portfolio
KADU TOMITA
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KADU TOMITA
Education:
Languages:
Undergraduate Degree in Architecture and Urbanism Federal Technological University of Parana (UTFPR) - Curitiba, Brazil Status: In progress Admission: Jan/2011
Portuguese (native), English (fluent), Japanese (basic) and French (basic).
Exchange year Brazilian Scientific Mobility Program (BSMP) Bachelor of Science in Urban Design Parsons The New School for Design – New York, NY Period: Aug/2013 - May/2014
(2013) International Gastronomic Center in Brussels - Arquideas. (2013) Brazilian Museum of Sculpture (MuBE) expansion – Projetar.org. (2014) Queensway Connection: Elevating the public realm – ENYA.
Experience:
(2014) Parsons Festival participation - New York, USA.
WE ACT for Environmental Justice – Harlem, New York, NY May/2014 to August/2014 – Urban Design Intern
Events Participation:
Competition Participations:
Honors:
(2011) Participant at International Conference on Innovative Cities - CICI in Curitiba, Brazil. (2011) Participant at Regional Assembly of Architecture and Urbanism Students - EREA in Laguna, Brazil. (2012) Participant at WS POS - render post production workshop in Curitiba, Brazil. (2012) Participant at Regional Assembly of Architecture and Urbanism Students - EREA in Bage, Brazil. (2013) Delegate at Regional Assembly of Architecture and Urbanism Students EREA in Cascavel, Brazil. (2013) Participant at Mode Lab’s Grasshopper workshop in New York, NY. (2013) Participant at Pioneer Works’ Arduino workshop in New York, NY. (2014) Participant at Facades Plus in New York, NY.
CicloIguaçu (Cyclist Association - Alto Iguaçu Region) - Curitiba, Brazil From Sep/2014 - Voluntary Graphic and Urban Designer
Software skills: Adobe Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign) Sketchup + V-ray Autocad Rhinoceros 3D + Grasshopper Lumion 3D Office Suite
RESUMÉ
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My name is Kadu Tomita, and I am a 20-year-old Architecture and Urbanism student currently based in Curitiba, Brazil. I am deeply interested in urban design and how it relates to social justice, - how the construction of a more democratic society can influence in the conception process. Lately, I have been also connected to poststructuralism architecture and public participation, and how can the designer act as a mediator rather than impose decisions. Some other areas that I have been exploring are metadesign, parametricism, graphic design and digital fabrication. At present, I am looking for an internship related to urban design and architecture during the month of January, period of time of which I will be in New York City for my academic break. Rua Atilio Borio, 933, AP 2 - Curitiba, Parana, Brazil +55 (41) 9604-6485 / +1 (646) 684-9255 (Only when in US) kadu.tomita@gmail.com
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KADU TOMITA
ozone bridges / queensway November/2013 - Parsons The New School for Design (New York/NY) Proposed to reinvent an abandoned section of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), the Queensway is an appropriation by the public realm of this unused space elevated 15 feet above the head of Ozone Park, in New York City. Seeking for creative ways to build stairs and create community hubs, the Emerging New York Architects’ Committee (ENYA), together with Friends of the Queensway and The Trust for Public Land, launched a design competition. The main challenges in this project were to understand the neighborhood and its own conditions (that differs a lot from the Chelsea’s High Line, for example) and to create a process that would be rather catalysis to the community’s own development than an imposition of gentrification.
USA
NY State
New York City
Queens
Ozone Park
Current situation of the elevated tracks.
PORTFOLIO
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1. ENGAGE Include regional actors in the process of occupying the rail tracks, creating resilience for local enterprises and small business as a counterattack on gentrification. In this example, Worksman Cycles, a bicycle manufacturer could provide bike renting for Ozone Park, as Citibike, NYC’s sharing service, is yet to come to Queens. Another proposed action was the usage of inactive rooftops for creating the entryways to the new park. 2. INFILL Instead of displacing homes in the process of creating the entrances, I was willing to infill underused lots, surface parking lots in particular. For this specific matter a climbable building was designed, having the possibility to act as an access as the same time it could shelter economic activities. There was also the concern of creating a floor for watching the queensway, that also could be used for community activities, as movie screenings, small theater plays, etc.
3. CONNECT When analyzing The High Line as a case study, I noticed that integration with public transit was basic none, making the space less accessible to the public in general. As a way to create democratic means of entry and a occupation potential, two smaller train station were merged into a transportation hub, linking three levels of the city and exploring the views of Queen’s landscape and the city’s skyline.
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KADU TOMITA
engage
infill
connect
queensway
PORTFOLIO
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The interventions were meant to be surgically placed in the neighborhood, as in Jaime Lerner’s urban acupuncture - the social structure of Ozone Park is respected and considered something that can not be deeply changed.
ENGAGE build track connection in empty space
create bike rental station engage worksman cycles
Top: As Queens currently does not have it’s own bike sharing system, the idea is that Worksman Cycles could act as a mediator in the process.
new bridge + art terrace
Bottom: Underused spaces could become the link to the elevated park - my design includes exhibition spots for local artists, generating revenue for the building’s renewal.
bike rental station
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KADU TOMITA
INFILL
infill
slice and climb
refine and connect
terrace stairs
Top: Street perspective of the infilling - the stairs are meant to be not only a way of access, but part of the street life. queensway bridge + elevator
Bottom:The terrace would have steps that could be appropriated in different ways, as in concerts, movie screenings or just for seating.
PORTFOLIO
coffee shop + stairs
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CONNECT
outlying MTA stations
new building + connected platforms
integrating transit hub
Top:The station would create a civic plaza, and would integrate the park across the street, that is currently underused. Bottom: Not only the inside of the building, but also the rooftop would be climbable - there are framings for the neighborhood’s landscape, reinforcing the community sense.
