2016 - 2017
KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS
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HELLO I am a third year student at the University of Waterloo’s School of Architecture. The following selection of works aims to showcase the skills and interests I have developed as a designer this past year. Thank you for your consideration. t.
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647 717 9959
e.
karenwxy@gmail.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS 01
BLOCKS COOPERATIVE
6 - 19
02
PENDULOUS GARDENS
20 - 25
03
HYPOSTYLE 7
26 - 31
04
CHANGE, ADAPT, INTENSIFY
32 - 37
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HOLES - A LIBRARY
38 - 47
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ECDM ARCHITECTES
48 - 55
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Recommendation letter
Paris, the 16th Juin 2017
To whom it may concerns
Karen Wang was employed as an Intern at E Combarel D Marrec Architectes during 2017. Karen was exposed to a diversity of projects varying in concept and scale during his time at ECDM. She worked on a large scale on two residential buildings in Nantes et in Cergy Pontoise (France) and an office building in Saint Denis (France). She contributed to these projects during the Design Development phase sketching concept designs, researching materials and creating presentation models for the project’s most complex and vital features. Alternatively, Karen also gained experience working on smaller scaled projects. At ECDM, Karen continually emerged as a key team member for every project in which she participated. She works extremely well within a team as well as independently. She is a dedicated team member, consistently exhibiting a clear understanding of the project and demonstrating good judgment and reliability. She regularly employs excellent communication skills, asking important questions and offering constructive suggestions. Likewise, her presentations are articulate and compelling. Her ability to respond and perform both to unexpected challenges under a tremendous pressure has been invaluable.
Emmanuel Combarel Dominique Marrec
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CURRICULUM VITAE EDUCATION
Candidate for Bachelor of Architectural Studies, Honours Co-op
University of Waterloo - ON 2015 - Present
Relevant Courses: Visual Communication, Design Studio, Cultural History, Environmental Design, Building Construction
O.S.S.D./Arts Unionville Diploma with Specialization in Visual Arts
Unionville S.S. - Markham ON 2011 - 2015
Extracurriculars: Expression Magazine, Yearbook Committee, Peer Tutor, Best Buddies NPO
SKILLS
EXPERIENCE
DIGITAL
TRADITIONAL
• • • • • • • • • • •
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Rhinoceros 3D AutoCAD Maxwell Render Photoshop Illustrator InDesign Grasshopper V-Ray Sketchup Laser Cutting 3D Printing
Architectural Intern Created plans, elevations, sections, diagrams, and collages using Adobe Creative Suite, AutoCAD, Sketchup, and V-Ray Designed bathrooms and kitchens for mixed-use residential/commercial complex
Sales Associate at TechOnTo
Hand Drafting Modeling Sketching Photography
BILINGUAL • •
English Mandarin
ECDM - Paris, France January - April 2017
June - August 2016
Organized inventory and managed financials, reported income to supervisor each day Provided customer support, resolved complaints
Studio Instructor Helped run art therapy courses for children with ADHD and ADD
AWARDS
International Experience Award Scholarship for work experience abroad
Excellent Academic Standing Academic achievement above 80%
President’s Scholarship Achieved entrance average between 90 - 94.9%
Honour Roll Academic average over 80% throughout high school
Varley Art Gallery June 2012 - April 2014
University of Waterloo 2017 University of Waterloo September 2015 - April 2017 University of Waterloo 2015 Unionville S.S. 2011 - 2015
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BLOCKS COOPERATIVE BLOCKS COOPERATIVE is an attempt to create a new housing typology for multi-generational living in an urban ennvironment, with a focus on exploring the relationship between nature and the domestic home through modularity and a redefinition of “the terrace”. Multi-generational housing is not a common sight in Toronto even though many of its populants dwell in family groups with three generations or more. The paradigm of the traditional American nuclear family is becoming less prevalent as the neighbourhood around Bloor Street W has become heavily populated by immigrant families who bring their own traditions of domestic living. Many come from cultures that customarily have extended family members living together in symbiotic relationships of give and take. Even though this particular style of living is becoming more widespread, the architecture has not evolved to accommodate it. BLOCKS Cooperative is an attempt at change, to accomodate the new traditions taking root in Toronto. Modern housing complexes often disregard an element of space fundamental to human nature, that of the terrace. The terrace is the only space in the home that acts as an intermediary between nature and hearth. It could be in the form of a public park, a courtyard, or a balcony. Nonetheless, the terrace connects us to the natural world through architecture. Jean Renaudie, a French architect, articulated it as such: “It is marvellous when it rains to stand inside your house and watch the rain fall on your terrace… It is one of those things which are not essential yet really matter in everyday life.”
