cara michelle rooney selected works
cara michelle rooney rooneyc10@gmail.com | 440.478.6291 1927 W Schiller St, Unit 3F Chicago IL 60622
education
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
activities American Institute of Architecture Students Member
(Fall 2012 - Present)
Washington University in St. Louis - Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts Graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture, May 2012
Campus Kitchen Public Relations Officer (Fall 2010 and Fall 2011) and Volunteer (Fall 2009 - Spring 2012)
Master of Architecture with Emphasis in Interior Architecture Candidate, May 2014
Minor: International and Area Studies Cumulative GPA: 3.70/4.0 Magna Cum Laude, Dean’s Li st (Fall 2008 through Fall 2011)
Study Abroad in Florence, Italy Spring 2011
employment
IA Interior Architects, Chicago, IL, Junior Designer Intern (Summer 2013 and January 2014 - Present)
Assisted with design and concept development, construction documents, on-site punch lists, branding strategies, finish boards and selections, and the Chicago office’s Neocon recap presentation. Designed and created the IArt Wall installation for the new office, with two additional interns. Attended Neocon and client meetings.
Buzzispace, Cleveland, OH, Intern (Summer 2012)
Designed documents for product details, environmental profiles with relevant LEED credits, fabric test summaries, and fabric labels. Organized client information and the rep organization within the United States. Attended Neocon and meetings with design firms.
Prepared and distributed meals with a team of 40 students for up to 100 community members weekly. Designed promotion strategies to relay fundraising event information to the student body and neighboring residents, including poster, flyer, and other advertising designs.
related experience
Mentored a group of six fourth grade students from inner-city schools. Developed lesson plans, taught basic design skills, elementary model building, and architectural drawing concepts.
Hatchery Entrepreneurship Class at Washington University (Fall
Hellmuth and Bicknese Architects, St. Louis, MO, Intern (Summer 2011)
Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative in conjunction with Cleveland City Hall Planning Commission, Intern (Summer 2010) Contributed to the writing, layout, and graphic design of the Design Guidelines for the city of Cleveland. Attended city design review meetings for project proposals and development.
Learned valuable entrepreneurial skills including how to start, develop, and sustain an enterprise from successful entrepreneurs in the local St. Louis Community during weekly panel sessions, in conjunction with interning at Hellmuth and Bicknese Architects.
Alberti Program at Washington University, St. Louis, Teacher (Spring 2009)
2011)
Worked on design and concept development, site analysis, and created marketing proposals for a furniture design competition. Developed conceptual designs for bus shelter structures and an urban agriculture site layout for the City of Indianapolis in addition to a residential housing dorm for Berea College in Kentucky.
Skandalaris Center Internship Program at Washington University, (Summer 2011)
Worked with 3 students on developing a business plan for a digital customized platform to explore nightlife in New York City. Created and presented two powerpoint presentations to a panel of entrepreneurs from the St. Louis area and wrote a full business plan for our proposal.
skills
Technical: Revit, Auto-Cad, Rhino, Sketch-up, In Design, Illustrator, Photoshop,
Maya, Microsoft Word
Craft: Model making, hand drafting, sketching, drawing, collage Languages: Italian and familiar with Spanish
Contents the photographic pattern structure, agency, gesture reimagining a landmark kindergarten + color theory wellness center + long span structure urban analysis: florence, italy sustainable material study
the photographic pattern: extracting a geometric pattern to generate form
EXTRACTING A PATTERN Through the lens of photography and implementation of levels of detail, an organic, water-like image was extracted from a storefront window. This detail was then developed in to a linear pattern through a hand-drafted pencil drawing on velum.
Above: photographs of a plexi-glass storefront window in Wellston, MO.
Right: pencil drawing on velum overlaid on the final photograph.
GENERATING A THREE-DIMENSIONAL FORM From the extracted line drawing, a wire model was constructed, transforming the geometric line pattern into a three-dimensional form. The node in the center of the top prism became the central axis from which triangular prisms were extracted, based on the point of intersection for the majority of lines in the hand drawing.
