KAREN SENDNER
DESIGN PORTFOLIO
CONTENTS THE NEW JERSEY MEADOWLANDS
MASTER’S THESIS | FALL 2015 - SPRING 2016
COURTYARD IN THE CHAOS
FALL 2014
LANDSCAPE INTERFACES
SPRING 2015
FOLDING FACADE
FALL 2013
COLLABORATIVE COURTYARD
SPRING 2013
ITALY STUDY ABROAD
SUMMER 2015
RESUME
THE NEW JERSEY MEADOWLANDS
THE PARADOX OF CAPITALIZING ON ‘NO PLACE’ Outwater Lane CARLSTADT, NEW JERSEY The New Jersey Meadowlands is a thirty square mile landscape between New York City and the commercial district of East Rutherford, NJ. The space is quite strange; there are many mysteries hidden between the reed grasses and scattered pieces of garbage. Often exposed to subjectivity, the Meadowlands is commonly perceived as a weird, polluted, industrial, and even other-worldly space; few know its beauty. The once pure landscape has suffered from infrastructural slices, decades of illegal dumping, and environmental abuse, resulting in fragmented land areas along the Hackensack River’s edge. This thesis explores transforming the wasteland of New Jersey by blending architecture and landscape to create an ecological research community which is located within an interconnected network of paths and public spaces. Master’s Thesis | In Progress Faculty Advisor: James Tilghman
figure ground
wetlands & transitional land
utilities
industrial
residential
transportation
recreation
The immediate site is located at Outwater Lane in Carlstadt, NJ at an abandoned restaurant and double-deck driving range. With sight lines to the Empire State Building and Freedom Tower, as well as waterfront access, and close proximity to River Barge Park and the American Dream Meadowlands, the site is at a prime location point. Bordering the site is also the Hackensack Conservation and Wildlife Reserve. Designing resiliently to address flooding and storm surge is essential, as an eight foot tidal surge completely inundates the site with water. Initial site sketches begin to show the complexity and dynamic surroundings. Mapping the adjacent parcels and identifying urban and recreational nodes will allow for connections to these sites. Reinstating a historical pedestrian bridge and creating the connection across to Secaucus will invite students, community members, and visitors into the site.
site adjacencies
site connections
American Dream Meadowlands Mall
NJ Turnpike
River Barge Park
Trolley Park
Secaucus High School Marsh and Park
COURTYARD IN THE CHAOS Peter’s Cove ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND As part of the integrated design studio, the objective of Courtyard in the Chaos is to blend landscape, structure, and sustainability to create a collaborative office environment. The arrangement of three pavilion pieces encompass a pristine courtyard landscape within the chaotic wilderness of the surrounding site. The courtyard is the main gathering space, which fosters a unique environment for office employees, visitors, and students to interact and collaborate. The building’s slanted roofs are designed to maximize the capture of sunlight through a photovoltaic array, as well as funnel rainwater into the central courtyard basin. This sustainable process is celebrated by allowing people to gather around the basin and understand water filtration and re-use throughout the building. Fall 2014 | Faculty: Peter Noonan Partner Project with Rachel Flinn 2015 AIA MD People’s Choice Award: Beginning Graduate Student Architectural Design
study sketches of pavilion hierarchy and orientation
structural bay
courtyard entry
building in context
second floor plan: structural
ground floor plan: HVAC
As a unique architectural element, trussed beams are used in the event space. The metal of the beams is reclaimed from the nearby Naval shipyard, and trees cleared on site are re-used as furniture, siding, and movable partitions. ground floor plan
N
photovoltaic array
envelope
sun study | June 21st; 12:00pm
sun study | December 21st; 12:00pm
HVAC
glulam structure
water collection
geothermal wells
CONIFEROUS TREES
DECIDUOUS TREES
Chestnut Oak
American Beech
Shingle Oak
Norway Maple
Staghorn Sumac
wood siding
restoration of railroad ties