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2A DESIGN STUDIO The Grand Domestic Revolution
SUPERVISOR Adrian Blackwell
LOCATION Toronto, ON
DATE December 2016
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KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS 2016 - 2017
FIRST FLOOR PLAN (+1)
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STREET VIEW AXONOMETRIC
Spatially speaking, these outdoor spaces naturally go against the international architecture style; that of the pure rectangular plan. To have a nice terrace, you need overhangs and light wells. Renaudie’s project, the Jeanne Hachette Complex, shows one way to deal with it. His project of irregular triangular rooms was essentially a manifesto against standardized housing. However, Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation, the classic paragon of modernist residential housing, brings up very good points of the advantages of modularity. It is faster, cheaper, and easier to build. It’s about ruthless efficiency and maximizing spaces. When we submit to this ideal however, we lose the magic of the terrace that Renaudie talks about: those nooks and crannies of space that aren’t essential, but that mean something. BLOCKS COOPERATIVE combines modularity with irregular aggregation to form a hybrid of the advantages of both.
ETFE NET
NET FRAME
CIRCULATION
STRUCTURE
3 2
1
6 5 BLOCKS CLUSTER CIRCULATION DIAGRAM
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KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS 2016 - 2017
TYPOLOGY 1
TYPOLOGY 2 10
BLOCKS COOPERATIVE
TYPOLOGY 3 LEGEND RESIDENTIAL KITCHEN/DINING
TYPOLOGY 4
PRIVATE TERRACE CIRCULATION
TYPOLOGY 6
TYPOLOGY 5
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KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS 2016 - 2017
SECOND FLOOR PLAN (+2)
OSSINGTON STREET FACADE
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BLOCKS COOPERATIVE
THIRD FLOOR PLAN (+3)
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KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS 2016 - 2017
FOURTH FLOOR PLAN (+4)
FIFTH FLOOR PLAN (+5)
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BLOCKS COOPERATIVE
All the units are modular and made up of two boxes crossed together. These “Blocks� stack to create parks, courtyards, and private balconies at different levels of the building. These three types of terraces make up the hierarchy of green spaces that are the heart of the building. All circulation goes through these terrace spaces and most of the stairs are exterior. The blocks are offset to maximize light in the six story building. Four blocks share a large courtyard with one kitchen and dining room at the center. Each block also has its own private terrace space of varying sizes. A large net of ETFE, a plastic polymer, hangs over the entire complex to make the outdoor spaces comfortable year round.
UNIT STRUCTURE
UNIT PLANS
ETFE CLOSED
ETFE OPEN 15
KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS 2016 - 2017
OSSINGTON
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SHAW ST.
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KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS 2016 - 2017
PRIVATE TERRACE PERSPECTIVE
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BLOCKS COOPERATIVE
TYPOLOGY 5 MODEL
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PENDULOUS GARDENS In the dense urban hub that is Toronto’s financial district, there exists a distinct lack of spaces dedicated to residents and the general public because of the overwhelming dominance of privately owned corporate buildings. Pendulous Gardens attempts to change that by playing with the spaces in-between. By suspending pods and meshes from four of the six TD bank towers, public facilities like children’s playgrounds and green spaces can be created without taking up expensive land space. Working professionals and residents alike would benefit from this urban retreat and hangs high above the city. Pod modules can be removed or added to respond to the needs of the city.
STEEL PLATE ROOF EXPOSED STEEL BEAMS GLASS FACADE
STEEL CABLES WELDED PIPE STRUCTURE
WOOD FLOOR
STRUCTURAL FLOOR BEAMS STEEL FLOOR PLATE
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BUILDING CONSTRUCTION SSEF Design Competition
SUPERVISOR Terri Boake
LOCATION Financial District, Toronto
COLLABORATOR Jasmine Zhang
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KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS 2016 - 2017
SITE PLAN
The PATH system is an underground pedestrian passage that commuters and residents alike use to travel through the downtown area (shown on map). Pendulous Gardens is an extension of the PATH above ground and acts as a green urban retreat serving all the people of the area and those passing through the PATH. All surrounding commercial buildings are coloured in light grey to show the sheer amount of working professionals present during working hours. Highlighted in dark grey are residential buildings as well as the kindergarten. The Toronto Dominion Towers, from which the mesh is suspended, are in black. The project proposal will renew Toronto’s financial district, accommodate different lifestyles, and bring life to negative spaces.
