Portfolio 2016

We live in an Anthropocene Epoch.

I believe human presence is the strongest way of change.

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As an urban designer and a mobility enthusiast, this is what I believe in.

There is an assumption that designers wear black and sit in a corner, coming up with ideas all by themselves. Yet, I believe that as an urban designer, you are part of a pack that includes colleagues with various backgrounds, municipalities and citizens. It is this teamed human presence that call lead to good urban design and planning.

After years of studying and having small experiences in the field, I have formed a set of personal core values as a reminder of who I am as a professional and what do I believe in. As an urban designer and planner, it is important for me to:

... build for people, and not other architects or designers ... know and understand people’s problems, needs and dreams ... embrace the diversity of the urbanite ... understand mobility as an important driver of our society ... be creative and look for inspiration in any field Along with these core values come my experiences around Europe, both travelling and studying. These have made me a flexible person, and highly adaptable to others’ culture, without losing sight of my own beliefs.

What I love the most about being an urban designer and planner is that I get to live in my working space 24/7 and am able to walk, wonder about and witness the city. I can dream about designing creatively, about reimagining and rebuilding the city.

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DRAFTSMAN

Draftsman

3 months - In their “hyggeligt” firm, I learned how to colaborate with the municipality, how to plan the day neatly over a coffee in the morning, and most important, how a small danish firm works.

12 months (summer job) Together with architect Andrei Stoianovici I have developed my work ethic and learned how to communicate with clients and offer design advice.

A4 ARKITEKTER & Ingeniører copenhagen, dk

arch. andrei stoianovici bucharest, ro

PHOTOGRAPHER

photographer

42 months - What started as a hobby, became a job about capturing the fleeting reality, about composition and colors, about people and cities.

8 months - In this time at the pub, I have improved my editing software skills, like Photoshop, Lightroom and extended my knowledge regarding jazz music.

TILLLATE.COM (Volunteer) bucharest, ro

bartender

studenterhuset (volunteer) AALBORG, dk

15 months - As a foreigner in this friendly team, I have learned how to integrate and adapt in an international environment and how to be well planed and organised.

joy pub bucharest, ro

waitress

joy pub bucharest, ro

12 months - While studying and working at the same time, I have realised that I have a lot of energy to offer and will invest it all in the things that I enjoy doing.

MSC Mobilities and urban studies MSC URBAN DESIGN Aalborg university AALBORG, Dk

Main insight: Embrace diversity, site specificity and people’s projections on the city!

Master Thesis: What moves us while we move? The antagonism between the determined and the drifter and the emergence of technology in the city

* E - Exchange semester 4

Aalborg university AALBORG, Dk (*e)

Main insight: Mobility is an important driver of our society!

Analysing Main project: Contemporary Mobilities. A case study of Rendsburggade 14 Aalborg

BSC URBAN DESIGN AND PLANNING

‘ion mincu’ university of architecture and urbanism BUCHAREST, RO

Main insight: Planning and designing in urban development is vital!

Bachelor Thesis: Tradition versus modernity. Principles and urban and landscape development opportunities for Stancuta village.

Hacking the city DAC,copenhagen, dk

Main insight: Smart cities work with big data!

During this workshop, I have learned how to better collect, interpret and visualize data and create the concept of a digital-physical installation for tourists.

STARTUP BORGEN COPENHAGEN, Dk

Main insight: Pitch!Work!Learn!

Me and my team created TREASURE HUNTS, an app that assists tourists in discovering the real flavour of Copenhagen in an interactive and playful way.

Mother language

B1 unattested qualification

C1 proficiency (IELTS 2013)

A2 unattested qualification

...and being creative while doodling ...and capturing the fleeting reality ...or the essential elements to start the day ...or what I do when I do not sit and render ...or where you will find me on holidays

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Tradition versus Modern BEEKEEPER’S HOUSE ... to build for people, not for other architects or designers

Fig 1. Rendering of the beekeeper’s house

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Rural areas are always the ones that struggle with development, and that is why, in the first part of our Bachelor Thesis, we have created a development strategy for Braila county and its villages, which was focused on promoting the tourism and local identity. In the second part, the mix between the local values and the proposed strategic development of Stancuta village led to a new community and a new type of dwellings.

Stancuta village has a history related to beekeeping and pomiculture. By using these traditions and combining them with the modern practices, a chance to emerge in fruitful activity is given to young passionate people.

Fig 2. 3D section of the household

Creating a community of beekeepers along a belt of greenery and along the small river edging the village stands as a gesture in promoting the local values.

In this way, making sure that they don’t get lost in the existent transition between new and old technologies.

The beekeeper’s house is adapted from the village households, being made out of biodegradable materials and having green supply facilities.

Fig 3. Exterior rendering of the terrace

While the exterior is more traditional and preserving the local aspect, the interior hides a modern layout and furniture that would satisfy the modern needs nowadays.

This represents a way to attract the young population into staying in the village and developing a local business, while making sure that they do not lack the facilities that the urban life has to offer. In the end, the beekeeper’s house lies at the intersection of the modern and the traditional.

Fig 4. Interior rendering of the living room

Fig 5. Side view of the beekeper’s household

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WHAT MOVES US WHILE WE MOVE? ... to know and understand people’s problems, needs and dreams (researched based)

We are on the move. We move everyday to work, to school, to the shop and to the gym. Products of the modern life, we put on our shoes each day, let ourselves driven by efficiency and rush to our destinations.

But why do we MOVE TO, and not MOVE THROUGH in the city?

Time pressure almost always forces us to choose the shortest path from A to B, throwing us in a routine. We start moving on autopilot mode and become oblivious to the urban environment. Everyday most of the people choose their route according to time, distance and habits. They take the shortest ways back and forth.