Eastern White Pine American Holly
movable partitions
furniture
tree stump wall all trees on site
LANDSCAPE INTERFACES
CLIMATE ANALYSIS Beira Lake COLOMBO, SRI LANKA
An extensive study of the climatic conditions of Colombo, Sri Lanka help to further understand the area surrounding Beira Lake. Analysis of sun studies, rainfall, and wind identifies different micro-climates around the lake, as well as areas of possible intervention. Currently, Beira Lake lacks a cohesive identity and is a collection of fragmented pieces of abandoned industrial warehouses, slums, high-rise buildings, and residential neighborhoods. Beira Lake is located in a wet zone, and climatic analysis emphasizes the importance of designing for rainwater catchment, as it rains almost daily. Monsoon season causes excessive rainfall, and the months of June, October, and November have the highest monthly rainfall averages. Designing sustainably to protect from the rain but also collect, filter, and re-use water is essential to any design solution. Spring 2015 | Faculty: Hooman Koliji
LANDSCAPE INTERFACES
A CULTURAL LINK Beira Lake COLOMBO, SRI LANKA
The objective of Landscape Interfaces is to create a cultural performing arts venue which engages the landscape and cross-pollinates surrounding districts. Currently a twenty foot drop from street level to Beira Lake, acts as an inaccessible barrier. The Cultural Link is designed to allow continuous access from the street to the lake through both a nature walk, and the building itself. The building is constructed of different pavilions which are all connected through a covered bridge. The roof of the building is an integral part of the performing arts venue, as the unique folding surfaces capture rainwater and filter it through rain chains into the atrium space. Landscape and building interweave as wetlands are introduced into the site and pocket parks are arranged along the edge. The cultural arts venue is the missing link to converge tourists, business professionals, and local community members together as well as re-activate Beira Lake. Spring 2015 | Faculty: Hooman Koliji
process sketches of orientation and water catchment
ground floor [+0ft] - lake access theater space and food stalls
section looking north
second floor [+10ft] gallery, offices, and cafe
third floor [+20ft] - street level gallery, craft studio, outdoor terraces
roof water catchment
bridging buildings
FOLDING FACADE
SCREEN SCREEN
14th Street NW & Swann Street WASHINGTON, D.C. The objective of Folding Facade is to create a dynamic surface which engages a proposed six story apartment building in Washington D.C. The continuous folding urban facade is composed of a unique juxtaposition of wooden slats with strategic openings to allow for an interplay of light and shadow. As it folds throughout the building, the surface engages the building as a screen, canopy, floor and wall. Unfolding the facade reveals the weaving of green roofs and planted surfaces in-between the wooden slats to create a sustainable and living wall environment. Spring 2014 | Faculty: Michael Ezban
FLOOR
CANOPY CANOPY
CANOPY CANOPY WALL
WALL
90 Swann Street street entry loggia
90
90
planted roof
90
90
canopy green roof
14th Street street theater screen cafe + game tables
lobby floor
screen roof deck
90 wall threshold lobby + activity room 90
wall condition four floors of circulation
collage of lobby experience
90
90
green roof skylights
COLLABORATIVE COURTYARD The objective of Collaborative Courtyard is to create an innovative work environment by blending and exposing spaces typically hidden in a manufacturing laboratory. By overlapping office and display areas with work spaces of thinking, making, and fabricating, a unique symbiotic environment forms. The connective tissue between these spaces is a flexible, porous, and translucent material surface. Through extensive studies of tectonics, materiality, and form, the surface wraps from exterior to interior to create a central vertically connective and collaborative courtyard. The courtyard is the nucleus of the building which allows for a visual and spatial connection among all floors, creating a symbiosis of activity and growth within the laboratory. overlapping zones
