boundaries that enclose it. This strenghtens the notion that Barcelona’ s horizon is more than its skyline, an intricate contour line as seen from outside - it is integral to its public spaces, the shapes, colours and textures of its of the streets and its strong architectural personality. The late decades of the XX century mark an attitude shift: the urban density had to increase and the starhitect interventions, with a focus on erecting “singular objects” of architecture were favoured against the traditional preference for urban cohesion and integration. This study aims to identify the way the urban horizon takes shape, its relationship with the natural horizon and its emergence in the public space, with the purpose of fundamenting an intervention proposed in an area of distinct quality, the historic core of Sarrià (currently included in Sarrià-San Gervasi district) in Barcelona. The site to be sculpted is located in an equivocal, undeveloped residual area at the boundary between the old city tissue and a high speed connection; the challenge is to integrate areas of different functional characterics while respecting the surrounding context and the way the urban organism reacts to its limits and mediates the interactions between areas of contrasting characteristics. Moreover, the neighbouring hillside (the foothills of the Collserolla range) brings into discussion the natural element of the horizon and its dynamic with the built environment component.
master thesis at UAUIM
abstract
The present paper attempts an analysis of the city’ s projected image, understood as the superposition of the ground configuration, the processes that shaped it, the activities it hosts and their effects as perceived by those who inhabit it. The cityscape is seen as the material trace of the act of dwelling, and therefore its physical fibre is overlaid with symbolic value. This is the key to interpret the dialogue between city and horizon: the conditions that define the city’ s relationship with its boundaries are relevant to deciphering the way of living and the attitudes that shaped its evolution. Engaging the horizon as a research operator relies on this notion’s suggestive potential: it can be defined as the material as well as symbolic distance between observer and his object of contemplation and incorporated as a reference point in the scenery. This study’ s premises are intended to fundament the author’s diploma project, set in Barcelona’ s complex urban setting: a „compact city” (as described by Joan Busquets) stretching between four natural limits: coast, mountain and two river beds. Here, the natural horizon is a powerful actor on the city’s stage: the Collserola heights frame the perspectives from the lower city, whereas the higher neighbourhoods unfold towards the sea. The natural background is mirrored by the overlapping city skyline, outline of the urban organism itself, whose growth since the modern era has defined recurring patterns and variations in addressing the shape and significance of its limits. Characterizing the relationship between city and horizon begins with defining how the act of edifying alters the perception of distance, in three classes of instances: at the architectural level, composed by the morphology of units that either obey the dominating urban typology or create disruptions by transcending the dogma; the urban development, which follows a certain syntax of these individual structures and governs the integrated expansion of the city;
not least, the social component, a powerful force in Barcelona, where citizens are actively participating in shaping their daily urban scenery. Several mechanisms of urban perception are subsequently defined by the interaction between the subjective and objective horizon, seen as the two complementary instances of the same territorial reality. Recent events and processes that occurred within city grounds are discussed, in order to evaluate whether they are an organic shift within the urban development or represent mere atypical signs of the city’ s transition to a larger scale. The studies preceding the new Urbanistic Director Plan – currently under development – reaffirm Barcelona’ s urban tradition of seamlessly integrating the city in its natural context. The case studies on two other cities, Paris and Lisbon, illustrate the possibilities of shaping the public space while considering the dimension of the horizon - while the french capital relies heavily on the urban axes and the study of vanishing points, among the portuguese city’ s sloping streets one can encounter a softer threshold between the natural and the build environment. Both these options are alive in Barcelona with its urban, architectural and natural diversity. One of the most individualized districts in this intricate web of shapes, sizes and particular atmospheres is the neighbourhood of Sarrià, situated in the higher parts of the city: drawing new access routes in its vicinity lead to a coarse interaction between different urban textures. The synthesis of the case studies and the sedimentation of the observations therein, in conjunction with describing the attitudes that shaped Barcelona, define the ground rules for the intervention proposed as part of the diploma; its main purpose is to integrate the horizon into planning the preservation and development of Sarrià’s urban tissue in response to the current urban challenges and transcending its immediate, currently poorly outlined, limits.
