01. URBAN CONNECTOR
SOCIAL CONDENSER CENTER IN BERKELEY
UC Berkeley, Spring 2024 / Individual Project Instructor: William Di Napoli & Aaron Forrest
02. VOIDS EXPLORED
URBAN
UC Berkeley, Fall 2023 / Individual Project Instructor: Andrew Atwood & Liz Galvez
03. STAIRCASE SEPARATION
CONCEPT
UC Berkeley, Summer 2023 / Individual Project Instructor: Ashley August 04. FLOW OF
UC Berkeley, Fall 2023 / Group Project Instructor: Andrew Atwood & Liz Galvez
Social condenser building located inbetween the UC Berkeley campus and the city. Its design draws inspiration from a range of socially progressive recreational and cultural models from the past century, including early Soviet Social Condensers, People’s Palaces, and more contemporary cases such as the SESC centers in Brazil and the YMCA in the United States. The building contains a mix of athletic facilities, offices, and arts spaces, including studios and classrooms. Beyond its functional role, it also serves as a nexus between the campus and the city, facilitating people to not only use the building but also to walk through it, fostering greater community interaction. To enhance its ability as an urban connector, the design incorporates features that visually and emotionally provoke people to traverse the building, two of which are “Invitation to Life” and “Lighted Pathway”.
URBAN CONNECTOR
SOCIAL CONDENSER CENTER IN BERKELEY
2340 & 2362 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA
Individual Project
UC Berkeley, Spring 2024
Instructor: William Di Napoli & Aaron Forrest Rhino, Lumion, Photoshop
To the north of the site lies UC Berkeley’s largest sports facility, Recreational Sports Facility (=A). On the opposite side are buildings mainly for local residents, including the Berkeley City Club, a historic hotel designed by Julia Morgan (=B) and Trinity United Methodist Church (=C), which faces the residential area to the south.
Site Plan
Exterior View from South Side (City Perspective)
Exterior View from North Side (Campus Perspective)
Invitation to Life
In the underground and mezzanine levels, the building features three highly active and open programs: a basketball gym, pickleball courts, and an open café. By incorporating a shaft that allows users to oversee the sports facilities from the connecting path, people feel more welcomed to walk through the path and use it as an urban connector. The café, which is a semi-outdoor open space, also provides views to and from the path. Additionally, the top floor has a rooftop terrace with a view of the Bay, allowing visitors to enjoy the scenery when they decide to spend time in the building.
1.
2.
Gymnasium (Pickleball)
Gymnasium (Basketball)
3. Locker Room
Connecting Pathway with a Indoor Gyms View Lobby/Reception
Cafe & Outdoor Pickleball Court
Rooftop Terrace
Program Allocation
The program is distributed through a spatial hierarchy that balances privacy with height, aiming to minimize the impact of the urban connector characteristics on other functions. The first floor is the most open and least private as it is designed to serve as a pathway for users and the general public, including students and city residents. Public programs, such as the lobby and outdoor pickleball court, are located here, along with larger staircases leading to more active areas like the basketball court, indoor pickleball courts, and café. The second and third floors house classrooms and shared studios, which are vibrant but require slightly more privacy. Each floor contains two classrooms and studios each, arranged in a consistent layout to maintain simplicity within a free-flowing form of the building itself. The fourth floor hosts the most private areas, such as private offices, open offices, and meeting rooms. To neutralize the formal atmosphere, a rooftop terrace is also located in a space separated by a crack, offering a scenic view of the Bay being a relaxing space to unwind. Overall, the building accommodates diverse programs while functioning as a public pathway through calculating the privacy levels as the floors ascend.
1.
2.
(North-South)
Gymnasium (Pickleball)
Gymnasium (Basketball)
3. Locker Room
Storage
Cafe
Bathroom
Classrooms
Lighted Pathway
The building features three cracks that divide itself into six distinct parts, allowing natural light to permeate and create an open, eco-friendly space. The largest crack is located directly above the pathway and illuminates it, while intersecting the other two at the center of the building, visually inviting people to walk through. Each part of the facade system is meticulously calculated to direct towards the center (Facade System Diagram), providing visibility from any exterior angle as shown (Facade Study). Because of this, as one approaches the building, more light is drawn towards the center, and it naturally guides users inward.
