dipl.arh.LarisaPORTFOLIOElenaSimion
Integrated BArch& MArch Architecture programme “Ion Mincu” University of Architec ture and Urban Planning Bucharest, ArchitectureRomaniastudent(expected)20222016
Architecture student MSc Architecture (Erasmus grant) Universität Stuttgart Stuttgart, Germany 20212020
Education
Adobe UnrealMicrosoftRhinocerosGraphisoftInDesignArchiCAD3DLumion365AdobeLightroomAdobePhotoshopCCAutodeskAutoCADAutodesk3dsMaxAutodeskRevitNemetschekAllplanGoogleSketchUpNemetschekVectorworksEngine-TwinmotionGrasshopper3DQGIS Languages
Experience
Contact Alex Wedding Strasse 3, 10178 Berlin, (former+004+49(0)15228183740larisa@simion.roGermany0762757285IamLarisaElenaSimionBuc
Pastia” Theater Focsani, Romania 20142012 Intern Architect AD Architektur Design Gmbh Zürich, Switzerland 07-10.2020
About me
ă), a recent graduate of a 6 year Architecture Diploma programme, with my Master thesis project addressing gentrification and the need for social housing in IBerlin.cherish art in all of its forms, always trying to understand as much as possible from any experience. By travel ling to 32 countries and over 150 cities, I have developed a better understanding of the built environment, learning to ap preciate it in all of its glory, assessing and comprehending as many cultures, historic points and styles as possible.
Baccalaureate
Architectural Tour Guide Airbnb Bucharest,ExperiencesRomania 08-10.2019 Museum Attendant The Bucuresti,InstituteRomania 10.2017 “MaiorActressGheorghe
EnglishGermanItalianFrenchRomanian NadiaArchitectKayat Architects Berlin, Germany 08-11.2021
Software
Diploma
Colegiul National “Unirea” Focsani, Romania20162012
Rethinking hotels
Reinventing spaces
Hotel for athletes
Making spaces
Individual Housing One-family home Dragos Voda 18, Bucharest, Romania Pag. 32-33
Educational centre School for the Dramatic Arts Bd. Ferdinand I 60, Bucharest, Romania Pag. 34-36 Contests. Workshops. Drawings. Specialty projects. Reinterpretations. Featured works Pag. 37-39
Adaptive and Kinetic Pavilion for an Aerospace and Robotics Exhibition ILEK, Universität Stuttgart inCUBAdora de Regla Small Business Incubator. Adaptive reuse of an post-industrial area. Caribbean Winter School | Team 3 Pag. 21-23 Pag. 24-26
Table of contents
Social housing and related functions in the Berlin Block Diploma/Master thesis project Krausenstraße 14-17 x Charlottenstraße 72-76, Schützenstraße 67, Berlin
Visiting center Wild beach, Tuzla, Romania Pag. 30-31
I Spaces
LightPRO Shell Research demonstrator - Design and Build a Pavilion BioMat / ITKE | Profiles Team | Universität Stuttgart
Carrer de la Séquia de la Cadena 4, Valencia, Spain Pag. 27-29
Community Hub Calea Mosilor 81, Bucharest, Romania Pag. 14-18 Pag. 19-20 Pag. 4-13
in the Berlin
Krausenstraße 14-17 x Charlottenstraße 72-76, Schützenstraße 67 | Stadtmitte, Berlin Asst. Dr. Arch. Adrian Moleavin, 6th Year
Theshared.main architectural concept was building spaces that promote social cohesion and offer a higher level of comfort, while also retaining a certain level of intimacy and compling with the legal regulations for social hous ing specific to Berlin. Thus, I have divided the building into half-floor sections, so that the windows and meters of private balconies, loggias and terraces won’t intersect visually.
