LAURA DUMITRESCU architecture portfolio 2013
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CV SKILLS RECONVERSION - AFK DIGITAL DESIGN RESEARCH CENTER AND WORKSHOPS
GRADUATION PROJECT
01 FUNCTIONAL
COMPETITIONS
02 ACCUMULATION 03 TAIWAN
SCHOOL PROJECTS
04 “THE
CULTURAL CENTER - 2013 COMPETITION, Taipei, Taiwan
HINGE” OFFICE BUILDING
05 THEATER
- “ACADEMICS’ PARK” PERFORMANCE FOYER
06 COLLECTIVE
WORKSHOPS
SHORT PROJECTS
FETISH AS FUNDAMENT - VENICE BIENNALE ‘14 PROPOSAL, Venice, Italy
07 POWERED
HOUSING
BY NATURE - LACUSTE IN ETHER, Timisoara, Romania
08 SENSE
YOUR CITY - MEDS 2012, Ljubljana, Slovenia
09 URBAN
VERANDAH
10 PLAY-SPACE
ARCHITECTURAL SURVEY
11 DEALU 12 IEUD
LIST OF ALL PROJECTS
MONASTERY, Targoviste, Romania
TRADITIONAL HOUSEHOLD, Bucharest, Romania
CV
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES Workshops
2013 Powered by Nature / Lacuste in Eter - Parametric design and digital fabrication workshop / Timisoara, Romania Tutors: Laurentia Ghita, Daniela Krohnert, Andrei Ivanescu / http://lacusteineter2.wordpress.com/ 2012 Sense Your City / MEDS 2012 - SENSEability / Ljubljana, Slovenia Tutors: Janine Teuchsen, Camilla Siggaard Andersen / http://meds-workshop.blogspot.com/
NAME
Laura DUMITRESCU
DATE OF BIRTH
6 / 12 / 1988
e-mail ADDRESS
arh.lauradumitrescu@gmail.com
EDUCATION
2013 Master’s degree (accredited as RIBA part II and ARACIS) “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urbanism, School of Architecture / Bucharest, Romania
Competitions
2012 Winner - Team Bucharest for Phase I: Project proposal and team selection / SDE 2014 / Versailles, France http://www.solardecathlon2014.fr 2013 Proposal - Venice Biennale 2014
WORK EXPERIENCE 2013 DSBA (project-based collaboration) - International competition for “Taiwan Cultural Center”
2007-2013 Bachelor’s degree “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urbanism, School of Architecture / Bucharest, Romania
2012-2013 Carol 53 - Historic landmark survey and rehabilitation / Bucharest, Romania casacarol53@gmail.com / http://casacarol53.wordpress.com
2006-2007 “S.M. Nitulescu” School of Architecture / Bucharest, Romania
SKILLS
2007 Baccalaurate degree / Mathematics and Informatics “Jean Monnet” Theoretical High School / Bucharest, Romania
Architectural and Rendering Software: AutoCAD, Rhinoceros, Grasshopper, 3D Max & Vray, ArchCAD, Processing Visualization Software: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, CorelDraw Traditional techniques: hand drafting and modelling, laser cutting and engraving
LANGUAGES
English (fluent), German (intermediate), French (intermediate), Romanian (native)
SKILLS
Architectural hand drawing
Pen & ink, graphite, pencil, watercolor | Drawings done mostly between 20052007 at “S.M.Nitulescu” School of Architecture.
2D & 3D drafting
Concept illustration
AUTOCAD RHINOCEROS 3DS MAX
“Stupid site” 4th year project | Comic
book or storyboard style employed to clearly illustrate concepts, strategies, scenarios, context, urban environments etc.
Rendering
Photography
V-Ray for Rhino & 3DS Max
Doorknobs | Sibiu | Personal photography project during architectural field-trip.
Parametric design GRASSHOPPER PROCESSING
Architectural modelling & laser cutting
“Case care plang” / “Houses that weep” participation | A workshop con-
sisting in the photography of non-patrionial houses in Bucharest and their introduction in a public, online database. Over 150 houses photographed.