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KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS 2016 - 2017
CAFE CN TOWER OUTLOOK
HANGING GARDENS SUSPENSION PLAYGROUND
PODS IN ELEVATION
TD TOWER COLUMN
BOLTED PIN CONNECTION
SUPPORTING TRUSS
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PENDULOUS GARDENS
WELDED PIN CONNECTION WELDED HOLLOW STRUCTURAL SECTIONS
CIRCULAR C-BEAM
BOLTED PIN CONNECTION
NET CLIP
WIRE ROPE NET
CLEVICE
STEEL CABLE
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HYPOSTYLE 7 This design is a geometric intervention in the landscape of the BC Matthews Hall Green located on the University of Waterloo campus. Currently, it is simply an open field with long, thin paved roads where students cross everyday to get to their classes and access different facilities. That is approximately 6300 meters square of severely under-utilized green space. Because of its lack of shading, seating, and shelter, it is not a comfortable place to be. The Hypostyle 7 will provide an interesting architectural space that students will like being in and revitalize the BC Matthews Hall Green. The two major precedents used for this project are the works of Richard Serra and the Hypostyle Hall of Ancient Egypt. Hypostyle 7 combines these two forms to create a labyrinth of different sized columns and a variety of spaces. The column is perforated with diamond shapes to allow ventilation and create an interesting lighting condition in the space. These columns are arranged by size, getting larger as you get closer to the center. The larger spaces can be used for large gatherings and games while the smaller ones can provide privacy for more solitary activities like reading. The connections between the disparate spaces gives an experience not unlike that of a labyrinth. The columns were made in Rhino 3D with the command Loft. There are six different columns which were then copied and pasted in an appropriate formation. The diamond perforations that decrease in size towards the ground were made with Grasshopper through uv mapping and the use of two mirrored cone shapes for each hole. This perforated surface was then unrolled in Rhino and nested in the laser-cutting template. The CNC machine cut and scored the chosen material (mylar) into several pieces which were then folded and glued in place.
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DIGITAL FABRICATION Outdoor Pavillion
SUPERVISOR Jake Reid
LOCATION University of Waterloo, ON
DATE October 2016
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KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS 2016 - 2017
CIRCULATION PLAN
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HYPOSTYLE 7
There are six different column sizes ranging from A to F. Each column is unrolled and score lines are set a different layer from the cut lines. These sheets are laser cut and then folded and glued together along one edge. Folding seemed to be the easiest way to fabricate. Mylar was the chosen material because wood and plexiglass proved to be too brittle to fold. Mylar was strong enough to stand on its own and its translucency lent itself well to filtering light and shadow.
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KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS 2016 - 2017
LASER-CUT SHEET
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A
B
C
2m
1.5 m
1.33 m
m
HYPOSTYLE 7
FOLD ALONG SCORE LINES
GLUE ALONG EDGE
D
E
F
1.1 m
0.95 m
0.76 m
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CHANGE, ADAPT, INTENSIFY Ontario Place has seen a decrease in visitors in recent years, to a point that it had to be shut down to the public. To reinvigorate the space, we propose to use the site as a catalyst in restablishing the people’s connection to the water and the harbourfront. This means cleaner water conditions and blurring the edges between land and lake. To accomplish these goals, we propose to transform the previous landform of hard shorelines into an archipelago of smaller islands, using the architecture of the pods as a precedent for the landscape. To do this, landfill will be dug up from the existing island and piled on existing berms to exaggerate the elevation of the hills, creating soft shorelines with smaller slopes that amplify the effects of water level changes on the shoreline. This system of islands become a giant filtration landscape to clean the lakewater of the harbourfront. There are three systems for filtration: storm water cells, lake water wetlands, and filtration islands. These systems are combined with the circulation, allowing visitors to interact with them as they pass through a series of elevated, floating, and sunken passageways. Programs include ecology and water education facilities, event spaces, and recreational space. that functions in both seasons. The existing site is effectively intensified, both in its landform and ecology, but most importantly in terms of experiencing the water. Filtered water flowing through the site allows people to fully immerse themselves in the water, redefining Ontario Place as a living system that mediates new experiences between the people and the lake.