Social housing functions Block thesis project
The intervention aims to create a type of collective social housing that responds to the variety of needs of new households types. Two typolo gies of flats are proposed, individual flats, which follow the traditional way of living, and shared flatsWG (Wohnengemeinschaft - “living together”), where daytime spaces are
and related
Diploma/Master
A mix of functions was also integrated into the project, offering the ground floor, the underground and the upper level for public functions of a cultural or recreational nature. The courtyard has an integrating role in the project, organizing all the built volume around it. In the central area of the complex there is an in-ground multi functional hall and a large space for residents’ meetings. A series of such smaller common spaces can also be found on the intermediate floors of the complex. The top level provides access to the terrace area where resi dents can practice urban gardening. The proposed project renews the built front that was destroyed during the Second World War by reinterpreting the typology of the Berlin Block. The central location within the city aims to socially integrate vulnerable groups and to find an alternative to the phenomenon of gentrification. This provides the framework for the formation of social cohesion specific to a new community.
Phase Fundamentals1Study Phase Prediploma2 Phase Diploma3
<
Ground floor Floor planLevel 1 and 1.5 Floor planLevel 5 and 5.5 Floor planLevel 6 and 6.5 Floor planLevel 7 Floor planLevel 8 Underground planLevel Underground-2 plan - Level -1 Floor planLevel 2 and 2.5 Floor planLevel 3 and 3.5 Floor planLevel 4 and 4.5
South Facade AA’ Section BB’ Section CC’ Section West Facade North Facade
Tipologii de apartamente | Types of apartmentsParte din proiectul tehnic | Part of the technical project
Reinventing spaces
Visuals
This project revitalizes an area located on the „periphery of the centre” of Bucharest by creating a space where several groups of neighbours can become a community. In the analyzed area, the most common type of buildings have two floors and mostly a residential function, howev er, there is no green area or urban space where the whole community can meet. It includes a set of services, each floor is divided into three major functional areas. On the ground floor, the lobby and the children’s area are divided by the vertical circulation package. In the south, there is a makerspace with an exhibition area visible from the street. The office area is on the Eastside, and its function also corresponds vertically on the upper level. Upstairs there is the library with its reading space, and the south part is reserved for the coffee shop and its two corresponding terraces. Initially, I wanted to design three volumes connected by light courtyards and skylights, but finally, I opted for a fluid shape made out of curves that touch the blind walls at certain key points, thus forming the courtyards that acquire the functions of the adjacent spaces.
Community Hub
Calea Mosilor 81, Bucharest, Romania LECT. PHD. Arch. Haytham Zeki Studio, 4th Year
Underground level Ground level First level
Concept
The project responds to the needs of the community, trying through its integrat ed functions and its volume to spacesaligningthescheme,gardenItforwelcomingdevelopspacesallofthelocals.prioritizestheinthespatialgivingitcentralposition,alltheotheraroundit.
Sections & Elevations
VisualsEvolution Exploded isometric view Construction details
The project focused on designing and constructing a lightweight shell structure in the form of a 1:1 research pavilion, using pultruded natural fibre profiles, a newly developed product, created by the BioMat research team, in collaboration with academic and industrial Mypartners.group was in charge of profiles: we created a label ling system, did chemical and physical tests, designed and used a bending tool for more quantifiable results and organised deliveries and profile transportations. Test ing, prefabrication and initial studies were done at IntCDC Workshop in Waiblingen. In the second part of the project, all students and tutors participated in the building phase and realisation of the overall structure in the univer sity’s campus in Mitte. This project provided us with the much-needed practical knowledge of all the stages involved in creating an architectural object.