a matter of distance *
In order to understand an element of urban composition as difficult to grasp as it is rich in significations as the horizon, outlining a number of characteristics is required. Beyond its physical properties (distances and relative positioning of elements in the environment) the horizon has always been invested with a strong symbolic dimension, starting even from the very literal meaning: the intersection between earth and sky is immaterial, inaccessible and fluid, since it is redefined each time the observer switches position. Furthermore, transposing the horizon into the sensitivity plane is materialized through experiencing the distance with all the effects it triggers; these range from the integration of the image by the individual, their aesthetic perception and associated emotions, and philosophically, the mundane struggle of handling the infinity, a concept that the human mind is incapable of actually envisioning. A paradox is obvious here: ethimologically, the horizon represents a firm limit, yet its remoteness is perceived as unlimited (the most distant stretch of land the eye can gasp is constantly moving away from us with every attempt of approaching it). This dual nature of the horizon simultaneously limits the perception and promises the unlimited beyond. When contemplating the horizon, the spectator is engaged in a double movement, or so Michel Corajoud considers: a retraction that frees him of anxiety (the distance is so great that no possible threat hidden within could reach us) and the immediate urge to advance towards it, immerse in it and bring light into its farthest corners. Andrei Plesu sees in this the tragic dimension of man’ s encounter with nature . The observer, at all times situated at a substantial distance (both physical and ontological) from his object of contemplation, does not claim “the indistinction of a frenetic merger with nature; instead, he prefers the interlude of pure virtuality, of a never materialized promise, of a distance that is ascertained
but not covered.” The modern man invests more in his relationship with the afar than the primary needs of the ancestral humans (which focused on orientation and risk evaluation); it addresses the spirit, thus generating aesthetic emotions. At this level, the sublime opposes the beautiful (orderly and harmonious) because it implies excess, ”the endlessness of the world” (Jean Paul as cited by Titus Mocanu ). The horizon - deceitful end of the world that conceals the infinity beyond - perfectly fits this category. Mutatis mutandis, this might be the place to mention a possible association between the categories of beauty and sublime. Kázmér Kovács shows that in English landscape, framing the view beyond the limits of the property is a key feature incorporated in the beauty of the gardening structure. As such, “the sublime component of the far away is integrated in the beauty of the ordered garden.” Admitting that “since the beginning of architectural theory, seeking beauty was seminal to the act of building” , we shall transfer onto the cityscape this understanding of the aesthetic category of beauty. Associating both components the beauty of human dwelling with the sublime atribute of the perceivable distance – might explain the aesthetic relevance of seeking horizons in our urban surroundings. The same motivations that drove the English landscape architects to dialogue with the infinite while gardening can make us instinctively seek in the public space the moments when the viewer looks beyond the certainties of the immediate towards the vague but seducing promises of distance. The pair of meanings beauty – order – intelligible and sublime – infinite – ungraspable can apply to the two occurrences of horizon in the urban landscape: the build horizon, as sum of human interventions and the natural horizon, acting as both background and main feature on the urban stage. * the paper’ s second chapter
A typological study intended to define various hypothesis of interaction between the architectural form and its background
A link to the diploma project, this study reveals its intention regarding the two seperate pieces of urban tissue which intersect inside the intervention site, which becomes a border, a threshold between two urban instances. The sollution was to bring forward the old neighbourhood of Sarrià as part of Via Augusta’ s image. As such, Sarrià was considered the background and the intervention would adopt a certain atitude towards it, following one of more of the typologies identified. The various typologies identified by means of the case studies were subsequently traced in some specific situations in Barcelona, in its most representative examples, in order to identify the city’ s own local fibre. They were further investigated in the site’ s immediate surrounding area, trying to establish whether they also apply to minor elements of the urban environment. The understanding of the different scenographic effects these typologies imply opens the discussion for further interventions, as the new consulate would adress its immediate surroundings as well as the entire city, through its representative function,
martyrium exhibition | internship at TGIN Arquitectura The exhibition was comissioned by the Romanian Orthodox Parrish of Barcelona, in order to commemorate 3oo years since the martyrdom of Romanian ruler Constantin Brancoveanu, who had been a maecena for the religious arhictecture of his time. Housed in the Monastery of Sant Pau del Camp, one of Barcelona’ s oldest Romanic establishments, the exhibition’ s main feature was the display of orthodox churches linked to the Romanian ruler, focusing on their rich interior space. In order to convey the spatial experience inside the churches, the panoramic interior photographs of each of the 15 chosen examples were assembled onto a curved surface. The shape of the display panels invites the observer to replicate the same gesture he would perform inside the nave of the church, looking up towards the Pantocrator. Additional means were used for a complete understanding of the architectural particularities: a video presentation explaining each particular element’s role in the overall composition and an Oculus Rift model of the interior of a church. The latter allowed the visitors to experience in virtual reality, at their own pace, the main components of an orthodox church and its specific use of light and decoration as part of the symbolic act. The exhibition also featured works from religious artist Elena Murariu.
preparing the exhibition
The age of Holy Martyr Constantin Brâncoveanu, ruler of Wallachia between 1688 and 1714, marks an important turning point in the evolution of the arts and culture in his land. This historic region, also known as Țara Românească, is situated between the Danube River, to the south, and the Carpathians, to the north. Together with Transylvania and Moldavia, in the XIXth century it formed the modern country of Romania. Constantin Brâncoveanu was the promoter of an intense activity of religious and civil construction, which created a harmonious blend of traditional architecture, painting and sculpture, neo-byzantine art, and innovative ideas of the Italian Renaissance, thus forming a new style called Stilul Brâncovenesc. Some of his works have endured, but there are many more who have disappeared. The name of the style or art Brâncovenesc is used in Romanian historiography to define the architecture and visual arts of that time, initiated by Brâncoveanu, and which influenced all decorative arts until the middle of the XVIIIth century.