Image manipulation ADOBE Photoshop ADOBE Illustrator COREL Draw GS
Competitions SOLAR DECATHLON 2014 Phase I: Project proposal and team selection WINNER - Team Bucharest Responsabilities: strategy, scenario, concept, study of context and requirements
01 AFK
| DIGITAL DESIGN RESEARCH CENTER AND WORKSHOPS
FUNCTIONAL RECONVERSION “Erhardt Wolff” Steelworks | Bucharest At the beginning of the 20th century, industry was the primary progress engine of Bucharest. Most neighborhoods, streets, railways and tramways date from that time. Today, most industrial sites are partly abandoned, even though most are situated in the centre of the city. The Wolff Factory is placed between a larger industrial area and a cultural one, Carol Park, the former site of Bucharest’s Industrial exhibitions. Challenge: find the industrial aspects of the environment, that could help elaborate a design method for a reconversion. Keywords: environment, industrial and urban. The environment is more than just context, it is a continuous space with no fixed boundaries, no beginnings and ends, because it is dynamic and ever changing, based on the systems and links created within it. Industrial is based on the simplification of processes, to fit peoples’ needs. Its’ main characteristics are flexibility and efficiency. Because 20th century industrialism was an engine for progress, we must find out which equivalent there is in industry today that can create the same effect on the city, and that is the method of design. Urban is defined not only by its’ functions, building form or number of citizens, but rather by the interactions between these elements. A true urban space is one that speaks and interacts, that has a good interface and connectivity. The project is built upon relations, and therefore embraces hazard, flexibility and avoids becoming fixed and final. Each part of the project addresses one of the following relations: city – proposal (through the upper level exhibition), street-park (through the courtyard public space), factory and proposal etc.
site | The input of various elements and dynamics to the area’s forming and reforming is, at the mo-
ment, reduced compared to the industrial peak, which produced great changes in the 20th century. The economic impact of the different industries in the area (today fragmented or half-abandoned) is much lower. The public space, the park, the former mega-factories, housing and infrastructures fail to relate to each other. This happens because the Filaret area as a whole has lost its identity as a participant in economy and technology, and only has a memory of its identity, “post-industrial�.
trail | Along the paths that cross the site, there is an array
of carefully positioned periscopes, peering inside buildings, but also over the wall towards the park and neighborhood.
strategy | The proposal interacts with the existing context like accupuncture: small changes that reverb
into larger areas. Because so many different actors and sites are involved, it is important to have an intervention strategy that makes gradual changes. At this time, each space and building receives an identity and a name. This gives the locals an opportunity to embrace the proposed change, thus ensuring the forming of links between the project and the neighborhood. Each building and space are finalized and open for public in their own time, so the interstitial space is not programmed, but alive and dynamic.
morphology |
from the existent halls are defined by flexibility: the open plan, the steel structures, the translucent space dividers (polycarbonate, PVC curtains), the air vent holes. The starting point is a homogenous structure and the possibility to create links (the lower level workshops). When the structure is then used, through user dynamic, as well as economic, temporal, social, it becomes heterogeneous (the extended workshops and ever changing exhibit space).
street < - > park |
The relation between street and park is addressed by the interactive courtyard pavilions. These pavilions also link to the workshops, since the people working there choose the interactions and exhibit them outdoors, on the facades, in the pavilions or between them.
tensions and discontinuities | The site is very heterogenous and sometimes discontinuous. There are certain social, economic and cultural tensions that appear between the various built elements, users and neighbours. The project is built upon creating relations and links between them.
workshops < - > park | The smaller
courtyard boundary toward the park is represented by a brick wall, and on its surface grapevine can be grown. This gives the place identity, and at the same time creates shadow, an occupation and a link to the past (the area used to be a large vineyard before and even during industrialization).
city < - > proposal | Through the exhibit inside, the different workshops can communicate their work to the people of the entire city. These are exhibits that cannot be shown outdoors or require large spaces to manifest.
exhibit < - > park |
The upper level courtyard acts as a foyer for the exhibit, but can also function independently with the inflatable structures used as conference space, outdoor workshops, theateror, generally, experimental or community space.
factory < - > proposal | The people working at both the factory and in the proposed center can come together at the food court/ hydroponic farm.
