Rebecca Woytassek 617 Willow Drive, Aberdeen, SD 57401 rebecca.woytassek@jacks.sdstate.edu (605) 252-1288
Experience
Education
Information Exchange Attendant / Brookings, SD (2016-Present) Serviced visitors, students, and staff by providing directions and campus information. Answered phones and created reservations for campus organizations. Operated faxes and printers, dealt with money transactions, and reconciled tills.
South Dakota State University / Brookings, SD Bachelor of Fine Arts in Architecture Cumulative GPA - 3.83 GPA Minor in Construction Management
CO-OP Architecture Intern / Aberdeen, SD (2015-2019) Designed and developed project booklets and presentation boards for clients. Worked as a team member for the Friends and Citizens 2019 Studio proposal. Assisted with creating renders and graphic displays of projects and presentations. SDSU DoArch / Brookings, SD (2018) Developed digital documentation for portfolios. Helped clean and organize studio space. Assisted in creating a series of books summarizing work, events, and research.
Roncalli High School / Aberdeen, SD High School Diploma Cumulative GPA - 4.20 GPA Graduated with Honors
Software + Fabrication Skills Software Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Lumion, SketchUp, Rhinoceros, Revit 2020 Fabrication Modeling with foam, wood, acrylic, board and paper, drawing, laser-cutter, and wood shop
Involvements SDSU America Institute of Architects Member Tau Sigma Delta Member State-A-Thon Participant Habitat for Humanity Volunteer
Awards College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s List 2019 Friends and Citizens Summer Design Studio 2017 TSP/DoARCH Scholarship Blue and Yellow Scholarship South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship Hatterscheidt Scholarship
Garcia Lammers / 2017FA Building Arts Studio I
Fly Space
Fly Space focuses on stairs as a fundamental architectural element for studying and understanding spatial relationships. Ascending or descending, stairs allow for the vertical movement between space. Operations and spaces within the cubes had specific dimensions, but were scale-less. Working iteratively and within given constraints, a familial language developed between each model. A catalogue of stair types also influenced the understanding of spatial sequence created by stairs. Desk critiques and reviews structured the iterative process and led to a final model, drawing, and images. Throughout the project an exploration of sequences in cubes in relation to space occurred. Additionally, experimentation with assembly of materials led to understand a stronger understanding of the difference between mass and plane. Switching between mediums of modeling and drawing, by hand and digitally, allowed for an analysis of the role stairs hold in identifying space. Narratives were also incorporated in the work flow to spark imaginative events associated with the stairs and space. Stairs define spaces just as a system of stairs can generate a spatial sequence.
Straight, single-run stair.
Straight, single-run stair with two flights of stairs and intermittent landing.
Straight single-run stair with two flights of stairs and a corner landing.
Staircase with two or more straight parallel runs including intermittent landings.
Straight double-flight, single-run staircase without landings.
Three run staircase with one shared access flight, a central landing and two diverging exit flights.
Staircase with two flights of stairs in opposite run direction, sharing a central platform landing.
Straight single-run stair with two flights of stairs and a turning landing.
Symmetrical staircase with two runs at tow flights of stairs each, with a central platform landing.
Staircase with three straight flights of stairs connected by one central landing.
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Garcia Lammers / 2017FA Building Arts Studio I
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Garcia Fritz / 2018SP Building Arts Studio II
Situation of Section
Situation of Section explores balanced asymmetry, rhythm, and datum lines. In the first iteration, an open arched structure was placed in opposition of massed elements. In the following, the arched void became a semi-sphere structure to better balance the lower mass organized by datum lines. In the final iteration, to better illustrate this principle, the sections were moved off center to show a balanced asymmetry between the model’s left and right sides. The large mass to the left, grounds the model and juxtaposes the modular and geometrical open spaces created to the right. Museum board was used for the material. Datum lines were also explored as a way to organize and create rhythm within the mass. Because of its large presence in the model, figuring out a way to organize the spaces around it and to achieve asymmetrical balance was a challenge; however, the final iterations used datum lines to create a progression through the model, up the mass, and to hierarchical volumes of the model. The main hierarchical volume of the structure is the large semi-sphere that serves as the central transition between both halves of the balanced asymmetry.
Yale School of Architecture
The Skull
Expo 2000
Laperouse Mausoleum
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Villa Rotunda
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Garcia Fritz / 2018SP Building Arts Studio II
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Rex / 2019SP Architecture Studio I
The Berlin Project
Two histories, Kathe Kollwitz and the Jüdischer Friedhof cemetery, sit on either side of the Judengang, a word meaning Jewish passage located in Berlin, Germany. Two rectangular structures, one vertical and one horizontal, sit side by side in the 7 by 400 meter threshold. The vertical and horizontal structures appears separate volumes, yet are tied together by a moment of passage. The vertical structure rises above and the horizontal structure extends over the historic site. While the separate building forms drive the function, the circulation weaves each together, only pausing at moments for remembrance of both Kathe Kollwitz and the cemetery. Le Corbusier’s Maison Curutchet, 1949, was a precedent for Rise Over. Maison Curutchet was a study of the tension between shared spaces, public and private, and focused on pure volumes. It is organized around a column grid and multi-level planes, yet its dimensionality allows for experiencing spaces. Accompanying these, a ramp connects the functional spaces which appear separate from one another. This ramp, is a neutral condition and is the “greatest moment of repose and at the same time the greatest tension being a moment of passage” as it is the crossover from private to public.
