o l i v i a a h mad i selected works 2017 - 2021
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C U R R I C U L U M V I TA E
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C L A I M I N G L I M I N A L S PA C E
the montreal construction site
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L I VI N G W I T H WA S T E
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a new mode of development for the midwestern city
T H E PR I N T I N G & T H E P RINT E D
a library proposal for the Plateau-Mont Royal
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I L C I MI T E R O S E P O LTO
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a proposed addition to the cemetery of Urbino, Italy
F O R M A L E X P L O R AT I O N S
a generative exercise for an intervention on McGill campus
W O O D - F R A M E C O N S T R U CT IO N DE TAIL S
educational guide
KIMONO CHAIR
deployable cardboard chair design
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R ED PAT H
Tongji University International Construction Festival 2018
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A N A L O G P H O TO G R A P H Y
selected personal works
olivia ahmadi
olivianahmadi@gmail.com +1.647.529.7511
e duc a t i o n
7404-1 Bloor St E Toronto, ON M4W 0A8 Canada
McGill University Montréal, Canada class of 2020 Bachelor of Science, Architecture - 3.7/4.0 Minor Concentration Economics Università IUAV Venice, Italy 03-07.2019 Visiting Student Neuchâtel Junior College Neuchâtel, Switzerland class of 2015 The Academy for Gifted Children - P.A.C.E. Richmond Hill, Canada 2003-2014
w or k e x p e ri e nce
Lynn Appleby Design Toronto, Canada 02.2021 Architectural Assistant Millworks Custom Manufacturing 2001 Toronto, Canada 06.2020-01.2021 Project Coordinator Manulife Japan Tokyo, Japan 07-08.2017 Student Intern, New Business
v ol u n t e e r e x p erie n ce
La Biennale Arte di Venezia McGill Fine Arts Council McGill Visual Arts Society McGill Model United Nations Assembly Sunnybrook Hospital Veterans’ Centre
logistics volunteer 2019 visual arts coordinator 2017-2018 member 2015-2018 page 2016 art therapy volunteer 2014
publ i c a t i o n s
“Selected Wood Frame Construction Details” 2018 co-author with Camyl Vigneault, under the guidance of Professor Avi Friedman
c omp e t i t i o n s
special mention - CCA Charrette 2020 Montréal, Canada one of three team members 2nd place - Timber Fever Design-Build Competition Toronto, Canada one of six team members 2nd place - Tongji International Construction Festival Shanghai, China one of six team members selected to represent McGill
2020 2019 2018
l a ng u a g e s
English, Italian, French, conversational Japanese
pr o f i c i e n c i e s
Rhino 3D, Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Premiere, Lightroom), AutoCAD, V-Ray for Rhino, Revit, Grasshopper, Microsoft Excel, model-making, wood working, CNC, laser & waterjet file preparation
i nte re s t s
analog photography, sketching, painting, piano, harp, art history
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CLAIMING LIMINAL SPACE the montreal construction site
with Camyl Vigneault and Olivier Therrien for CCA Charette 2020 - special mention 25h city november 2020
Much of urban Montreal seems to be constantly under construction. Sites that are alive with machinery and production during the day prove to be a nuisance when noise, vibration and traffic disrupt life in the vicinity. The construction industry is almost universally active between the hours of 6 am and 5 pm, after which sites are left empty until the next day. One such place is the future site of Laurent & Clark Condominiums in the Quartier des Spectacles. At night, this vacant space can be reclaimed for people of all walks of life, where inflatable architecture animates the building under construction and its surrounding area. When the museums of the neighbourhood have closed their doors for the night, the
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construction site offers itself as an ephemeral setting for performance art, projections or mere contemplation. The public is invited into this liminal space that is usually off limits by an indulgent architecture that infiltrates the night. By encouraging people to develop a relationship with a building in progress, the discontent felt during construction can be offset. Allowing people to appropriate the space inside the bubbles transforms a sleepy construction site into an active community space. Those who frequent the area will no longer dread the noise and disturbance of construction, but eagerly anticipate the nighttime activities that follow suit.
RUE ST LAURENT
RUE CLARK BLVD DE MAISONNEUVE
things that happen at day // things that happen at night
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Each stage of the construction process offers a different opportunity for intervention. Scraps from demolition are salvaged and repurposed as the “initiating structure” where the inflatables are stored during the day. Voids and elevator shafts becomeapertures that shape these nocturnal structures. A facade under restoration overflows with tubes of light that mingle with pedestrians in the street.
the underpinning of christ church
stargazing in an excavated metro stop
gathering at the future site of the cca
dancing in old montreal
phases of construction // typologies
initiation
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infill
facadism
activated future site of laurent & clark condominiums quartier des spectacles
restoration
vantage point
appropriation
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LIVING WITH WASTE
a new mode of development for the midwestern city for ARCH 406 on edge: the midwest city at McGill University instructor Daniela Leon march-april 2020
In the midwestern city, necessary large scale infrastructural development is often pushed to the outskirts, while suburban sprawl continues at the built edge. This project explores an alternate approach to this segregated growth. A subterranean waste-to-energy facility acts as an armature for urban growth, where new development is functionally tied to the various processes of the plant.
Taking Regina, Saskatchewan as a case study, underutilized rail infrastructure can be repurposed to transport waste from the existing city to the new development. In this case, waste is the underlying system that ties the buildings in this development together. Everything relays back to the plant, which then provides electricity to the city. This project explores how a the design of a residential buidling adjacent to this new plant may be informed by such a reciprocal relationship.
preliminary diagrammatic section
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A closer look at a residential building adjacent to the main axis of the plant reveals how the built environment can reinforce our relationship to infrastrucutre, highlighting it instead of hiding it. The residences are lifted off the ground plane to expose the cores, making visible the infrastructure that pushes up and into the building. Recessed floor plates shape the public realm of the building below grade, creating exterior spaces that engage with the plant.