Spring 2013 | Faculty: Jason Winters
regulating lines
wrapping material surface
porosity
ITALY STUDY ABROAD A collection of sketches, watercolors, and charcoal drawings from a six week study abroad architecture program in Italy. Travel to Florence, Rome, Vicenza, and Como included analysis of buildings in the city through diagrammatic studies as well as on site drawing exercises. Summer 2015 Faculty: Brian Kelly & Michael Ambrose
Street in Vicenza | Vicenza, Italy | Watercolor
Arch of Janus | Rome, Italy | Watercolor
Venetian Canal | Venice, Italy | Watercolor
Venetian Canal | Venice, Italy | Watercolor
Piazza Sant’Ignazio, Axon | Rome, Italy | Graphite
Spanish Steps Plan | Rome, Italy | Graphite
Colosseum | Rome, Italy | Charcoal
Spanish Steps | Rome, Italy | Charcoal
San Andrea Della Valle, Facade and Bay Study | Rome, Italy | Graphite
Comparative Church Studies | Rome, Italy | Graphite
Santa Maria Della Pace Axon | Rome, Italy | Graphite
Santa Maria Della Pace Perspective | Rome, Italy | Graphite
Tempietto Hybrid Sketch | Rome, Italy | Graphite
KAREN SENDNER
LEED GREEN ASSOCIATE
EDUCATION
Greater New York City Area karen.sendner@gmail.com
MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation Italy Study Abroad, Summer 2015 | Florence, Rome, Vicenza, Como
College Park, MD GPA: 3.6 Expected: May 2016
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN ARCHITECTURE, CUM LAUDE Sustainability Studies Minor University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation
EXPERIENCE
College Park, MD GPA: 3.8 May 2014
UMD SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, PLANNING, AND PRESERVATION College Park, MD Spring & Fall Graduate Teaching Assistant August 2014 - Present Courses: Design Thinking & Architecture | Sustainability at College Park | Measuring Sustainability • Lead two weekly seminars of 20 students in analysis, problem-solving and design implementation • Worked individually with students to develop research papers in preparation for class publication • Led weekly seminar to prepare class of 15 students for LEED GA exam, resulting in 100% passing rate Baltimore, MD DESIGN COLLECTIVE, INC. May 2015 - August 2015 Architectural Intern | UMD 2015 Scholarship Recipient • Detailed life safety drawings and calculated egress capacity for large mixed-use project in Baltimore • Created presentation renderings and material sheet for large mixed-use project in Silver Spring, MD • Researched office building typology and created interactive and diagrammatic manual for firm use Ocean Township, NJ MONTEFORTE ARCHITECTURAL STUDIO, LLC May 2013 - January 2014 Summer & Winter Architectural Intern • Detailed interior elevations and drafted floor/wall connections for a new fertility treatment center • Designed custom cabinetry in close coordination with client for high-end residential project • Conducted field measurements of commercial/residential buildings and prepared as-built drawings • Created storyboards for a new graphic representation and layout for the firm’s website
LEADERSHIP
ALPHA RHO CHI | Professional Architecture Fraternity College Park, MD Olynthius Chapter | Alumna Charter Member February 2013 - Present • Former Executive Board Member; Organized and conducted ceremonies for 45 fraternity members ALPHA KAPPA PSI | Professional Business Fraternity Omega Theta Chapter | Alumna Member
AFFILIATIONS AWARDS
SOFTWARE
LEED Green Associate | U.S. Green Building Council TAU SIGMA DELTA | Honor Society for Architecture and Allied Arts
College Park, MD November 2011 - Present October 2013 - Present April 2013 - Present
AIA Maryland People’s Choice: Student Architectural Design Design Collective Scholarship Grimm and Parker Endowment for Travel Abroad Michael Scott DeFrance Travel Abroad Scholarship Nominated by Faculty Member for Architecture Senior Marshal Nominated into top 12 of 50 students for AIA Maryland UMD Student Exhibit
September 2015 March 2015 April 2015 April 2015 March 2014 May 2013
AutoCAD, SketchUp, Revit, Rhino, ArcGIS, Lumion, Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator