ARCHITECTURAL PORTFOLIO_ NOUR QARRA_ 2020 by Nour Al-Qarra

NOUR BASSAM AL-QARRA ARCHITECTURAL PORTFOLIO URAL RAL AL POR A OR SELECTED WORKS WORKS WORK ORKS OR RK R KS S

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“Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.” David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

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CONTENTS 1

RESUME

AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ARCHITECTURAL BUTTERFLIES

2 4 5 6

8 9

10 11

A THING INSIDE A THING INSIDE A THING WHETSTONE PUBLIC LIBRARY

SAN FRANCISCO GARDEN OF MUSIC

4-5

6-11

12-23

24-37

38-43

JUEA PREASIDENT’S HOUSE

44-49

CHILDREN’S CREATIVE CENTER

52-55

MISCELLANEOUS

57-66

ARCHITECTURAL PERFORMALISM SPACE FOR PHENOMENA

50-51

FASHION SCHAU

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EDUCATION The Ohio State University (2018-2020) Austin E. Knowlton School of Architecture Master of Architecture 3.9 G.P.A The Ohio State University (2015-2017) Austin E. Knowlton School of Architecture BSc in Architecture 3.8 G.P.A (Honors; Honors with Research Distinction) AWARDS -William Riat ‘73 Prize - Knowlton School of Architecture. -1st Place CSI George Van Niel Scholastic Award Construction Specification Institute, Columbus Chapter. -Autodesk Revit Certificate of completion 2016 -First Aid/CPR Certified American Red Cross 2017

CONTACT INFO •(614)822-8161 •nourqarra@gmail.com •behance.net/nourqarra

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WORK EXPERIENCE Graduate Teaching Assistant -Forms of Architectural Theory -O.S.U AU 18, SP 20 Graduate Teaching Assistant - History of Architecture -O.S.U AU 19, SP19 Architectural Intern OHM Advisors -Facility planning studies and reports. -Design reviews for approval requests for tens of properties. -Creating and implementing a construction documents archive (a catalogue of documents to assist facilities management in determining storage). -Assisted in creating graphics for design competitions. -Red lining. -Documenting submittals dates and correspondances. -Creating an inventory for all of the existing furniture at JohN Glenn Airport. -Modeling prospective projects in revit. -Visiting construction sites to record existing conditions to draft demolition and renovation plans. -Designing marketing material for office visits and promotional media.

DESIGN SKILLS Autodesk Revit Autodesk AutoCAD Adobe Photoshop Adobe Illustrator Adobe InDesign Google Sketchup 3D Rhinoceros 5.0 Microsoft Word Microsoft Powerpoint Audacity

LANGUAGES •Arabic - native •English - fluent •French - beginner

Sketching / Drawing Writing / Composition Hand Drafting Model Making Laser Cutting 3D Printing

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G2 Studio, Fall 2018

Instructors: Eric Herrmann, Sandhya Kochar Location: Cincinnati, OH NOUR AL-QARRA [PORTFOLIO]

A THING INSIDE A THING INSIDE A THING... A BOUTIQUE HOTEL IN CINCINNATI, OH

This project consists of a series of nesting of things inside things. It is a study of the ‘affordances’ of the seam and the different ways in which it could be addressed and manifested through the situation of one thing in relation to the other and ultimately their relationship to the biggest nest- the site. The project peels off from its neighboring buildings establishing a precinct. This peeling off reflects on the interior in terms of the relationship between the private (normative) spaces, and the public (gallery) spaces hence allowing for both privacy and an allusion to the galleries’ relationship to the exterior envelope. The Toy (galleries) are embedded within the shell, and this notion of peeling off and shifting is manifested in the revelation of the toy on the exterior. It defines the line between seeming and being. The toy seems to be pavilioning and protruding out of the envelope. At the same time, since it is hidden, it leaves it up to the imagination to complete the figure. The apertures in both toy and shell behave like cracks and fissures giving a peek on what’s inside without fully revealing it. Hence, the seam becomes the introducer of light and views into the project, as well as the interstitial space or slippage between public and private.

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Honors Research Studio, Spring2017

Instructors: Sandhya Kochar, Dow Kimbrell Critics: Ann Pendleton-Jullian, Alex Maymind, Jonathan Rieke, Stephen Turk, Curtis Roth Collaborators: Brandon Kroger and Aaron Weaver