02 RE-LOCATE
| ACCUMULATION FETISH AS FUNDAMENT
VENICE BIENNALE 2014 COMPETITION ENTRY GIARDINI DELLA BIENNALE ROMANIAN PAVILION | VENICE Team: Laura Dumtrescu, Mircea Adrian Mihai, Dragos Mila, Marjan Mostavi, Veronica Popescu In an academic exercise to understand communities that are dealing with extreme poverty, students are encouraged to take photographs of the interiors of the shelters and to list an inventory of the objects they find. From this inventory students can later approximate for how long the owner has been living on the streets and the number of re-locations he went through. The first time an individual is evicted, he tends to carry with him as many possessions from his former home as possible. These objects are usually placed inside the temporary shelter in accordance to the way they were placed in the abandoned house. The illegal shelter may provide housing for a few months or years, but as soon as itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s discovered by the police, its owner is forced to leave and search for a new place. At his second re-location, the individual is going to own and take with him less objects than he did previously. The inventory is going to decrease with every forced re-location. The fundamentals of Romanian society (influencing and) influenced by architecture for the past 100 years are listed in the accumulation of possessions people had to save and move. Globalization influences people to travel lightly. This is the story of how we start a journey with a luggage that we later consume and abandon in order to keep moving. The two pavilions each propose a journey, one that is a narrative, and one that is a game. The narrative takes the visitor through consecutive rooms, becoming more and more empty of objects. The games proposes to the visitor that he take some objects with him in the first room, then less, and less in each of the following rooms.
We propose a narrative.
Then we propose a game.
calabalac / belongings
03 LIVING
THE BRIDGE
TAIPEI CULTURAL CENTER COMPETITION ENTRY | TAIWAN Team: Dorin Stefan, Adrian Arendt, Claudiu Ionescu, Corina Fodor, Catalina Varzaru, Andrei Ivanescu. Horia Spirescu, Marjan Mostavi, Laura Dumitrescu Responsabilities: 3D model manipulation, extracting cross-sections, rendering, image manipulation Keywords: street, water, rainbow, bridge, dragon, Yin-Yang The challenge of this project was finding a way to intertwine the two functions that were requirements of the competition (the museum and library) along a significant circulation for pedestrians and bicycles. Also, another relation that needed to be considered was the vicinity of the park. The morphology of the project is based on the concept of the rainbow-bridge, an important symbol in taiwanese culture. A set of two intersecting trussed tubes, each housing the respective spaces needed by the two main functions, arch over a shallow pond. At their intersection, a pathway is formed (the Night Market), where the public functions of the museum and library converge. The outer skin of the building is covered in thousands of scales, each a set of three diafragms colored in CMY that open and close via an automated system, producing patterns and images, just like pixels on a screen. Sometimes the patterns follow environment signals received by sensors, other times the images are chosen from within the building. Longitudinally, the bicycle path passes through the building unhindered, while transversally, a path through the water allows pedestrians from the park to walk beneath the bridge to the main boulevard.
04 “THE
HINGE” TOWER
HIGH-RISE OFFICE BUILDING Buzesti Blvd. | Bucharest Team for urban study phase: Cristina Alistar, Razvan Chelu, Laura Dumitrescu, Marjan Mostavi, Raluca Paun The challenge for this project was integrating a high rise office building in very difficult context. The site had to be “found” along a newly built artery that linked two important city nuclei and passed through a large area of traditional urban tissue. The problem faced was the lack of lateral integration with the existing streets and parcels. The new boulevard was wide and crossing it would be difficult for pedestrians. Also, there was a lack of activities along the boulevard that would allow the pedestrians to safely walk along it 24 hrs/day. These issues are resolved by first studying each sector of boulevard and the possibilities of emergence, sorting them by priorities for different activities (e.g. business, food and service, housing, etc.). After, a scenario is made for the entire boulevard, so it can be active and safe continuously, and well linked throughout its’ entire length. The tower itself is thought out based on its’ own relations to the neighbors (the park, the different types of housing etc.). Therefore, the lower levels are designed for public use. Gradually, going up, the relations turn inwards. The morphology follows these principles, more heterogeneous at the base, and simplified toward the top.