Little are they aware or know that maybe a couple of minutes or meters away from their daily route, a more beautiful path exists: a path going through a courtyard with beautiful details, a quiet square or a lively one, a small garden with a fountain.

Thus, a new, beautiful route emerges, ensuring a walk that can contribute to the pedestrians’ general well-being.

“Urban Shoes” is an mobile application that generates such beautiful paths for both citizens and tourists that want to walk in Aalborg, taking into account their walking needs, state-of-mind and available time.

The paths go through beautiful, local courtyards, through lively spaces or on paths that have either meaning or history, trees and flowers along them.

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Fig 6.1. - 6.7. Mock up of the proposed app Urban Shoes

Scan me for full project!

URBAN SHOES

URBAN SHOES

URBAN SHOES

Choose path type

Choose path mood

Choose path mood Pathfinder

Citizen Tourist shoes

Rush Hour Stroller Nature Lover

Sightseer

Calmness Seeker

Locals shoes Nightwalker

Nightwalker

URBAN SHOES

URBAN SHOES

URBAN SHOES

Choose path complexity

Here is your path!

Choose path type Citizen shoes lead you through spaces that have a community feeling and give you a chance to get a taste of the local life.

Sightseer shoes are perfect if you are a tourist. You are one button away from the landmarks of the city that lie ahead.

Easy

Tourist shoes Pathfinder shoes are for the thrill seekers. Narrow, unexpected paths, either cozy or edgy, await to be explored.

Rush hour strolling shoes are for you, the one that cannot go without the lively feeling of the city life. People and activities along your route will fill you up with energy.

Medium

Nature lover shoes carry you through the ‘oases’ of the city, the places that are green and beautifully landscapes.

Calmness seeker shoes could help you after a long day.

Avoid crowdiness and noise, by taking paths that posses a calm

Locals shoes atmosphere.

Hard Share

Repair

Nightwalker shoes can make your midnight walk a bit more interesting, by leading you through contrasting sceneries.

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A PIECE OF COPENHAGEN ... to embrace the diversity of the urbanite

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Fig 7.1. - 7.3. Renderings of the various neighbourhood atmospheres

Scan me for full project!

Acknowledging and embracing the diversity of the urbanite and the urban environment represents a very important step in the urban development. Urban spaces represents the meeting point of people with very diverse backgrounds, coming from various cultures and religions and with unique life stories. They all contribute to the identity and energy of the city.

Capturing the energy of the city in one place that once gave all its energy to the city.

This was the vision behind the project A piece of Copenhagen, that involved the urban transformation of the power plant H.C. . Ørsted Værket. Our main focus was to understand the city’s identity and develop a vibrant district that captures the pulse and the rhythm of the city.

H.C. Ørsted Værket is an old poweplant complex. Most of the buildings and in-between spaces have lost their main functionality, and have been taken over by the urban subcultures.

The place gives you the feeling of a point where nature meets the urban physical planning. Beauty can be found in the lack of organization of the area, and also in the elements that don’t belong to the place.

The powerplant is a symphony of colors, scales, materials, created by the stretch of time. The project was an attempt to create space for diversity: diversity of places, diversity of people, diversity of buildings, diversity of atmospheres.

Fig 7.4 - Masterplan of the Ørsted project

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A PIECE OF COPENHAGEN THE WILD ISLAND ... to embrace the (bio-)diversity of the urban space

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Fig 8 - Masterplan of the wild island

Whenever people think of cities, they think of concrete and glass jungles with cars and skyscrapers, where natural ecosystems can bearly exist. But in reality, we are surrounded by living things that have learned, just as us, to survive the city.

Thinking about the biodiversity of the urban space is as important as the diversity of the urbanite.

The “wild� island is an ecosystem for birds and small animals in the urban landscape, contrasting with the built areas and breaking the usual concrete edge of the waterfront, developed in all Copenhagen.

The Wild Island is more than just a land with recreational use, having an educational purpose as well, being directly connected to the hydrology system.

The canal along the island is meant to clean all the water collected from the streets on the site. Here, people can observe the cleaning process of the water.

In according to the next-page diagram, most of the plants chosen for the wild island have an unique colour palette during all 4 seasons, and are combined so they can contrast (and create a pleasant atmosphere for walking, having lunch, playing and learning.

Fig 9. Rendering of the canal on the wild island

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Rendsburggade 14 - Analysing Contemporary Mobilities ... to understand mobility as an important driver in the urban space

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Fig 10. Rendering made by Henning Larsen Architects

Scan me for full project!

Movement keeps the city alive and gives it its energy.

Mobility is an important driver in the urban space and it is mandatory to understand it in order to understand the city.

The movement and behaviour in urban spaces can be very similar to the one in XL buildings, which compete with the city on a daily basis.

Rendsburggade 14 is an XL building where the flows and ballet of students, teachers, visitors, staff, signs, food trucks, stairs, elevators, group rooms, teachers’ desks, staff offices, wayfinding systems and protocols are assembled together.

Fig 11. Atmosphere at lunch

The building represents a stage, like the public space, that affords and obstructs diverse movement and different mobile behaviors. The research project A case study of Rendsburggade 14. Analizing Contemporary Mobilities represents an exploration of the everyday life mobility in the context of an XL building, characterised by complexity and is accommodating large amounts of users.

Such complexity determines greater movement and generates larger flows. Movement is analysed on all scales, from a large scale by looking at the directions, intensities of flows and which places are generating them, to a small scale by observing people interacting with each other, with their environment and the way they are conducting themselves in the space.

Fig 12. The site of the research

Fig 13. The big stairs function as a gathering space

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PERSONAL SKETCHES URBAN PHOTOGRAPHY ... to be creative and find inspiration in any field

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Thank you!

Let’s imagine and reimagine the city together!

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