Left: hand-drafted axonometric pencil drawing
Below: photographs of wire model
structure, agency, gesture: designing an enabling architecture for an urban community intervention
CREATING A SENSE OF PLACE AND OWNERSHIP THROUGH PHYSICAL AND VISUAL CONNECTIONS When challenged with developing a community center that enables a food, making, and performance culture for Pilsen, Chicago, my concept became critically dependent on creating an architecture that one could visit once or even daily and feel a sense of belonging, ownership, and place on site. In order to create a unique experience for each visitor while simultaneously maintaining a constant tie with Pilsen’s surroundings and community members, creating a series of physical and visual connections within the design became key to creating a sense of safety and enabling a feeling of ownership within the new community center.
Top drawings: colored-pencil sketches Bottom Images: foam core and acetate models
photographs of museum board concept models
CHALLENGING AN UNDERGROUND CONVENTION The project guidelines included a restriction of only being able to build on 15% of the site. Rather than seeing this as a problem, I viewed this restriction as an opportunity to challenge the notion of building underground as creating a dark, cave-like basement space, and instead, designing a “transparent� ground plane that would promote both safety and visual connections from the underground design with the surrounding context and visitors on site. In order to achieve a sense of transparency underground, a series of light studies and proposals were made before arriving at the final, poetic rhythm of lighting found underground.
photographs of light study with a foam core box
A DELICATE YET ROBUST STRUCTURE The final design relied on a series of channels, views, and light boxes to create a sense of openness underground. A balance between the robust retaining walls and glass surfaces created a space filled with light and views to the community, as well as a space that could withstand wear over time.
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site plan
first level
lower level
CREATING A SENSE OF PLACE AND OWNERSHIP The plan follows the site lines of the triangular city block with a large platformed landscape on the ground level that can be open to the public at all times and consists of ramps, vegetation, and a mixture of hard and soft surfaces. As the platformed ramp descends into the ground, the walls become more transparent to reveal views into the underground fab-labs, library and meeting space, performance room, and aquaponic growing area.
PUNCTURING THE GROUND PLANE Large light boxes puncture through the ground plane to allow views into the underground spaces, while simultaneously providing benches and hard vertical surfaces to add to the landscape above ground. The community gathering space completely challenges the idea of a below ground cave as its ceiling volume is completely transparent and extends 8 feet above ground. At night the light boxes provide a sense of safety by acting as lanterns to illuminate the landscape. photographs of museum board
LIGHT FILLED STRUCTURE
VISUAL AND PHYSICAL
CONNECTIONS CREATING A TRANSPARENT STRUCTURE The light box structure is composed of a double layer U-channel glass glazing for added insulation, an embedded lighting system to create a glowing lantern at night, and a metal truss supporting structure.
SENSE OF PLACE AND OWNERSHIP
reimagining a landmark: a new vision for the merchandise mart
EXISTING
POROUS STRUCTURE
INTERWOVEN PUBLIC SPACE
A NEW VISION FOR THE MERCHANDISE MART
EMBRACING THE RIVER FRONT
The Merchandise Mart in Chicago embodies untapped potential with a rich history of adapting to new uses, including Marshall Field’s warehouse and showroom with public access, private government office space after the Great Depression, the largest trade show venue, and as seen today as a commercial, wholesale design center, and international business location. Yet with technology transforming the merchandise industry, the mart is in need of another transformation and new business model less reliant on the dominant showrooms typology.
photographs of museum board, acrylic, and basswood concept models
EXISTING MUSIC
EXISTING MUSIC EXISTING RESTAURANTS EXISTING RESTAURANTS EXISTING PUBLIC EXISTING PUBLIC GREEN GREEN EXISTING ENTRIES TO RIVERWALK EXISTING ENTRIES TO RIVERWALK
AN EVOLVING AND INNOVATIVE SITE The mart is situated at a key intersection of a thriving food and retail corridor in the River North neighborhood in Chicago. With start-up tech companies and co-op work spaces beginning to populate the area, the mart has a prime location to take influence from its neighbors and become a hub of innovation.