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DESIGN STUDIO Un-De-Re-Planning Ontario Place
SUPERVISOR Lola Sheppard
LOCATION Ontario Place, Toronto
COLLABORATOR Jerry Kim
WATER FILTRATION
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KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS 2016 - 2017
EDUCATION / VI
RAIN WATER CISTERN / WATER QUALITY MONITORING
LAKE ONTARIO WATER FLOW
SITE AXONOMETRIC
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CHANGE, ADAPT, INTENSIFY
ISITOR CENTRE
CHANGEROOMS / SHOWERS
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KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS 2016 - 2017
INITIAL STATE
SECTION A-A’
SECTION B-B’
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EXCAVATION OF EXISTING SHORELINES
CHANGE, ADAPT, INTENSIFY
INCREASING BERMS AND ISLANDS
CONNECTING ISLANDS TOGETHER
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HOLES - A LIBRARY The downtown core is a bustling, colourful place but one that often fails to consider its youth. The teen section of every library is more often than not but a few shelves pushed to some corner. One of the most disregarded subgroups of youth are the skateboarders. Although their numbers have been steadily rising, there is still a willful disregard from the public and thus a lack of quality facilities to accommodate their growing numbers. The first floor of HOLES is an undulating landscape of varying concrete hills and holes that serve as an indoor children’s playground and an outdoor skatepark. On the upper floors, these hills translate into rooms of fixed program while the holes translate into voids for vertical circulation, light, and air circulation. Everything else becomes open, unprogrammed space for informal social, intellectual, and creative exchange between youth.
HOLES
HILLS
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DESIGN STUDIO Parkdale Library
SUPERVISOR Lola Sheppard
LOCATION Parkdale, Toronto
DATE April 2016
INTERIOR PLAYGROUND RENDER
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KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS 2016 - 2017
GRAFFITI SURROUNDING LIBRARY
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HOLES - A LIBRARY
EXTERIOR SKATEPARK RENDER
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KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS 2016 - 2017
WEST ELEVATION
NORTH ELEVATION
NEARBY GRAFFITI
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HOLES - A LIBRARY
QUEEN ST. W COWAN AVE. MILKY WAY GROUND FLOOR
SECOND FLOOR
THIRD FLOOR
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KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS 2016 - 2017
INTERIOR RENDER OF SECOND FLOOR
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HOLES - A LIBRARY
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KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS 2016 - 2017
TRANSVERSE SECTION
LONGITUDINAL SECTION
CHILDREN’S BOOKS + THEATRE AREA
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HOLES - A LIBRARY
BANK
SEATING
1/4 PIPE
MOUND MU
LTI -F
UN
REA
SEATING
BALL PIT
CAVES
DIN
CT
IO
NA
L
GS STA PAC CK E S
SLIDE + TUBE
BOWL
EXPLODED AXONOMETRIC
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ECDM ARCHITECTES During the 4-month internship at ECDM, I was mainly engaged in two projects: the Logements Prairie au Duc in Nantes, France and the product design of an air purifier. The Prairie au Duc project was a mixed-use residential complex. I got involved in the end stages. My main responbilities were creating renders/collages for publication and proposing interior designs for the lobbies, corridors, bathrooms, etc. I mainly used sketchup, v-ray, photoshop, and AutoCAD. For the air purifier project, I was placed on the design team from its conception. I made many iterations using Rhino3D and assisted in making the final proposal presented to the clients. For the proposal, I made several collages using eminent cinematic scenes to show the air purifier in a variety of possible settings.
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KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS 2016 - 2017
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LOGEMENTS PRAIRIE AU DUC
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KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS 2016 - 2017
MAIN FACADE COLLAGE - SPRING
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MONTSOURIS PARK
MAIN FACADE COLLAGE - WINTER
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KAREN X. WANG SELECTED WORKS 2016 - 2017
FINAL DESIGN - FRONT AND SIDE RENDERS
ITERATIVE MODELS
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AIR PURIFIER DESIGN
AMELIE (2001)
RESERVOIR DOGS (1992)
2001: A SPACE ODYSEESY (1968)
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KAREN X. WANG karenwxy@gmail.com +1 647 717 9959