A PORTFOLIO OF CREATIVE WORKS
MAYRAH WREN UDVARDI Wellesley College | 2010-2014
Candidate for M. Arch 1
EDUCATION Class of 2014
Wellesley College, B.A. in Architecture and Environmental Studies, with Honors Distinctions: Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa National Honors Society | GPA: 3.77/4.00 Honors Thesis in Env. Studies: “Bangalore: Urban Development & Environmental Injustice” Leadership: Wellesley Energy and Environmental Defense, President (2013-2014); AscenDance Ballet Troupe, President (2013-2014); Architecture Club, Secretary (2013-2014; Office of Residential Life, Residential Advisor (2011-2012); House Council, Eco-Representative (2010-2011) Additional Coursework at MIT: Arch. Design Fundamentals I; Water, Landscape, & Urban Design Studio
Fall 2012
Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS), Architecture Studio, Copenhagen, Denmark Relevant Coursework: Architecture Design Studio, Visual Journal, Sustainable by Design
Summer 2012
American Institute for Indian Studies (AIIS), Advanced Hindi Language, Jaipur, India Final paper: 10 pages in Hindi on “Social Impact Architecture: Sustainable Design in India”
SKILLS
Soft Skills: Community outreach, environmental education, leadership dvlpmt., design process Foreign languages: Fluent in English, German, Spanish, Hindi, Urdu; conversational Danish Software: AutoCAD, Rhino, Sketch Up, Adobe Suite (inDesign, Illustrator, etc.), Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro, excellent in all Microsoft Office applications, GIS, Stella, Matlab
HONORS
Camilla Chandler Frost Prize, 2014; Udall Honorable Mention, 2013; Mayling Soong Scholar, 2012; Noble Foundation Scholar, 2010; Logan Scholar, 2010; Corvallis High School Spartan Aw., 2010; ‘Frame Your Future’ National Aw., 2010; Corvallis Green Leader Aw., 2010; Benton County Aw., 2010, Kiwanis Student Aw., 2010, Pres. Gold Volunt. Aw., 2009, 2010; Benton County Future 1st Citizen Finalist, 2009
CONFERENCES
Wellesley Ruhlman Conf. (speaker & panelist), 2014; Community Organizing for Social Justice Trainings (organizer), 2012, 2014; Wellesley Tanner Conf. (panelist), 2013; Public Interest Design Week & Structures for Inclusion (volunteer), 2013; National Power Shift Conf. (organizer), 2009, 2011, 2013; Communicating Science (organizer) 2011, 2012, 2014; Global Citizens Youth Assembly (organizer & panelist), 2013; Grand Aspirations Northwest Summer Training (organizer), 2011; Benton Leadership Conf., 2008, 2009 (translator)
WORK EXPERIENCE 2011-2014
Design Intern, Enterprise Community Partners, Wellesley, MA Supported existing and emerging programs of Enterprise’s National Design Initiatives to produce well-designed, sustainable communities across the nation. Developed and maintained blog to share best practices from Rose Fellowship, wrote case studies, created content for website, contributed to grant writing, designed presentations and print materials.
2010-2014
Wellesley College Eco-Rep Coordinator, Office of Sustainability, Wellesley, MA Promoted recycling and implemented composting program through education & outreach to students and faculty; designed outreach material including short videos, brochures, curriculum; developed college’s sustainable building guidelines; strategic planning for Wellesley’s campus sustainability plan.
Summer 2013
Designer & Manager of Programs & PR, Global Citizens for Sustainable Development (GCSD), Bangalore, India Organized summer programs and events, created outreach material and media, designed and taught lessons on ‘Conscious Consumption’ at 12 schools, taught students at Vedike Eco-Residential School, designed, fundraised for and managed construction of Vedike amphitheater, supported building of village home, established relationships with schools & colleges, designed Vedike campus plan.
Jan–Aug. 2011
Program Leader, Communities Take Charge, Corvallis, OR Coordinator of an EPA-funded summer program; trained 20 interns to support neighborhoods in decreasing household energy consumption. Responsibilities included website development, hiring and training, public speaking, facilitation, fundraising, lobbying local decision-makers, canvassing neighborhoods, strategic planning, data entry & analysis, and planning events for up to 300 people.