SCHOOLS
RETAIL
TECH COMPANIES
ENTERTAINMENT
FOOD + BEVERAGE
SOCIAL SERVICES
CONDITION | BARRIER CONDITION: BARRIER
CONDITION | SEPERATED CONDITION: SEPARATED
PROPOSAL|ENGAGE ENGAGE INTERSECTION PROPOSAL: INTERSECTION
PROPOSAL| EMBRACE RIVERWALK PROPOSAL: EMBRACE RIVERWALK
CONDITION | MINIMAL ENTRY CONDITION: MINIMAL ENTRY
CONDITION | NAVIGATION CONDITION: NAVIGATION
| INTRODUCE SCALE SCALE & ORIENTATION PROPOSAL | UNIFY PUBLICPERMIABILITY PERMIABLITY PROPOSAL PROPOSAL: UNIFY PUBLIC PROPOSAL: INTRODUCE + ORIENTATION
CONNECTIVITY, AMPLE PUBLIC SPACE, EMBRACING THE RIVER FRONT, AND ORIENTATION When developing design strategies for the mart, the existing conditions of the north facade appearing as a barrier, the south facade being divided from the river, the lack of main entrances limiting accessibility, and the difficult to navigate circulation system of narrow corridors and a labyrinth of vertical circulation became the key opportunities for driving the design. In response, we developed four key strategies including: connecting the mart to its context, embracing the river front, creating ample public space, and reintroducing scale and orientation.
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KINZIE ST LEVEL FLOOR PLAN
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CTA Brown and Purple Line
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ORLEANS ST LEVEL FLOOR PLAN
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CTA TRAIN LEVEL FLOOR PLAN
JUXTAPOSING EXISTING CONDITIONS The plans break from the strong columnar grid, juxtaposing the heavy structure with transparent organic volumes and circulation paths as a way of highlighting the landmarked masonry shell of the mart against the new internal design intervention. By breaking from the grid, yet maintaining the buildings core post and beam structure, new views, a sense of orientation, and clear circulation paths are created, without compromising the structural integrity of the mart.
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BLE L | FILTERING DEFINITION EN END ND ND BLEND LEN
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DEFINITION | ELEVATED CIRCULATION PATHWAY
DEFINITION | GRAND CIRCULATION ARTERY
DEFINITION | OVERLOOK VISTA POINT
DEFINITION | GATHERING, MIXING, BLENDING PLATFORM
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DEFINITION | MEANDERING PEDESTRIAN CORRIDORS
THE MART AS A BEACON By introducing scale and orientation, connecting the mart with the River North Neighborhood and the river front, and reintroducing public space and program to the first three and most connected floors of the building, the mart acts as a beacon that leverages its neighborhood through experiential space and innovative uses.
photographs of museum board, acrylic, and basswood model
kindergarten + color theory: developing surface and space from the physical movement
STUDYING HUMAN MOVEMENTS TO CREATE A SURFACE After visiting a kindergarten and observing the movements of kindergarteners, my studio was challenged to design a surface based on a specific phenomena we observed. My focus became the phenomena of “fidgetiness.” After observing how difficult it was for a kindergartener to sit still, I began developing the design of a chair that would allow complete freedom for its user to move and sit in any position.
photograph of movement study model in wire and acetate 72”
55” 45”
37”
“FIDGETINESS” THROUGH THE SURFACE OF A CHAIR
photographs of acrylic and wire study models
I developed two study model prototypes out of plexi-glass and wire. The first design consists of varying dimensions of the plexi-glass disks on a central axis, creating moveable surfaces to sit and rest ones body on. The second design consists of three axes, in which two separate surfaces to sit on or put ones feet on are separate from the central axis for ones upper body, allowing for even more flexibility within the design. After designing a surface in response to my phenomenon in the form of a moveable chair, my next challenge was to design a kindergarten school that also embodied “fidgetiness.” Below is an initial sketch of ways a room could have multiple layouts depending on its desired use from the use of moveable walls.
Classroom Ideas colored-pencil sketch
CONVEYING A SENSE OF “FIDGETINESS” THROUGH SPACIAL DESIGN When trying to make the concept of “fidgetiness” into a spatial idea, I began to work with the potential of a classroom to be able to be transformed and manipulated based on what use it would serve. Through sketches of how moveable walls could be arranged to create spaces within a classroom (as shown below) and an axonometric of the spatial layout of the design, I developed the basic concept of my kindergarten school, designed for a lot in the Grove neighborhood in St. Louis.