site | (left) Before the urban intervention and the creation of the new boulevard, the area created problems because of the many houses illegally occupied by gypsies. After, because many houses were brought down to widen the street, the problem became the relationship between the new bouevard and the lateral streets and (already scarred) vicinities. (right) Seen from far away, tall office buildings seem to be fighting for light, At the center of the rubble, the market still stands. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s convergent qualities makes it an ideal motor for emergence, and the restitching of the city. These observations on relationships create the premise of the morphology of the building.
site studies | Because the new boulevard
site |
The new street was made to facilitate the circulation of cars, but thi doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ensure the liveliness of the pedestrian areas. The specific areas that have potential to draw people should be protected and enhanced.
is long and complex, its study began by carving oyt specific areas that have a distinct identity and aspirations: the bussiness area, the market and fast-food shops, the train station etc. Each area is then put into relation with other areas. Then, we built a future scenario for each area,. in order to find the best site for an office building. That is, to find the free site where an office building is the main priority. Because the existing office buildings are mostly situated in the north of the boulevard, we chose a site near the south, because it encourages pedestrian circulation along the new boulevard, and creates polarity. Also, the area chosen is well served by two other large automotive routes.
placement algorithm for office common spaces
placement algorithm for exterior public spaces
diagram showing all 23 floors with the positions of public spaces and common spaces
05 “ACADEMICS’
PARK” THEATER
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Artur Verona Street | Bucharest The site chosen for the theater is located in the center of the city, within a dynamic and emergent cultural area. The site was covered with trees, and the biggest challenge was to keep at least 80% of them. For this reason, the theater is not a large compact building, but is rather an accumulation of small functions, spread across an outdoor, extended foyer. Because the experience of the “theater-goer” is extended to the periods before and after the actual play, the theater should also extend beyond its’ limits. The proposal takes into consideration the multiple pathways that people take through the existing urban fabric to reach the theater, and also the possibilities of meeting other spectators. This network then defines significant points where the theater can be perceived, which is important, since the multitude of trees could otherwise make the building vanish. Because the functions aren’t connected in a traditional manner, it becomes possible to create new links and redefine the theater itself, as an assemblage rather than a whole.
On the night of the show, the walk to the theater is a ritual, where you can meet other theater-goers, discuss the play and actors. The route has to encourage human interaction. The rest of the time, the theater cannot remain inert and must open interesting functions to the public and distribute them in its area of influence.
the theater with funnels | On this site, the theater may become invisible, hidden behin the many trees. This is why, near the main public routes, there should be functions that signal its presence and that should act as attractors.
the theater with drawers | The traditional theater can be thought
of as a filing cabinet, with many drawers, containing all its specific functions, all tightly packed. I propose a theater where the drawers are taken out and spread across the room. With the satellite-functions distributed in the teritory, new relationships can be developed between them, and also between the context and these functions. This new order can create hybrid functions, new morphologies and a novel theater-going experience.
sound & stage lights make-up & costumes
sets
functions |
Instead of opting for a tightly knit functional scheme, as seen in the image on the lower left side, most satellite functions of the theater are estranged. The foyer as a space is replaced by the foyer as an environment. Functionally, the building is more foyer than theater, because that is how it can be used by the public more efficiently.
cafe
interior foyer
workshops admin
park
foyer
06 SOUTHBOUND
APARTMENT BUILDING Dr. Felix Street | Bucharest Team: Laura Dumitrescu, Dana Schrenck In the vicinity of the site, there are interbellic house neighborhoods. These houses are oft found in the central area of Bucharest and are called “train wagon houses” because of the positioning of their rooms, in a straight line. They are usually oriented towards the south and have blind walls to the North. Such a disposition was used for the apartment building proposal. The zipper like courtyard in the middle acts as a distribution space and also a park and relaxation area.
apartment disposition | The buildings contain a wide variety of apartment types, from studios to penthouses and apartments for 1 to 5 people. The penthouses benefit from the existence of the greenroof, however all apartments have large balconies.