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AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ARCHITECTURAL BUTTERFLIES In current conversation, the once canonical architectural diagrams of the 20th Century, nowadays, seem to operate as a set of reactions to contemporary trends at once commodified, and thereby supplicate to architectural ubiquity. These canonical diagrams can be reclaimed, and interrogated through this taxonomy of species. The 20th Century diagram is portrayed as a genus and observed speculatively as the progenitor of new species of diagrams. Speciation leads to the questioning of the entrenched meaning of the prime, thereby re-presenting latent desires, and questioning the overall canonical nature of the diagram. This system cultivates a taxonomy of infinite variations, whereby specific architectural traits, which at one time can be read as initially recessive, evolve and spawn differences. These species express themselves as hyper-objects, and represent a certain genetic filter by which they have evolved; these are desires not explicitly expressed in the original project. They perform as individual objects, just as a biological genus contains varying degrees of difference amongst its species. As such, a set of diagrams can be read as a biologic system of differentiation; certain attributes maintain and expand based on survival needs, explaining why, for example, the Dachshund (Canis familiaris) and the Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) exist in the same genus. Each new species of diagrams redefines the original diagrammatic condition, not as a means of addressing its successes or lack thereof, but simply as a means of pointing to the infinite varieties upon which further speculation could exist.

No-Stop City

UnitĂŠ

1909

Capel of Christ

House of Suicide

Bibliotheque National

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The following images are part of the catalogue of species on display.

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Things that happen in suburbia Genus suburbum What if the urban model of the 1909 Theorem was really about suburbia? What would happen if the striated space yields to suburban environmental pressures? Would it become a diagram of smooth space? Would it reconstruct based upon the automobile? Perhaps it has to yield to contemporary domestic hierarchy? All species in Genus suburbum live in suburbia. Genus vivaticus exhibits some convergent evolution. NOUR AL-QARRA [PORTFOLIO]

Things that arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Post-Fordian Genus nonpostfordicae What would the Post-Fordian construction model look like with the intervention of desire? Would it become hierarchical? Perhaps it could separate into a field of play? What if the form did not describe its function, but rather, was the opposite? Does the Post-Fordian essence survive through these evolutions? All species in Genus nonpostfordicae exhibit these characteristics.

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Things that like John Hejduk Genus heiduchius How did John Hejduk go from exploring geometrical nuances, to the development of architectural characters? What if his Christ Chapel is looked at as a diagram in both? What if it is a combination of the modernist box with geometric characters? What if Hejduk is simply interested in creating a narrative, not spatiality? What if Hejduk is fulfilling the architectural journey of Le Corbusier? All species in Genus heiduchius like John Hejdukâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work. NOUR AL-QARRA [PORTFOLIO]

Things that have a signature Genus signum As the Venturi/Denise Scott Brown sign has flattened the built environment, then how would it reassert itself? Does it subvert original meanings? Does it explode into a barrage of capitalist advertisement ad nauseaum? Does it become a high-resolution object, or one with low-resolution? Perhaps it could even point out that some signs are absolutely meaningless. All species in the Genus signum exhibit characteristics of a signature, in one way or another.

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Things that are fun

Things that are alive

Genus iocular

Genus vivaticus What if Morphosisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 2468 House, about the modularity of modern domestic construction, was really about domestic lifestyle? What would the architectural diagram be if contemporary domesticity was brought to the forefront? Is domesticity really about the inevitabililty of standardized construction? Is domesticity about the junkspace that contemporary networking has produced? Perhaps it is about the walls that define our interior and exterior selves. All species in Genus vivaticus share characteristics of domesticity. Genus suburbum exhibits convergent evolution.

What if the model of No-Stop City, rather than be a critique of capitalism, is reworked in a world of desires? What if the diagram is taken seriously as a model for living, but one that transforms into a model for Homo ludens? Can it become a model for play, and break away from relentless capitalist demagogy? All species in Genus iocular exhibit characteristics of play.

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Things Peter Eisenman might hate

Things that move

Genus noneisenmanae

Genus motus

As Peter Eisenman is such a force in contemporary theory, what would his seminal architectural work, the House I-X look like if it rejects Eisenmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deep structure? What if it simply is what it is? What if rejects the notion of seriality, in place of low resolution objects? All species in Genus noneisenmanae exhibit these characteristics.

If Rem Koolhaas speculated about the notion of smooth space, and about the elevator as the conduit to different worlds, then why does the Bibliotheque Nationale have little to do with the movement of people? What if it was reread as a diagram of moving through space? What if that movement was meandering? What if it was static? What if movement does not really exist anymore, but is achieved through the conduit of networking? All species in Genus motus move.

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G2 Studio, Spring2019

Instructors: Beth Blostein, Jane Murphy Critics: Michael Cadwell, Tamika Sims Collaborators: Mason Johnson and Allison Rubadue

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WHETSTONE PUBLIC LIBRARY ” New Branch Library: Clintonville The Columbus Metropolitan Library system motto is “Creating Libraries That Change Lives”. One of the most widely praised library systems in the country, it has recently been engaged in building seven new urban branches, and two suburban ones, and renovating and adding on to its main branch. Intent on building forward-looking libraries that serve the entire population of Greater Columbus, the Library seeks building designs that provide abundant natural light, spatial organizations that create multiple scales of transient lounge space, community meeting spaces, and small and large spaces for learning activities. Less grand than localized and small, these are libraries that serve neighborhoods and point towards the future at least as much as the past. Books are still part of the equation as well. This project (a fictional scenario) will propose a library to replace the Whetstone Branch on North High St. in Clintonville.”

