KRISTIAN ABRAHAMSEN A R C H I T E C T U R E
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U R B A N
D E S I G N
CV
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EDUCATION
2011 RIBA Dip Arch (Hons) University of Huddersfield
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EMPLOYMENT
AECOM | Manchester Aug 2012 - Present
Pass with Commendation;
Architectural Assistant
(Design Thesis 74%, Dissertation 67%)
Working as part of the Planning, Design & Development (PDD) team, I have worked on a broad spectrum of projects, covering the fields of both architecture and masterplanning. The experience I have gained over this period has been invaluable, involving a wide range of duties including production of design & access statements, detailed area schedules, development feasibility studies, conceptual design work, cad draught work and threedimensional modelling and rendering. In addition to these key aspects of work, I have played an integral role in numerous consultation meetings with both clients and professionals.
2008 RIBA Architecture BA (Hons) University of Huddersfield 2:1 2008 Level 2 City & Guilds AutoCAD Huddersfield Technical College Distinction 2005 Diploma in Foundation Art & Design Wigan & Leigh College Pass 2004 A-Levels Winstanley College Art & Design B Graphic Design B Geography D 2002 GCSEs Mornington High School English Language B English Literature A Mathematics B Science (Double award) A Science (Double award) A Geography A Graphics A French D
Key Projects: • University of Wolverhampton Business School (Stage B - Stage C), Wolverhampton • Alliance Boots Enterprise Zone Masterplan, Nottingham • St. Peter’s Waterside L.D.O. Masterplan for the Northampton Waterside Enterprise Zone, Northampton • South Macclesfield Development Area Masterplan, Macclesfield • Former British Sugar / Manor School Site Masterplan, York
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CV
EMPLOYMENT CONTINUED Ardale International | Manchester
Broadway Malyan | Manchester
May - August 2012
August 2008 - January 2009
Graphic Designer & Sales Representative
Architectural Assistant
As well as carrying out all subsequent graphic work for the company, including work on a new catalogue and packaging for products, I had the responsibility of winning over new customers, promoting deals and encouraging existing customers to increase their orders. The job greatly developed my skills in communication with clientel as well as building new relationships for the company.
I was involved in mainly the education sector and experienced work in the majority of the design stages, including work on conceptual design, interior design, landscape design, masterplanning, detail design and work for competition submission. I also had the oppurtunity to consult with clients, engineers and suppliers over the phone and through faceto-face meetings.
RJG Architecture | St Helens March - May 2012
Peter Darlington Architects | Wigan
Building Regulation Drawings and 3D Visual Work
June - August 2007
In accordance with the layout design of a proposed wine bar in St Helens, I was required to take the scheme further by suggesting a more detailed design for the interior, build this up in Sketchup and produce a series of renders to demonstrate the scheme to the client. The company was extremely pleased with the work, offering me the opportunity to undertake a series of building regulation drawings as a result.
A small architects’ practice recognised by the RIBA with a staff of five carrying out mainly oneoff luxury residential projects. I contributed to internal design schemes, graphic work for client presentation as well as carrying out general amendments to floor plans and elevations on AutoCAD. I also participated in a number of site visits which included survey-work on existing properties.
The Co-Operative | Manchester September 2011 - February 2012 CAD Technician As part of a small team, I played an integral role in the complete reorganisation for the layout of every Co-Op store in the country. The role involved the technical draughting of store layouts in accordance with store-planners’ wishes. The job also required me to develop a sound working relationship with a number of these regional store-planners in regular one-to-one consultation meetings.
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Undergraduate Architectural Assistant
Rev i t Aut oCAD( Di s t i nct i onLev el 2Ci t y&Gui l ds ) Sk et chup 3DSt udi oMax Vr ay SUPodi um AdobePhot os hop AdobeI l l us t r at or AdobeI nDes i gn MCol our Las er cut t i ngf aci l i t i es Wi ndows Appl eOS Mi cr os of t Of f i ce Appl ei Wor k
Entrance The concept plays on the idea of the communist ideology being one of an incomplete, perfectly regimented and uncomprimising experiment, imposed upon the humble nature of the gently sloping grass-covered land. The monolithic archive vaults look down upon all who pass, fixed within a rigid system determined from above.
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MAUER ARCHIV BERLIN, GERMANY
Design Thesis for Diploma Year 2 Mauer Archiv is a museum and archive facility which aims to manifest the narrative of Berlin’s Cold War era - a period in history which, although highly significant, is seldom memorialised. Alongside a chronological narrative which briefly explores the general key aspects of life in East Berlin throughout the city’s division, there is also a more focused exhibition route which delves into the many examples of attempted escape and the various methods that were used. This latter feature pays homage to the site’s sheer significance as a place of escape to the West. The museum stands as a more passive function, informing the general public of what went on, whereas the archive serves as a more indepth source of information into the aspects of surveillance carried out under the East German Stasi - one of the most important push factors in the occurrence of attempted escape. The archive caters for a small repository of documents from the Stasi HQ building, also located in Berlin where a countless number of files were kept in the process of espionage carried out on the country’s own citizens. In their current location they are strictly limited to the access of only the individuals to whom they refer, in some cases to close relatives. Strictly through consent of such individuals, these deposited documents would be given public access in the interests of further developing people’s awareness of the intimate realities regarding mass systematic serveilance - a defining aspect of East German life, profound yet increasingly relevant to the present day.
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Approaching view of the ‘Memorial Pit’ An area dedicated to the victims of attempted escape. This space breaks open after the perceived privacy of the escape exhibition tunnel making one feel exposed, caught in the act by the watchful eye of the state (the archive vaults) and looked down on by the masses who choose to follow the more conventional route above.
Mauer Archiv
View of the temporary exhibition space An area dedicated to the many stories of various escape attempts, focusing on particular examples and changing on a regular basis.
Southwest - Northeast Section
Physical model
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Mauer Archiv
Early birdseye concept sketch 10
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TRAIN STATION MIRFIELD, UK
Introductory project to Diploma Year 1 The British commuter train station - an often painfully dull, run-of-the-mill aspect of the urban environment, perhaps too often a depressing manifestation of the rail industry’s central priority of cost-efficiency over quality of passenger experience. What if the architecture of a humble commuter station could be focused towards the opportunity of creating a new statement, a worthy entrance to a new destination, realising its potential as the only point of contact one may have with a particular place? As a first point of contact with a particular destination, could a station even have the power to reverse a perceived trajectory of decline within the community it serves? This commuter station designed for the small post-industrial town of Mirfield, West Yorkshire, serves as a progressive statement for potential reinvention; its playful expression of rain-water harvesting forming a key aspect in the concept of its design, while its stripped back light-weight techtonic architectural language celebrates the significance of the region’s strong industrial heritage. The modular construction of the station allows for easy future expansion.
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Early concept development sketches
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Mirfield Train Station
Initial development maquettes exploring the concept of a ‘rain-catcher’ membrane
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Construction detail sketches of column pin-joint and rain-water harvesting filter grids
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Mirfield Train Station
Lengthways elevation
Lengthways section
Roof plan of platform canopy
Roof plan of station accommodation 16
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