Facade System Diagram
Night Axonometric Render
Physical Model Study
South Facade from Each Angle
4” Wooden Board Louvers
Facade Detail
Facade Model
Connecting Pathway Model
Third Floor Staircase Shaft Model
VOIDS EXPLORED
URBAN WORK CENTER LOCATED IN DOWNTOWN LA
1200 South Hope St., Los Angeles, CA
Voids Explored repurposed the structure at 1200 S Hope St, a former dealership building with various commercial spaces, into a mixed-use urban work center. The building combines office spaces with open spaces such as a cafe/bar, a library, and a convenience store, with a clear sense of boundary and connection simultaneously. The site is located at the southeast corner of the intersection of S Hope St and W 12th St in downown Los Angeles, California. The architectural design of the building is inspired by Tony Smith’s sculpture “Mistake,” utilizing the sculpture as subtraction from a mass that creates two distinct voids that shape the overall form. These voids serve three primary functions: Separate, Invite, and Unite. The proposed office building aims to seamlessly integrate the three functions by leveraging the unique void spaces, offering space for work, relaxation, and fostering a welcoming atmosphere.
Individual Project
UC Berkeley, Fall 2023
Instructor: Andrew Atwood & Liz Galvez
Rhino, Lumion, Photoshop
The site is surrounded by multi-use apartment complexes most of which entail office and commercial areas, exemplifying the vibrant downtown Los Angeles space where diverse people interact day and night.
Axonometric View
1. OLiVE DTLA (Apartment Complex)
2. G12 (Apartment Complex)
3. AVEN Apartments (Apartment Building)
4. Evo (Condominium Complex)
5. Elleven (Apartment Complex)
6. 1133 Hope (Apartment Building)
7. Graffiti Towers (Multi-Use)
8. Circa LA (Apartment Complex)
9. Hope + Flower (Apartment Complex)
10. Onyx (Apartment Complex)
Separate Invite Unite
Separate
The creation of two voids that cut through the middle of the building, dividing it into two distinct masses, serves the first function, “Separation.” On the left side, when viewed from the main facade, spacious office areas are provided, while a tranquil library and reading space are offered on the right side, distinctly separated from the office areas. This arrangement ensures a clear division between the comfort zones and the work zones.
The second function, “Unite,” is accomplished through a central void that runs through the building from rear to front. Inside this void, the main staircase serves as a connecting element, linking all building components. It acts as a focal point where people can gather and disperse to different sections of the building. As users move within or in/out of the building, they naturally return to this void, effectively uniting all occupants at various points during their use of the building.
Unite
The third function, Invitation, is also facilitated by the central void. The ceiling of the void, angled similarly to the staircase, gradually increases in height upon entry, fostering an increased feeling of spaciousness as you go in. This structure enhances the welcoming environment that invites visitors into the building, while the enclosed facades maintain a sense of separation from the street. Programs, includes a ground floor café during the day and a bar at night, helps attract people to the building.
STAIRCASE SEPARATION
CONCEPT HOUSE WITH ACROBATIC DANCE STUDIO
Individual Project
UC Berkeley, Summer 2023
Instructor: Ashley August
Rhino, V-Ray
Staircase Separation proposes a multifunctional building that accommodates housing, office space, and acrobatic dance studio for a couple of skyscraper ballet dancersThis project features two staircases that spiral around the outside dance studio space, with each providing restricted access to distinct halves of the building. This intentional design creates a division between areas designated for private use and those intended for non-private, commercial purposes.