LightPRO Shell Research demonstrator - Design and Build a Shell Construction from Natural Fibres BioMat / ITKE | Profiles Team - BSc. Larisa Simion, BSc. Maysa Shaher | Universität Stuttgart Jun.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. M.Eng. Arch. Hanaa Dahy, Dipl.-Ing. M.Arch. Evgenia Spyridonos, Dr. Ing. arch. Jan Petrš, M.Arch Piotr Baszynski | 5th Year (Erasmus)
On-site work Profile Labeling Bending test instrumentAlternative bending tests Coating OSB plates and assembling the foundation Gluing the connection parts onto the profiles Assembling the outerring Tying preliminary interior connections Tying the connections from the inner grid Tying the membrane to the outer ringIntroducing the outer ring profiles into the foundations Bending test results Two profiles 12,58 + 12,6 Smallest - 7,9 Longest 12,59 New smallest 9,75 Average - 10,73 Average 12,08 Bending test designMetalPipe for profileprinted10mmforPlasticTimberattachmentBasepiecestabilitythick3DWheelsBoltsandNuts
x The primary aim of this design studio was to create an adaptive and kinetic Pavilion that follows the guiding principles of modularity, flexibility, de ployability, adaptivity, interactivity, and transportability. In its contracted form, it should cover a minimum of 60 m², extending up to 120 m². In my proposal, I integrated all of these requirements through a linear structure that folds into itself designed parametrically through Grasshopper. It creates three main different spatial configurations, each of them respond ing to a specific exhibition layout. The pavilion can be electrically indepen dent and can adapt to a variety of urban and natural sites. 100% - Visuals 50% - Visuals 0% - Visuals I Spaces Adaptive and Kinetic Pavilion for an Aerospace and Robotics Exhibition ILEK, Universität Jun.-Prof.Dr.-Ing.StuttgartMariaMatheou | Dr.-Ing. Walter Haase, 5th Year (Erasmus) 0% - Section50% - Section100% - Section
100% - Section 0% - Section 50% - Section 100% - Top view100% - Physical model 50% - Physical model 0% - Physical model 50% - Top view 0% - Top view 100% - Ground level 50% - Ground level 0% - Ground level
x After researching various actuation methods, I opted for a simple mech anism composed of automatically ac tuated panels with aluminium frames and metal hinges. There are two types of panels used. The large majority of them are made of glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate (PETG) a synthetic material made from recycled plastic or from sugar canes. The sec ond type is polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (PDLC) plates, which have the ability to switch between a transparent and a translucent state through an electrical connection. The wires are hidden in the aluminium frames, along with the ones needed for the wheels with integrated motors (similar to those used for hoverboards). Panel mechanism CableDistributionnetwork Width of the boxes Automation system 1 - Transformer 2 - Power Supply Board 3 - AC adapter 4 - ON/OFF Switch and Rotary encoder (Forward - 05Backward)-Battery Power Supply 6 - Electrical wiring 7 - Electrical motor 54321 77 321 4 5 132 2431 6 1 - circularAluminiumhinge 2 - Metal rod 3 - Aluminium frame 4 - PETG plate 5 - Rubber membrane 6 - Welding between frame and hinge 7 - Electrical wiring 8 - Welding between rod and wheel support 9 - Wheel support 10 - In-wheel motor 6321 31098574
inCUBAdora de Regla Small Business Incubator. Restauration and adaptive reuse of an post-industrial area.
Caribbean Winter School | Team 3: B.Sc. Anna Isabell Sommers, B.Sc. Julia Freiburg, B.Sc. Larisa Elena Simion, B.Sc. Monika Prokopiuk MSA Münster, Universität Stuttgart, ETSAB Barcelona, UIC Barcelona, MSA Manchester, Technion Haifa, T.U.Munich, T.U.Cracow, CUJAE Havana | 5th Year (Erasmus)
“The Caribbean Winter School is a 3 week intensive international annual work shop founded in 2010. It focuses on developing inno vative concepts for urban de sign strategies for Havana in the context of future changes. The workshop concentrates on different areas of Havana every year. The Teams in the Caribbean Winter School 2021 are expected to devel op architectural and urban strategies for Regla, once an important part of Havana that is now disconnected and dominated by industrial use.” (CWS Brief)
1 2 4 4 5 5 6 6 3 consof plasteringbrick Add new interior fittings ceiling,wood staircase, walls Add new movable and foldable doors + windows out of Incidencewoodoflight + natural Removeventilationtheold destroyed roof + cover the building with a new Incidenceoneoflight + natural ventilation the old andadditionsconsbrick+new 1 1 2 2 4 4 5 5 6 6 3 3 Use existing steel cons Usetructionexisting walls out of brick brick remove the plastering Add new interior fittings ceiling,wood staircase, walls Add new movable and foldable doors + windows out of Incidencewoodoflight + natural Removeventilationtheold destroyed roof + cover the building with a new Incidenceoneoflight + natural ventilation Connection between the old cons truction and the new additions Used materials like steel and brick + new constructions out of wood 1 2 4 4 5 6 6 3 Add new interior fittings ceiling,wood staircase, walls Add new movable and foldable doors + windows out of Incidencewoodoflight + natural Removeventilationtheold destroyed roof + cover the building with a new Incidenceoneoflight + natural ventilation Visuals Masterplan concept
Building concept Section & Elevations
Ground level First level Second level Regla is an industri al neighbourhood of Havana that has many ample deserted industrial areas. We have chosen such a site which was formerly a bus depot and is now no longer in use. We have created a masterplan of the area which in troduces large green urban islands with a multitude of func tions, each of them designed in close relation to the buildings in its vicinity.