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ground level
unit level
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In a building so closely tied to infrastructure, space is designated either free or service, where poché captures the utitily of everyday life. The definition of service spaces is extended to include not only waste chutes and wet spaces, but also living areas, storage, and circulation. Vaulted ceilings articulate spaces that belong to the poche, both interior and exterior.
sunken courtyard looking into plant
two-level unit interior
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THE PRINTING & THE PRINTED a library proposal for the Plateau-Mont Royal
with Camyl Vigneault for ARCH405 comprehensive studio: the library at McGill University instructor Howard Davies september - december 2019
Located near Métro Mont-Royal in Montréal, “The Printing & The Printed” is a proposal for a library with an integrated co-operative printing house. The additional program was conceived as a response to the numerous independent artists and publishers who call the neighbourhood home, providing a place for collaboration, education, and community engagement.
The two programs inform each other -- spaces are organized to simultaneously maintain openness within the library and create a dialogue between the two programs. An industrial approach to detail and design encourages users to remain conscious of the aspect of production throughout the entirety of the library.
inside machine room
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ground floor
second floor
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The San Bernardino cemetery has been the sole cemetery of the historic city of Urbino, Italy since the Renaissance. It has served as a place of rest for both nobility and civilians alike. In a context where hierarchy is embedded into the built environment of both the living and the dead, my proposal suggests a resting place that is blind to both identity and the past.
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IL CIMITERO SEPOLTO
a proposed addition to San Bernardino cemetery
for laboratorio d’anno 2 ritorno a urbino at Università IUAV di Venezia instructor Sara Marini march - july 2019
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Two entry points nestled between mausoleums lead visitors to an underground columbarium. While barely visible from above ground, visitors descend a long, narrow staircase to find themselves swallowed by the structure. From the inside, all that can be seen is the structure itself and the greenery that persists -there is a monumentality that can only be experienced from within.
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model photos
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1:200
1:100
1. Linaria purpurea
common name: purple toadflux native: marche, italy size: 30-70 cm leaves: 2-5 cm flowers: 1-2 cm, 5 petals with 2 lips colour: purple
2. Cerastium tomentosum
common name: snow-in-summer native: high altitudes, italy size: 20-40 cm leaves: <3 cm flowers: 15 mm, 5 petals colour: white flowers, silvery stems
3. Brachypodium genuense common name: erba genovese native: northern italy size: 30-70 cm leaves: 10-15 cm flowers: none colour: green, light brown at tips
4. Aquilegia dumeticola
common name: aquilegia comune native: italy size: 20-50 cm leaves: 5-7 cm flowers: 7-10 cm, 2 layers of 5 petals colour: purple
garden
herbarium
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model photos
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FORMAL EXPLORATIONS
a generative exercise for an intervention on McGill campus for ARCH303 at McGill University instructor Vedanta Balbahadur september - december 2018
The studio began by exploring formal ambiguity in two dimensions. Basic shapes were manipulated following a set of rules to generate two-dimensional drawings. These drawings served as the basis for an iterative process of three dimensional formal and spatial explorations, culminating in a proposed intervention for McGill's lower field.
The new structure connects the McLennanRedpath library complex to the main gates of the university as well as the field. Following the principles explored in both two and three dimensions, the structure folds and opens itself to create a “third space” on campus -- one where students may go to spectate, socialize, or study.
proposed intervention
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east elevation
north elevation
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WOOD-FRAME CONSTRUCTION DETAILS educational guide
with Camyl Vigneault created for McGill University under the guidance of Professor Avi Friedman june - august 2018
After successfully completing Professor Friedman's course Organization of Materials in Buildings, my partner and I were asked to create an instructional guide for future students. The document explains key details of small scale wood-frame construction by way of drawing and diagram.
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KIMONO CHAIR
deployable cardboard chair design with Camyl Vigneault for ARCH202 at McGill University instructor David Covo december 2017
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REDPATH
inter-university design-build competition with Adam Ghadi-Delgado, Diana Nigmatullina, Tommy Yang, Nour Achrafie, Hongming Liang second place - Tongji International Construction Festival Shanghai, China instructor David Covo june 2018
Myself and five other McGill students were selected to represent our school at the Tongji International Construction Festival in Shanghai, where we received second prize. The design-build competition challenged us to create a pavilion using corrugated polypropylene sheets inspired by the poem “The Double Seventh Night” by Du Mu.
Two sets of arches spread and converge, simultaneously self-stabilizing and creating a sheltered space between them. The structure recalls the imagery of the poem, which describes a heavenly bridge uniting lost loves. Below are my own 35mm photographs of the constructed pavilion.
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cannaregio, venice, italy march 2019 120mm
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ANALOG PHOTOGRAPHY selected personal works
nishi-shinjuku, tokyo, japan august 2017 35mm
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urbino, marche, italy march 2019 35mm
chinatown, yokohama, japan august 2017 35mm 44
tropea, calabria, italy august 2019 35mm 45
omoide yokocho, shinjuku, tokyo, japan july 2017 35mm
vignole, laguna di venezia, italy may 2019 35mm 46
falerna, calabria, italy august 2019 35mm 47
olivianahmadi@gmail.com +1.647.529.7511 7404-1 Bloor Street East Toronto, ON M4W 0A8 Canada