Below: pencil sketches with hashed lines indicating moveable walls
Right: axonometric of school layout, hashed surfaces representing moveable walls
CONVEYING A SENSE OF “FIDGETINESS” THROUGH SPACIAL DESIGN In addition to conveying “fidgetiness” through the physical movement of walls, the use of light and capturing its natural movement throughout the day became a key component of my design. Levels of transparency through solid walls, semi-transparent walls made from fritted and/or colored glass, and completely transparent walls created a sense of movement within the space based on the directionality of light. Color theory played a role in which colors were used in the design, with soft yellows and shades of blues representing growth, calmness, and cheerfulness and pale greens conveying a sense of harmony to counter stress.
aquatic center: creating a community center with a long-span structure
DESIGNING A LONG SPAN STRUCTURE INSPIRED BY ITS CONTEXT After visiting Carondelet Park in St. Louis, which had been chosen as the site for my studio’s community aquatic center project, I left inspired by the already existing sense of enclosure that the park possessed, not in a built form, but in the form of the tree canopies. When choosing where to situate my design within the park, I selected the area with the least amount of already existing trees so that I could extend the surrounding tree canopy through my design. To map the existing trees, I created a paper relief in which no paper could be cut-off, taped, or glued. Therefore, I cut strips within the paper that were woven back through the page to create the mapping seen below. Additionally, as a way to envision how a building could simulate for its inhabitants the feeling of being under a tree canopy, I created a collage to convey the sense of space that I intended to carry forward through the design.
photographs of paper relief
colored-pencil tree mapping sketch
DESIGNING A LONG SPAN STRUCTURE INSPIRED BY ITS CONTEXT, SURROUNDED BY TREES When choosing a material palette for the long span structure to allow for a regulation sized swimming pool within the overall design, I wanted to embody the natural setting of the park, while still taking advantage of technologically advanced materials. Therefore, I chose glulam beams for the long span, braced by supporting, smaller wooden beams, and covered by glass. As a result, the design of the supporting beams became the medium to creating the penetrated openings of light in the ceiling, like that of a tree canopy. The material palette for the walls included the range of transparent, semi-transparent, and opaque glass to allow for complete transparency in the public spaces, creating a visual connection with the park, as well as complete opacity in the private spaces.
hand-drafted construction detail drawing in pencil
hand-drafted projected perspective drawing
DESIGNING A LONG SPAN STRUCTURE INSPIRED BY ITS CONTEXT, SURROUNDED BY TREES The shape of the aquatic center’s plan is aligned along the long glulam beams that help create views and organize the different spaces. Based on the park’s topography, the building undergoes three gradual level shifts to match its surrounding topography, represented in the plan through shading.
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photographs of basswood model
urban analysis: exploring florence, italy
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ANALYZING FLORENCE WITH A SKETCHBOOK To develop our own perspective of Florentine street life, my studio divided up routes through the city, giving each student their own route to analyze and depict how a pedestrian experienced their route on foot. By drawing almost snapshot-like perspective sketches along my route, my set of perspective drawings depict the feeling of compression and release that a pedestrian experiences as one walks from narrow alleys and side streets into open piazzas and markets along the street of florence. C
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sustainable material study: summer internship at hellmuth+bicknese architects
USING SUSTAINABLE AND AFFORDABLE MATERIALS TO CONSTRUCT CITY BUS SHELTERS While interning with Hellmuth+Bicknese Architects, the opportunity to design a bus shelter using local, sustainable, and affordable materials was presented by the City of Indianapolis. Along with a new member of the firm, Dan Tisch, we created a “kit of parts� from which different material options for the parts of a bus shelter could be chosen in any combination by the city. To incorporate an international theme that the city wanted to embody in the neighborhood, we developed the concept of using international frit patterns on the glass walls of the shelters.
Structure
Flooring SUSTAINABLE MATERIAL PALETTE
Community Mosaic Tile Floor
community tile mosaic floor
Pervious Recycled Rubber Flooring
previously recycled rubber flooring painted steel tube
Painted Steel TubeC
Walls
MIddle Easternpatterns American international
ChineseE
thiopian
Greek
Indian
ross Bracing Support System
Green Screen Panels green screen panel
Community Art Wall community art wall
laminated frit panels
cross bracing support system
Irish
JapaneseM
exican
Thai
Roofs
BIPV Roofing BIPV roofingSystem system
Concrete Shell Green concrete shellRoof green roof
GreenScreen greenRoof screen roof
Recycled “RCA“RCA Dome”dome” Canopy canopy recycled
Indoor/Outdoor Bench
limestone LEC Backlit Panels LEC backlit panels
Bus Shelter: Component Library
LED linear back-
LED track-lighting
Interactive Energies External Light external light
salvaged wood or recycled plasstic bench