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KADU TOMITA
the robins project May/2014 - Parsons The New School for Design (New York/NY) This project took place in Warren, a municipality located in Trumbull County, Ohio, that had problems with its decaying downtown. Together with Melissa Holmes, a former Milano (The New School of Public Engagement) student and resident of Warren, we sought to engage in the city to revitalize its downtown, taking into account the public input (with workshops and activities at site) and having the Robins Theater, a place of interest that had failed in the past, as a centrality. The outcome of this studio was a design that not only took into account the physical aspects, but also had an embed time framework as a way to guarantee financial feasibility and to include new inputs during the process, a real task of metadesign. * In collaboration with Kira Sirois and Minsung Kim.
Robins project collaborators from both Parsons and Milano.
Me (right) assisting in the public workshop process.
PORTFOLIO
Outcome of the mapping activity from the workshop.
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MARKET STREET Proposed metadesign framework for the project.
The first part of the project consists of the redesign of Market Street, the main place in Downtown Warren that, despite its importance, was considered underperforming: there was way too many space for cars, combined with narrow sidewalks and virtually no space for other means of transportation; there were no visual appealing features and the appropriation of space was lacking. My proposal for the reformulation began with a scheme for the participation process to continue to take place during the construction of the space, that would happen slowly, with pilot phases and interim design strategies.Then, the final outcome of this studio was not the final proposal, but the designer’s suggestion for what Market Street - the main idea was to introduce walkability features slowly, what could be considered an educational process of the importance of human scale space and a collective construction of place meaning.
The participation mechanism could include both new technological resources and well know grassroots techniques.
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KADU TOMITA
PHASE 1
Market street is currently an underperforming street dominated by cars, and it does not hold much meaning socially.
We can start to reinforce the pedestrian space on the intersection, and introduce the idea of diagonal crossing.
Then, the scale of the block can be broken by creating pinchpoints, crossings that can reduce facilitate crossing for pedestrians.
The final strategy of phase 1 is to appropriate the residual space created by the removal of one lane, creating small conflicting programs.
PORTFOLIO
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After reviews and workshops, more certain decisions can be made on the programs, and local actors, like restaurants, can start to occupy the street.
PHASE 2
Removing another lane of parking, bicycle infrastructure could start to take place, creating a complete street in terms of transportation.
Subsequently, programs could become more substantial with the construction of parklets and wood structures.
Phase 2 finishes with the installation of bike parking next to the parklets, which would lead to more prosperous businesses.
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KADU TOMITA
PHASE 3
Following design reviews and the guarantee of financial resources, initial intervention could become embodied.
Other design elements could go into the same process, as the city conducts the process at the same time it builds financial resilience.
The outcome of the process could be a shared space, that could be closed for cars for the installation of markets and bigger programs.
Afterwards, we can start thinking about how can the landscape of Market Street be integrated with the main square, the Robins and some alleyways.
PORTFOLIO
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THE THEATER When we first got to the Robins Theater, everything was crumbling down.
When first approaching how we should intervene in Robins’ situation, I made a reflection about what had failed: the theater had lost its importance only as a program, as it was still well known in peoples mind and the idea of place still existed.Therefore, I was seeking to create a hyper-textual program, with different realities coming together and creating an interaction hub - the new setting should also create space for itinerant programming, guaranteeing social and economical renewal for this new interface.
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KADU TOMITA
REPROGRAM PROCESS
coffee shop restaurant
wood shop PORTFOLIO
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restoring brewery
co-op
restoring
cinema rooftop garden
restoring
restoring educational space
cinema labs, 3d printers events hall
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KADU TOMITA
cinema rooftop garden cinema
educational space
labs, 3d printers museum
brewery
wood shop
coffee shop
mullti-use space events hall
The final outcome is a “programmatic cloud�, that would permeate the structure as its new social constitution. All of the programs are meant to reinforce local economies and create an economical conditions for the Robins not to fail again.
restaurant co-op storage Proposal for woodshop, that would create local jobs and act as a base for the theater reconstruction.
PORTFOLIO
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PROGRAM FLEXIBILITY
PROGRAM FLEXIBILITY
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KADU TOMITA
museum expansion
Site location in Jardins neighborhood, Sao Paulo.
August/2013 - Student Competition (Sao Paulo, Brazil) The Brazilian Museum of Sculpture (MuBE) is a masterpiece created in the 1980’s by Paulo Mendes da Rocha, a pritzker-winner brutalist architect – this place evokes the importance of the public spaces inside the city, mimicking a plaza in its shape. From this fact on, this proposal was developed in order to create a dialogue with the original promenade, creating different visual experiences as the spectator moves. This metameric shape was designed in order to relate to the sculpture itself, a reinterpretation and also a contrast to Mendes da Rocha’s original ideas. *In collaboration with Helton Onose, Joao M. C. Brino and Frederico Huckembeck.
Internal rendering - the twisted brises-soleil create a dramatic light for the sculptures.
PORTFOLIO
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The existing museum (left) and the expansion (right).
Conception process: the brises-soleil were distorted for the sake of creating a dynamic visual experience.
Facades and the visual effects that depend on the point of view of the visitor.
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KADU TOMITA
other projects and exeperiences
Bakery
Yoga Burgers
Bar
Groceries
Bar
Books
PORTFOLIO
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Ballet
7 pm
8 pm
9 pm
10 pm to 6 am
closed, but still porous visual relation happening
7am
8 am
6am
wide-open and receptive inviting visual relation
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KADU TOMITA
thank you