The first staircase originates from the interior of the ground floor, where the kitchen and living room are situated. This particular staircase exclusively leads to the third floor (costume craft space and a private bathroom with a shower) and further ascends to the fifth floor (bedroom). These areas are specifically designed as residential spaces, with no access from non-private spaces. The secondary staircase, originating from the exterior of the building’s ground floor, sequentially connects to the second floor (outside studio and office space), then ascends to the fourth floor (indoor lookout and seating area), and finally reaches the rooftop (outdoor lookout). Each of these spaces is intentionally designed as non-private, commercial spaces, achieving the separation from the private space through the limited access of the staircase.
The staircases located at the rear encircle the external vertical studio, functioning as a gallery space for performance demonstrations. This configuration allows for a 360-degree panoramic view of the performance from various heights, encompassing both indoor and outdoor vantage points at the pinnacle of the building.
low of Lives transformed a five-story parking structure adjacent to the college campus into a cultural center featuring gallery space and a performance stage. Our objective was to incorporate the existing structure, including floor plates and columns, to the fullest extent possible for sustainability reasons. The specific location is the Upper Hearst Parking Structure at 2701 Hearst Ave, Berkeley, directly facing the north side of the UC Berkeley campus. The structure slated for repurposing is a five-story parking facility with four entrances from three different sides, each at varying heights. The site is oriented from west to east, with the east side being the highest, resulting in a vertical disparity across the structure.
Site Plan: Shiraishi
Site Analysis: Shiraishi & Nguyen
Floor Plans: Shiraishi & Nguyen
Sections: Shiraishi
FLOW OF LIVES
CULTURAL CENTER NEXT TO A COLLEGE CAMPUS
2701 Hearst Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709
Group Project
UC Berkeley, Fall 2023
Instructor: Andrew Atwood & Liz Galvez
Group Member: Quinn Nguyen, Yetnaletsy Gonzalez Diaz Rhino, V-Ray, Illustrator
The site sits between the campus and a residential area, with the north side facing the residential area populated by older generations, while the east and south sides are primarily associated with student facilities.
The building’s main intention is to foster connectivity and enhance the movement between the city and the campus. To achieve this, we leveraged the challenging ground orientations to our advantage, incorporating seamless sloping pathways within the structure to guide people in and out of each entrance, effectively controlling the flow of movement.
06. PERSONAL INFORMATION
FOURTH YEAR, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
Bilingual, hardworking college student seeking an architecture designer position. Studying Architecture and City Planning at the University of California, Berkeley. Passionate about sustainable design, healthcare and medical architecture, and interior design.
Phone: 925-768-2479
Email: ko.shiraishi@berkeley.edu
Address: 2020 Channing Way, #4, Berkeley, CA, 94704
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/kotaro-shiraishi-0a6b4724a
Work Experience Skills and Softwares
Junior Design Intern, RMW Architecture & Interiors
June 2024 - August 2024
Project Intern, Regional Branding Institute
November 2022 - August 2023
Student Scholar, Yanai Tadashi Foundation April 2021 - Present
Peer Adviser, Berkeley Study Abroad Office August 2023 - Present
Chef Assistant, Corazon Kichen
March 2021 - August 2021
Berkeley International Orientation Leader
August 2023
Education
Bachelor of Arts (BA), University of California, Berkelely
August 2021 - Present (Third year)
Working towards an Architecture degree. Minoring in City Planning.
GPA: 3.88
High School Diploma, Kaisei Academy, Tokyo
April 2018 - March 2021
Graduated with Highest Honors
Student Exchange, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona
June 2022 - August 2023
Student Exchange, University College Utrecht
January 2023 - June 2023
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Indesign
English, Japanese
Relevant Courseworks
ARCH 100A - Fundamentals of Architectural Design
ARCH 100B - Fundamentals of Architectural Design
ARCH 160 - Introduction to Construction
ARCH 130 - Introduction to Architectural Design Theory and Criticism
ARCH 170A & B - An Historical Survey of Architecture and Urbanism
ARCH 11B - Introduction to Design
ARCH 11A - Introduction to Visual Representation and Drawing
CYPLAN 118AC - The Urban Community
ENVDES 5 - Cities and Sites
ENVDES 1 - Introduction to Environmental Design