2009-2011
Construction Apprentice, John Paul Broad Construction, Corvallis, OR Assisted in the construction of a green home; learned basic carpentry, detailing, and landscaping trades; improved knowledge of building systems and green design.
Summer 2008
Research Apprentice, Oregon State U, Department of Chemical Engineering, Corvallis, OR Researched ways to adhere diatoms in uniform films to glass surfaces. Project contributed to creating photosynthesizing photovoltaic cells for clean energy generation.
FELLOWSHIPS 2014-2015 2013-2014
Thomas J. Watson Fellow, “On Fragile Architecture: Exploring Causes of Indigenous Housing Insecurity” Jerome A. Schiff Fellow, Merit award for advanced scholarly research in Environmental Studies at Wellesley College
Winter 2013
Madeleine K. Albright Global Affairs Fellow, Presented a plan for Afghanistan’s future sustainable development
CONTENTS OBSERVED SPACE Reflection (p. 5-11)
DIATOM STUDIES
EXPLORING SCANDANAVIA
DREAM SPACE
Invention (p. 12-16)
HOLLOWING A CUBE
SCULPTURAL STAGE
REAL SPACE
Intervention (p. 17-21)
VEDIKE AMPHITHEATER
NAGASANDRA DESIGN-BUILD
EXPLORING INDIGENOUS HOUSING INSECURITY
CEREMONIAL SPACE
CHILDREN’S FURNITURE PAVILION
EXCLUSIONARY URBANISM
CATCHMENT
SOIL HEALTH IN EAST CAMBRIDGE
FLOATING WITHIN Architecture Independent Study Spring 2014 My parents, both molecular biologists, instilled in me a fascination with life under the microscope. They also taught me to recognize patterns in nature that transgressed multiple scales and to consider their applications in engineering and design. A summer research apprenticeship in nanotechnology fomented my interest in diatoms (single celled algae) whose processes and forms have many applications. This body of work explores diatoms as abstract shapes and considers how the experience of looking at them under a microscope might change through both scale and positioning.
EXPLORING SCANDANAVIA KAMPPI CHAPEL OF SILENCE Danish Institute for Study Abroad Fall 2012 Through visual journaling, a reflective process that incorporates mapping, gestural sketching, and architectural drawing, I studied some of the most famous examples of modern and contemporary Scandanavian architecture in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland.
EXPLORING SCANDANAVIA VILLA MAIREA STUDIES Danish Institute for Study Abroad Fall 2012 Prior to touring some of Alvar Aalto’s greatest buildings in Finland, I embarked on an in depth study of the Villa Mairea, an experimental rural guesthouse built between 1937-39 in Noormarkku, Finland. Through experimentation with traditional forms, modern elements, and environmental cohesivity, Aalto created a dynamic space that is still being referenced in architecture today.
Floorplan
Section
Natural light through S-facing section
Balance
ON FRAGILE ARCHITECTURE: EXPLORING INDIGENOUS HOUSING INSECURITY Drawings from my Thomas J. Watson Traveling Fellowship year Follow me on my journey at http://mudvardi.wordpress.com
CHECK BACK IN AUGUST 2015!
CHECK BACK IN AUGUST 2015!
EXLUSIONARY URBANISM Advanced Drawing Fall 2013 Through these works, I explore the visual components of my senior thesis in Environmental Studies, “Bangalore: Urban Development and Design for the Underclass�. I consider the complex relationship between the natural and built environments of Bangalore. I am specifically interested in how historic paradigms of urban development have established and protracted the presence of slums.
HOLLOWING A CUBE MIT Architecture Studio 1 Fall 2011 Using Grasshopper code, I carved thousands of poly-surfaces into a 9 x 9 inch cube. In Rhino, I created three paths that travelled through the cube, touching on every single side twice (at one point with three connecting surfaces and at the other point with only one). Next, limited by 30 and 50 degree line projections, I created spaces that connected the three paths. Each new “room� had to open to at least two paths.