a spatial experience | curved exhibition panel concept and display, inluding the experience of virtual reality glasses
Justice masterplan and Court of Justice The Ministery of Justice requested a new headquarters for a court of law, local courthouses, offices and educational facilities. The ensemble was to be included in a masterplan also featuring a new philharmonic and high-rise office buildings. The site is located near Bucarest’ s city centre, along the grand axis abusively cut through the existing urban tissue during the communist regime with the intention to emphasize the view towards the former People’ s House (currently housing the Parliament). We chose to translate the urban net of intersecting functional liaisons to our site, transforming a section of the monumental urban axis into a park with various possible connections to the city, decomposing the traditional, monlithical image of the judiciary institution and repraising the human scale. The project proposes a main trajectory, alternative to the socialist axis, offering a series of spaces, each responding to a different typology: the enclosed plaza (acting as an interior courtyard for the judicial system) the open plaza in front of the philharmonic the diffuze plaza, linking the three towers and the adjoining built environment. The formal approach is that of compact solids, cut at various angles in order to emphasise certain areas and to optimise sunlight exposure. Dignified and grounded, but designed at a human scale, these volumes speak of the act of justice as a fundamental prerogative. The Court of Justice and Appeal Court are housed inside the main volume, and these two functions led to carving two atria in the interior volume, reunited at the ground floor level.
urban context
the north-south and east-west axis and major areas of influence
the project’ s impact assesement
the network of public institutions
the intervention site | urban approach designed to counter balance the communist axis
masterplan
facade and interior concept | conversion of an existing building in Shanghai into a Nordic themed hotel
Court of Justice
ground floor plan and surrounding buildings
facade and interior concept | conversion of an existing building in Shanghai into a Nordic themed hotel
typical floor plan
typical intermmediate plan
the rooftop garden and magister’s offices
the vertical transformation of the structure
rooftop garden
axonometric section of the interior
facade and interior concept | conversion of an existing building in Shanghai into a Nordic themed hotel
facade stereotomy and light boxes
a stage for Hamlet The assignment to imagine a set for Shakespeare’ s masterpriece implied the challange to translate the complex emotional frame of the play into an architectural concept. In order to better achieve that particular atmosphere, the stage itself was to morph and shift in order to reflect the characters’ evolution. Given the very rich essence of the play, which at the beginning appears to be a very distinct opposition between good and evil, we chose to view the stage as a chessboard and the characters moving across it as chess pieces. However, as the story unfolds, the lines between right and wrong, light and dark become blurred, as Hamlet’ s quest for vengeance ultimately claims his innocence. In order to reflect this transition, the clean outlook of the chessboard has been altered - morover, it gained its third dimension, in order to better define the different parts of the stage and specific moments during the play. The set uses the existing stage turnatble, rotating twice before key moments: once before the play within the play, creating a mirrored image betwen the actors and the king and queen, and the second time before Ophelia’ s madness scene, creating a background onto which an ondulating surface of water is projected. The costume proposal follows the same logic - different layers, fabrics and shades of grey are used in order to depict the moral ambiguity. The actors wear black or white at the beginning of the play, and later on their costumes reveal more and more as the characters evolve.
conceptual approach: the play as a chess game
facade and interior concept | conversion of an existing building in Shanghai into a Nordic themed hotel
stage plan
front view
longitudinal section
grasshopper process
structure for the hanging elements
structure for the platforms
succesive shifts in the set arrangement
cube assembly diagram
costume proposal
Cultural Center in Campolide The decision for the architectural programme was left to the student, whose assignment was to respond to a given urban context in one of Lisbon’ s central areas, in the vicinity of both a park and a prison, witness to an important commercial growth in recent years. The proposed functions was that of a centre for leisure and culture, taking advantage of Portugal’ s warm climate and historic inclination for outdoor activity all year round. The taller volume houses a small theatre, a cafe, a literary teashop and some art boutiques. The urban sollution settled on an important intersection with a mild slope (a difference of four meters withing the intervention plot), proposing a two-level urban space: a plaza visually connected to the city on the upper level, and a sunken ampitheatre for outdoor performances with adjoining exhibition space on the lower one. The urban space can thus be accesed from both extremities of the plot and encourajes a continuum from outside to inside, and between the building, with its public oriented destination, and the city. The cultural centre pays tribute to the portuguese mastery of tectonics and use of light, opting for a structural system of long and narrow pillars accented by linear skylights, which also create rythm in the public space above.
urban context and insertion
ground floor plan
scale model
first floor plan
second floor plan
Barcelona 2o16