Masterplan DetailsAxiality Actual context - “Before” Masterplan proposal - “After”Shadow Functionality
We decided to revitalise the old bus station through a process of restoration and adaptive reuse, while also designing a new building and small shading structures scattered in the area. Our main idea is to create a multifunctional start-up incubator where individuals are offered better technical conditions to harness their already existing great potential. The project brings locals and tourists together, in an otherwise not so touristic region of Havana, through its educational and cultural character.
The assignment was de signing a hotel on a site chosen by the student after an ample urbanistic study. Due to the mul tiple sports centres and sports recovery centres in the area, I decided to build a hotel for athletes to meet their track.shoptwolargeofsupplementsarea.andtheofexceptoccupiescommodationandshop,thepletelygroundthetheareIningboulevard,theestingIaccommodationtemporaryneeds.aimedtodesigninterperspectivesfromparkareaandthethusobtain-twomainvolumes.thebasement,theretechnicalspaces,parkingareaandhotel’skitchen.Theflooriscompublic,locatingdiningarea,coffeefitnessroom,spalibrary.Theacfunctionthefirstfloor,fortheextremitiesthevolumewhichholdconferenceroomtheentertainmentThesecondfloorthenumberroomsandoffersaterracedividedintoareas:thecoffeeandtherunning
Visuals
Physical model
Rethinking hotels for athletes Carrer de la Séquia de la Cadena 4, Valencia, Spain Lect. PHD. Arch. Haytham Zeki Studio, 4th Year
Hotel
Underground level Ground level First level Second levelSectionsElevations
floorGroundfloorFirstBasement floorSecond Parking spaces TechnicalStairs Restaurantspacessupply station Restaurant’s kitchen Front AccommodationPersonnelLobbyConferenceSportsEntertainmentSpaRestaurantCoffeedeskshop/barareaareahallareaarea
Site analysis
In 1998 there was a plan to widen the boulevards, but 1,651 houses had to be destroyed. The organization “Salvem el Cabanyal” opposed, fighting a legal battle with the mayor’s office. The mayor’s office set up several public corporations that forced homeowners to sell their homes at low prices, buying 500 such properties. Ultimately, in the 2000s these houses were aban doned. Even though the courts did not allow it, the mayor’s office used its influence in the local and regional council to change a series of laws that could demolish 125 houses, 28 of which were decorated in the style-specific cabanyal.
Details
The windows from each room have shutters whose shading can be modified by guests as needed, thus achieving a high de gree of comfort and a compositional dynam ic of the facade. Both by location and by volumetric solu tion, the building aims to reactivate an urban space that has undergone demolitions.successive
Physical model Visuals
In time, the bunker slipped into the sea and buried itself into the shore. I thus opted for its erection and the introduction of a support structure. I also designed a terrace in the remain ing footprint. I thus obtained three points of perspective: from the sea level, above it, in the continuation of the bunker, and on top of all these constructions, for a panoramic overview. Inside the bunker, I pro posed a space for tourist information and an ex hibition area about the history and realization of these constructions. STRUCTURE
Site analysis & concept Exploded isometric view Bunkers Reuse
at offshore,SUNRISE,farawayfromlandpanoramic overview, METAL
Individual Housing One-family home Dragos Voda 18, Bucharest, Romania
Prof. PHD. Arch. Iulia Stanciu, 2nd Year
The challenge of this project was to build an individual house for a family with two children on a site specific to the outskirts of the centre of Bucharest. This lot has the approximate dimensions of 30m in length and 6m opening to the street, being surrounded on all remaining sides by blind walls. Thus, I had to reinterpret Bucharest’s specific typology of the wagon house. I did not want to forgo the garden, which is such an important element of house living, to the detriment of the built space. I thus managed to propose the division of spaces through the planted areas themselves, creating a visual delimitation by the size of the tree crown. On the ground floor, the windows are made from movable glass panels that can be opened. Consequently, the boundaries between the nat ural and the built environ ment become very blurred, inviting the garden inside.Visuals Physical model
Elevations
Ground LevelFirst Level
From a functional point of view, the building proposes an office area accessible from the entrance space, the dining area in the garden, in close relation with the vestibule and the access area, the kitchen area with the indoor dining space and the living area which opens onto the garden. Upstairs, the vertical circulation node functionally sepa rates the volume into two ar eas: the one for children, with the two bedrooms and the two study areas, and the master bedroom with its terrace.