GARSONIERE APARTAMENTE 2 CAMERE APARTAMENTE 3 CAMERE APARTAMENTE 4 CAMERE APARTAMENTE 5 CAMERE DUPLEX
PLAN ETAJ 1
SC. 1:200
07 POWERED
BY NATURE | Lacuste In Eter 2
RHINOCEROS & GRASSHOPPER WORKSHOP eduKube | Timisoara Tutors: Laura Ghita (Coop Himmelb(l)au), Daniela Krohnert (Coop Himmelb(l)au), Andrei Ivanescu (GDGH) The purpose of the workshop is familiarising participants with parametric and generative desgn methods, as well as bridging an interdisciplinary link between natural sciences and design. The participants were split in two groups, beginners and advanced, with the advanced members acting as tutors for the beginners in the latter part of the workshop. The workshop resulted in the building of two phisical installations at the eduKube headquarters courtyard in the historic center of Timisoara: an artificial tree and an artificial vine that lights the access corridor to the courtyard. Also, we elaborated growth and pattern algorithms using Grasshopper and its plugins (Hoopsnake, Kangaroo, Weaverbird), which resulted in videos, projections, images and models.
08 SENSE
YOUR CITY | SMELLBOX
meds2012 INSTALLATION Marketplace | Ljubljana Tutors: Camilla Siggard-Andersen (Denmark), Janine Teuchsen (Germany) Team: Ezgi Çiçek, Laura Dumitrescu, Kevin Kelly, Cormac Nolan, Paul O’Brian, Cansu Paşaalioğlu This installation was part of the Sense Your City Workshop at meds 2012. The purpose was the study of the different images, sounds, scents, touch and taste of the capital city of Slovenia, and the architectural intervention on these senses and their perceival. The challenge of this project was imagining and building an installation dedicated to the sense of scent. We chose the site based on the predominance of different scents and also the proximity to pedestrian areas. So we opted for the marketplace. The object has a very simple initial morphology: a monolithic black prism with small round holes. Inside, it has 9 boxes containing smelly things. People are urged to smell through the holes and write what they smell on the black wallls with large, handmade chalk. Then, the boxes would be switched around, as to confuse the smeller. In just 2 hours, the box was almost completely written on, because it was also perceived as a public blackboard.
phase 3: planning
phase 1: brainstorming | The smellbox was one of many
projects made for the Sense Your City Workshop: the artificial tree (sight), pillow-hacking hard surfaces (touch), reflective flag (sight), moving wall (touch), and table by the river (sound). From the extended group of 12 students, each could participate in any project, but also had to commit to at least one.
phase 3: building and setting up
phase 4: public interaction
URBAN VERANDAH PUBLIC SPACE “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urban Planning | Bucharest
09
The challenge of this short project was to build an outdoor “urban verandah” for a public building or space, that would put into question its’ link with the city. The exercise begins with defining the term “verandah”, then, taking it out of context and imagining a surrealist scene: a verandah, upside down, in the desert. In the Encyclopedia, André Breton describes surrealism as being “based on the belief in the superior reality of certain forms of previously neglected associations”. This step of the exercise is supposed to take us beyond the world of reasonable links. Thus, we can find new concepts for the “verandah”, based on its’ new, possible links. The results could be, for instance: “a forest-verandah”, “a suitcase-verandah”, “a car-park-verandah” and others. Based on these new concepts, the verandah is then redefined: the “verandah” should be used as an entrance and transition space, as a contemplation and relaxation area, a place where people can get lost in, which attracts, which surprises, which contains hidden things, something that is dedicated to anyone, anytime. The “car-park-verandah” links the exhibition space of the University of Architecture with the street. The existing parking space is similar to a labyrinth. The labyrinth attracts people inside and keeps them there. Inside they can spend some time, feel the space, walk around, just like in the exhibition. The material used is metal, like the cars, but as if they were squished to a thin sheet by the space between.