Photo from within physical model of carved space.
Simple 2� staples pin the fabric to the edges.
White mesh, scrimlike fabric stretched across wooden frames like a canvas.
SCULPTURAL STAGE Architecture Independent Study Spring 2014 How can an architecturally transformed stage space elicit different types of emotion, acoustics, and atmosphere? These screens contributed to a visual arts production I directed, which incorporated all types of dance, acapella, chamber music, and acrobatics. This project truly allowed me to explore the ephemeral nexus between two of my greatest passions: dance and design.
CEREMONIAL SPACE Spatial Investigations Spring 2012 The model below is a prototype for a three-story ceremonial space. Structurally, it is a continuing spiral of connected petals that wind up a central pillar and are covered in sheer canvass. The space becomes a processional ramp, enclosed and illuminated from within by paper lanterns that people carry up to create strange shadows. The top of the structure is open to the sky, allowing for the release the lanterns.
Geometry Exploded stacks of forms
CATCHMENT MIT Architecture Studio 1 Fall 2011 In this project, I investigated the three-dimensional interpretation of a geometrical pattern I drew. Here, new nodes of fans begin below the ends of primary fan spokes, creating a complex dialogue between shapes. This project has interesting applications for rainwater harvesting and stormwater management in buildings.
Elevations
Floorplan Completed amphitheater
VEDIKE AMPHITHEATER Independent Project Summer 2013 The Vedike Eco-Residential School project aims to address a critical need for education and stable housing in rural Bangalore through a program that centers around sustainability and environmental and cultural understanding. I designed, fundraised for, and built this amphitheater, which is the first permanent component of the school’s master plan. Today it is the center of learning, performance, and community gathering for the village.
Floorplan
Geometry
NAGASANDRA DESIGN-BUILD Independent Project Summer 2013 I interned at Global Citizens for Sustainable Development, an organization that addresses rural housing insecurity in northeast Karnataka, India. Every summer, a group of international volunteers and local paid laborers gather to build a home for women living in poverty. I served as a project manager for GCSD and helped design and build this home for Gangama (center).
URBAN FURNITURE PAVILION Danish Institute for Study Abroad Fall 2012 This project called for a design that would integrate a children’s furniture pavilion into the fabric of the Rosenborg Palace Gardens, the oldest Renaissance and Baroque park in Copenhagen. In my design, the skin of the park adapts to the pavilion underneath to create a piece of ‘urban furniture’ that can be experienced from above, within, and around.
SOIL HEALTH IN EAST CAMBRIDGE, MA A THREE-PHASE APPROACH TO TRANFORM OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH URBAN SOILS Development in East Cambridge, MA has rendered a dull, lifeless, material with which we are unable to connect: dirt. The results of this attitude can be seen in floods, gardens that grow lead-poisoned vegetables, urban heat island effect, and pervasive weeds. If we’re able to reinterpret urban soils to promote ecosystem functions, cultural uses, and positive human experiences, urban life will be dramatically improved. Scaling up from a focus on soil with a three-phase iterative approach will allow the East Cambridge community to focus on its needs for amenities and healthy living conditions in the context of urban ecosystems.
HORIZONS OF URBAN SOIL: PHASE 1
U - concrete U.B - subsoil U.C - parent rock
1
SOIL HEALTH RESEARCH + EDUCATION
U.R - bedrock
Shift the paradigm of thought about urban soils Data will reveal what measures are necessary to achieve healthy soil and then Phase 2 can begin
1
PARTICIPATORY
2
2 PHASE 2
PROCESS TO HEALTHY SOILS
HORIZONS OF TRANSFORMED URBAN
U.O - organic matter U.A - topsoil U.B - subsoil U.C - parent rock
3
SMALL-SCALE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE Prepare for safe interaction with soils
U.R - bedrock
Once soil is safe, Phase 3 can begin
PHASE 3 HEDONISTIC* SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAM Human engagement with the soil
3 N
Option 3 Section