KATHRYN LARSEN
Portfolio 2016-2020
LETTER OF MOTIVATION I have known I have wanted to be an architect for eight years, but have embarked on an unconventional path to become one. After graduating high school, I postponed enrollment in architecture school and took a gap year in Japan, to study intensive Japanese, and study buildings. This sparked a love of urban sketching, which I continue to this day. When I started architecture school at Cornell University, after coming back to the United States, I was met with the harsh reality of unaffordable education. Despite loving my classes, and soaking up every bit of knowledge about design, culture and history, I was not able to afford tuition beyond a year. As a result, I transferred to the Copenhagen School of Design and Technology (KEA) in order to finish my degree. I successfully combined both of my educational backgrounds in my dissertation research, where I focused on eelgrass as a building material. I took my research a step further, and developed a modern method for seaweed thatching. I created prefabricated seaweed thatch panels, and installed them in a weathering installation at the school, with help from KEA Campus Service and Material Design Lab. In March 2019, I received a scholarship to continue my research. Using this grant, I built The Seaweed Pavilion in November 2019, and organized my own build team to do so. My research and work has attracted international attention. In addition to being published on Dezeen, and in other design magazines, I recently attended Dutch Design Week 2019, as a part of the antenna conference, curated by Design Indaba, for best new graduates in the world. I was also invited to join Julia Lohmanns Department of Seaweed. My experience at Dutch Design Week inspired me to apply for graduate school in the Netherlands. All this has culminated in my design philosophy- that we should look to vernacular architecture and traditional materials for sustainable solutions. We need to develop circular architecture, and I believe that we should transform the old tectonics by using modern fabrication techniques. We should explore heritage, and create buildings that connect locally to cultures and communities. I believe at TU Delft I would be able to continue my research with vernacular construction methods, and further grow in my design skills. I am hungry for the opportunity to study, and to give what I have to offer to the school.
TABLE OF CONTENTS 01. KOMBU LEATHER 02. THE SEAWEED PAVILION 03. SEAWEED THATCH REIMAGINED 04. KLOSTERVEJ I RY 05. 20 DAYS, 20 SKETCHES
KOMBU LEATHER Jan 2020-Present Independent Research What if we could use kelp like a membrane to create architecture? What if we could create water-resistant kombu leather? What would that mean for fashion and furniture design? Kombu Leather is a series of personal material explorations on kelp and kelpbased bioplastics, to innovate a biodegradable membrane for use in the architecture and design industries. In January 2020 I have successfully developed a fully wateproof series of kelp leather that is flexible, and can be used in the built environment, or furniture like reupholstery or lampshades. I created a proposal for an experimental pavilion for the Tokyo Bienniale 2020 Artist in Residency Program using the material.
THE FOREST PAVILION This experimental pavilion for the Social Dive Tokyo 2020 Bienniale is 100% biobased, and would be built in collaboration with traditional carpenters, using Japanese joinery techniques. The membrane is kelp leather, which can biodegrade after the pavilion is disassembled, creating a truly circular solution. The pavilion is equipped with trash and recycle recpticles, to encourage people to sit in the shade and enjoy food or drink. If people are too busy to stop, they can simply traverse the structure.
THE SEAWEED PAVILION Aug 2019-Present Independent Research In July, I proposed a built pavilion, to test the seaweed thatch panels I developed with my grant from Boligfonden Spirekasse. This pavilion was built at KEA’s campus November 8-10 in 2019. I designed the concept, pitched it to the school, and assembled my own build team, of current and former KEA students. Monika Jakaityte helped make the BIM model, so that we could get precise quantities and develop renders. Gabriel Pantoja created the thatch frames for the panels. Monika and I thatched 15 panels. James Birkenshaw and Andrejs Mocalovs were our two on-site builders, along with Monika and I helping. In January 2020, the project was chosen for the Future Architecture 2020 Platform.
SEAWEED THATCH REIMAGINED April 2018 - October 2019 The Copenhagen School of Design and Technology (KEA) Advisor: Anke Pasold, ankp@kea.dk 7th Semester Dissertation - Individual I chose to focus my dissertation on the seaweed houses of LÌsø, as it is a subject without many resources in English, and has huge potential for the global building industry. Eelgrass is carbon neutral, rot and fire resistant and as insulative as rockwool. I researched the original method of seaweed thatching, and developed prefabricated thatch panels. To study the affects of weathering on the panels, I created an installation on the roof of the school, which will last into Autumn 2019. I was invited personally to Dutch Design Week to participate in the Antenna program based on this project, and won 25,000DKK in funding from Boligfonden Spirekass in March 2019
KLOSTERVEJ I RY Aug 2018 - Jan 2019 The Copenhagen School of Design and Technology (KEA) Advisor: Robert C. Miller, cst@kea.dk 7th Semester Bachelor Project Klostervej i Ry is a multipurpose building that is half public, half private in function. The original concept was designed by Årstiderne Arkitekter for a competition project. Using the 11-page brief, I created an updated concept, a developed design stage, technical design, and production information for the building for my thesis as an Architectural Technologist. Due to the fact that my degree focused on technical and construction skills, I was not given credit for creating an updated concept, however I found it necessary to analyze my project’s functionality and, its relation to the urban environment through drawing.
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STATIC ANALYSIS
20 DAYS 20 SKETCHES Sep 2019 - October 2019 Personal Work I have kept sketchbooks since moving to Tokyo in 2013. I began to draw observationally to improve my abilities for architecture school, and now use it as a way to document the world around me. In 2016, I began sketching in Copenhagen with my local chapter of Urban Sketchers, Urban Sketchers are devoted to on-site observational drawing (without photographic reference) and the goal is to capture your local environment. I went back to Japan recently and embarked on a study trip across Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka. I only drew and painted on site. and focused mainly on the shrines and temples I saw. In November they were published on the website BoredPanda, in an article.