parking, exhibit and labirynth |
the parking lot and the exhibt are both similar to a labirynth, the first because it forces you to walk on a complicated route, the second because its purpose is to keep you inside, seeing more exhibits. The solution is not only a labirynth, a continuation of the exhibit, but also a flowing space that makes people move and stay in certain places.
walking arround the cars..... like through a labirynth ............................and a space that exhibits itself
PLAY-SPACE CHILDREN’S PLAYGROUND Cismigiu Park | Bucharest
10
The main purpose of this project was to understand how small children interact with space, what the concept of “play” means and how this can be translated in a morphology. In their games, children pretend that existing things, objects, shapes, spaces, are something very different from what they really are. Like Toyo Ito explans in “the Nest and the Cave”, people either build themselves environments, or occupy existing environments. Opting for the latter, the building has a landform shape, with soft curves and many alveolar enclaves of different sizes and shapes. This way, children can sit on the walls, climb on the roof, slide down the roof etc. The proposal is both building and playground, and all its parts are used: the interior, the exterior, the top, which is why it is called Play-Space. Because the building isn’t very deffinitely separated from the environment (the park), people will perceive it as a part of the context, so it fits well in the gentle slope of the Cismigiu Lake.
DEALU MONASTERY ARCHITECTURAL SURVEY DEALU | TARGOVISTE
11
TEAM: Cristina Alistar, Dragos Babeanu, Gabriela Ciuchete, Laura Dumitrescu, Costin Moraru, Alin Nitescu, Dana Schrenck, Radu Zavate
Romaniaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rich cultural heritage sets the premise of this survey. Using both traditional and digital tools, this projects sets out to document one of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s historical monuments. One of the most representative and valuable architectural programs of Romania are religious establishment, thus the focus of the project will be a church. Dealu Monastery is situated just outside Targoviste, Romania - a city in the South of Romania. This 15th century landmark, situated atop a hill is both a functioning monastery as well as a tourist attraction and its preservation is key. The monument has to be accurately measured and all signs of damage, visible or pending, must be documented.
TRADITIONAL MARAMURES HOUSEHOLD | IEUD ARCHITECTURAL SURVEY Village Museum | Bucharest 12
TEAM: Laura Dumitrescu, Costin Moraru, Dana Schrenck The purpose of this project was to familiarise students with traditional building techniques as well as surveying and hand drafting. It also involved study of books about traditional building and the way space and place are perceived in traditional communities. The first phase of the project was held in and around the Ieud household, and it included measuring, photographing, on-site sketching and doing comparisons with other households in the museum. The second phase of the project was the hand drawing and rendering of all parts of the household, accoding to the measurements taken and the photographs and sketches done. The technique used was pen and ink rendering, with ink wash-out shading.
2007
Wooden Structure public space
Community center public building exhibited
Stupid Site public space
Houses that weep workshop
2007
2008-2009
2011
2012
2009
Structure-space exhibition
Southbound apartment buildings
Special Structure bridge
SmellBox workshop
Colentina Lakeside housing plots
2007
2009
2011
2011
2010
Free Plan single house
P-3 accomodation
The Hinge office building
“Lacuste in eter 2” workshop
Alveoles masterplan
2007
2010
2011
2012
2011
Artist’s House house/workshop
Urban Verandah public space
Environment by Industrial Method technical museum
SDE2014 competition Phase 1 WINNER
Alveoles 2.0 masterplan
2008
2010
2012
Play-Space playground exhibited
City by the city retirement home
2008
2010
Coupled Houses house
Academics’ Park theater
Graduation project:
AFK prototype factory 2013 Processes concert stage
2012 Taiwan Cultural Center competition 2013 Accumulation Venice Biennale 2014 proposal
2011 Railroad Park urban study 2012 Romniceanu Park landscaping
Surveys and reconversions
2011
Urban planning
2008
Workshops / Competitions
Architecture
OTHER PROJECTS
2007
2007 Ieud Household survey 2010 Sibiu Architecture School re-conversion 2012 Dealu Monastary survey 2012 Carol53 survey
Thank you! Laura DUMITRESCU laura1288@yahoo.com +40 721 257 932