I designed a school for the dramatic arts since there are multiple acting workshops in the area that require a permanent space. Thus, the build ing could be used as a traditional learning place (high school with vocation al profile), but also as an alternative space where anyone is welcome to study the dramatic arts. The two main volumes cover the blind walls and create a path inside the plot. The structure towards the street contains the public part of the ensemble, namely: the lobby area with a high ceiling with half floors where photography or painting exhibitions are organized, the performance hall with a rehearsal room and storage areas, and the restaurant open to the garden. The other volume is designed for class rooms. The two structures are connected through the library. In the basement of the complex, there are technical spaces, a park ing area and the restau rant preparation space.
Educational centre School for the Dramatic Arts Bd. Ferdinand I 60, Bucharest, Romania Lect. PHD. Arch. Andra Panait, 3rd Year Physical model
Underground level Ground level First level Second levelElevationsSections and sections
Site analysis
Housing Commerce Offices respects coefficientthefor land
respectsutilizationthe the max imum percentage of land occupation doesn’t respect the coefficient for land
Limits&vegetation
doesn’tutilizationrespect the the maximum percentage of land occupation
The access to the park ing lot is made from the adjacent street, under the steps that multifunctionalhaveuse. They can function as outside meeting space for young people or urban furniture, as well as bleachers for spectators when outdoor theatre performances are organized in the specially arranged area. Access to the classrooms can be made both from the boulevard and from the adjacent street. Visuals
Access Before Access After FormerRailroadmonestery area
2 3
Restauration Project of Chiajna-Gi ulesti Church Monastery, team work, 4th CreationYear. of a geometry inspired by the style of Mondrian paintings. Individual, 2nd Year. Resulting work from the “Viaggio in Italia - Chasing Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities” workshop organized in the 1st Yeat. My team chose the invisible city of Valdara, represented through the urban aesthetics of Ven ice. Thus, we combined the artistic emotion given by the writings with the meanings and the admosphere transmitted by this real city, resulting in an architectural paper object without a beginning or an end, without edges, forever continuing its dynamic where the upper-city becomes its reflection in the water and vice-versa. The original city is no longer known, the observer can no longer distinguish the real from the imaginary. The city is forever lost in an infinite loop.
WorksFeatured
1
23 1
4 Graphic illus trations cre ated with HB, 2B, 4B, 8B, F, 2H Year.schooldividual,cmmp,whitepencilsgraphiteon200g/50x70paper.Inhighand1st 4
87
87
Creation of a geometry that can be transformed into a building (hotel with integrated sky slope) based on the painting “Old man, his head two paces behind” by Lissitzky. Individual, 4th Year.
56
Entry for the concept project competition “120 Hours”. The task was to imagine a settlement or an intervention to Svalbard island which would keep on developing for 100 years. Team work, 3rd Year.
56
Digital illustration entry to a contest organised by the architectural magazine “Zeppe lin”. The task was illustrating our personal window and its surroundings in the context of social isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Individual, 4th Year. Digital illustration entry to online exhibition “Hometown” organised by Archisource. The task was presenting our personal room in the context of social isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Individual, 4th Year.
Thank you!