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James E. Gui Competition , Fall 2016 Instructors: Andrew Cruse Institution: OSU

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SAN FRANCISCO GARDEN OF MUSIC Located at the heart of Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, this project aims to add to the richness and diversity of scenery and activities within the park. It is a hub for all those music lovers with itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s three concert halls and many different music spaces. It is also a hub for nature lovers, as it is a large open space acting as a tropical green house with several species of plants exotic to the park. Through this act of nesting, it essentially becomes the park within the park. The Garden of Music rises from the landâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s natural topography and emulates the different path patterns found within Golden Gate Park. Hence, it creates a sense of continuity that seamlessly shifts scenery and atmosphere through incorporating this paradox of interiority versus exteriority. It thus revolves around breaking thresholds of changing auditory, as well as visual elements upon entry to or exit from the different facilities within the Garden. The paths (illustrated in blue in the top diagram) facilitate circulation within the different levels and parts of the program. They serve as the vertebrae to the musical promenade.

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concert halls practice rooms administration offices restaurant music classrooms

View towards the entrance to the main concert hall

The shell is what creates the physical barrier between the park on the interior side from that on the exterior

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JESUIT UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN AFRICA PRESIDENTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HOUSE Vertical studio, Spring2016

Instructor: Ann Pendleton-Jullian Critics: , Ashley Schafer, Curtis Roth Location: Kajiado County, Kenya, Eastern Africa Institution: OSU

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JUEA PRESIDENT’S HOUSE This project is a puzzle piece that is part of a new university proposed by the Jesuit community of Eastern Africa. The university’s elected president, Father Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator leads a simple monastic life, and hence the design itself is simple. Yet, given Orobator’s position, this house is no ordinary one. It deals with a series of paradoxes as it does

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not only serve as a house, but also as a headquarters with his offices, and staff, all of which has to be in proximity to the Jesuit community, in connection with the natural savannah and wilderness of the site, yet at the same time secluded from the rest of the campus’ activities. The house deals with the issues of public vs private, closed vs open, connected vs separated. It rises from and follows the organic form of the land. The spiraling shape wraps the site around the house with a series of terraces, hence dictating circulation, wherein at one point it would draw one in, and at another push them out. The terraces create platforms on different levels with various activities ranging from housing on site gardens to giraffe feeding posts. They establish views in all directions, and the main purpose of the form of the upper level is to capture those views, and set them within built frames.

Flows from the natural topography

both ends frame the view of the terraces and the wilderness of the savannah

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ARCHITECTURAL PERFORMALISM Seminar Mini-Project, fall 2016 Instructor: Stephen Turk Institution: OSU

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concept of play via a combination of elements from Manifold Garden and Spatial city to create a single unit that could be repeated infinitely in any direction in space.

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CREATIVE CHILDRENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CENTER Design 2 , Spring 2014 Instructor: Jawdat Goussous Critics: Ahlam Harahsheh, Mira Abweh Location: Amman, Jordan Institution: the University of Jordan

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Just as the nucleus is the most important part of the neuron, and so is the dome to this project. The dome encloses two of the most important functions in the program. Those functions (IMAX theater, and the library), trigger children’s perception via the employment of elements that directly involve their visual and auditory senses. Hence, by resembling the nucleus, the dome becomes the focal point of this project. The concept revolves around imagination because the wilder the person’s imagination is ,the more creative he/she tends to be . The aim of this project is to create a children’s center that houses all the different activities that pertain to interactive learning and skills development in an entertaining manner. The core of imagination Is in the mind, shaped in the form of signals moving across neurons . The shape of the neuron is what gives rise to the formal composition of the center.

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SPACE FOR PHENOMENA Fall 2016 Instructor: Andrew Cruse Institution: OSU

A short exercise as a part of a study about how to visualize a non-visual phenomenon. The phenomenon depicted is sound (echoic and anechoic), and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s properties (reflection, refraction, absorption) in relation to different types of surfaces.

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MISCELLANEOUS MANUAL DRAWINGS

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DIGITAL DRAWINGS

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PHOTOGRAPHS

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SERVITECTURE FASHION SCHAU Spring 2016 Theme: Multiply Collaborators: Chloe Spiess, Priya Uthaman Model: Anna Oberla

The collar “swoosh” is made out of fiberglass strands unravelled and molded in milled polystyrene foam.

The skirt is composed of layers of trace paper, atop a layer of spray painted painter’s plastic drop cloth.

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