Maison Curutchet model
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Maison Curutchet spatial study
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Exploded spatial study
Interior circulation volumes
Resulting form
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Rex / 2019SP Architecture Studio I
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The entrance of the building preserves the original gate marked with the two stars of David that currently stands in the site.
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Once a year the existing gate is opened for visitors to come into the Judengang and keeping with tradition, only one day out of the year will the right door of the building be unlocked. Behind this door, visitors can walk through the horizontal volume threshold and on the untouched path of the Judengang towards the cemetery, hidden between the garden-sheds and Wilhelminian tenements of Kollwitzstrasse.
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On the remaining days out of the year, the left door is open to visitors to circulate through the building. The visitor moves up a ramp located in the horizontal volume that hovers above the Judengang and faces the cemetery.
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Crossing through the moment of passage, the visitor is now in a transparent box where the clear height changes from seven feet to nearly fifty feet. Below the transparent floor, a mirror tilted at forty-five degrees reflects up.
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The look out spot faces the cemetery for those visiting in remembrance of the site’s significance to Berlin history.
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The visitor turns and continues on towards the front of the volume before coming to threshold between the horizontal and vertical structures.
Then reaching the stairs, the visitor can circulate up the dark volume only to once again move into the transparent box. Above, another mirror is tilted at forty-five degrees. Together, both mirrors operate like a periscope for those at the base of the vertical volume to gaze through towards the Kollwitzplatz park.
Lee / 2018SP Building Shop I
Articulated Rocker
Articulated Rocker was an iterative building shop project that required experimentation, failure, and analysis before an automotive production via a CNC machine could result. The first iterations were of a single section, hand-crafted to experiment with possible outcomes of chair height and rocker span. Some of the challenges faced were to create a fluent step- by-step process of assembly, adjusting design of pieces to fit cohesively, and experimenting with the rocker span to correlate with the chair height and tilt. The final iteration was CNC cut from the pattern shown below. Four main components were assembled to make one section of the rocking chair. A section is composed of the chair back, the seat, the rocker stem and the rocker. A section is placed next to another section and so on to increase the width of the chair. Each section catches on the previous and a wave form is created as the user sits. At the end of the seat, small puck-sized weights offset the user as they sit or stand and the chair folds or straightens.
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Lee / 2018SP Building Shop I
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Xu / 2018FA Building Arts Studio III
Visualizing Urban Environments
The Masked Plaza, the project name for this studio, offers locals and visitors a dynamic visual experience as each view of the building appears different depending on the way it is approached either from the east or west direction. Locating the restaurant and hotel on either side of the site creates a bounding condition and allows for wind protection for those staying, dining, and enjoying the plaza space. The hotel entry is composed of a translucent material to mask the plaza from the street side, while still allowing maximum light to enter. When a plaza is located towards the back of the site and between two structures, it can often become very shaded and cold, however utilizing the translucent material lessens this. The plaza is multipurpose for hotel guests to enjoy as a garden and for restaurant go-ers to enjoys a meal outside on a nice day. Additionally, the stairs in the translucent mass serve as a connection from the hotel to the roof-top restaurant to promote circulation between the two different buildings. Furthermore, the position of the restaurant allows eaters to have either a street view while dining or a view overlooking the plaza. And the hotel allows for good lighting conditions to enter into each of its units.
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January 27, 2020
South Dakota State University Department of Architecture Graduate Program Brookings, SD 57006
Dear Graduate Selection Committee: I am writing to express my desire for acceptance into the Master of Architecture Graduate Program at South Dakota State University for the fall of 2020. Currently, I am enrolled in the undergraduate architecture program at South Dakota State University. I anticipate to graduate spring 2020 with my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Architecture and minor in Construction Management. If I am fortunate enough to be admitted into the program, it is my goal is to advance my education in the field of architecture here in Brookings. DoArch played a key role in shaping me as a student and young professional. Its highly venerated role as a catalyst to architecture in the Midwest weighed heavily in my decision to pursue the master’s degree program at South Dakota State University. Within the last four years, my leadership and service accomplishments include being in the top five percentile of my architecture class and a member of the architecture honor society, Tau Sigma Delta. Additionally, my involvements include volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, serving as a member of the American Institute of Architecture Students, and gaining experience through internship at Co-Op Architecture in Aberdeen, SD. Without the hands-on experiences, intellectual challenges, and preparation from the faculty and staff at South Dakota State University, I feel as though my architectural accomplishments thus far would not have been possible. Going into the program as a freshman, I had a strong passion for design, and DoArch gave me the framework and encouragement to explore my skills and talents as an incoming student with no prior experience. While I feel that I have made immense progress as an architecture student, there is still much to be learned from the faculty at South Dakota State University to help me grow as a professional. Furthermore, I am applying to the South Dakota State University master’s degree program because I want to hone my skills in fabrication and push the limits of my capabilities in studio courses. The literature from past building history classes has resonated strongly with me, and I have exercised my written communication skills. I feel well equipped to utilize both aspects in my studio and professional practice. My career plans following my education consist of completing my AXP hours, passing the ARE, and performing as a licensed architect in a professional setting. With admittance into the master’s program, I will have the foundation and resources to achieve these goals. Therefore, I believe my scholastic and professional experiences, understanding and success in past architecture courses, and attention to detail in fabricating drawings and models qualify me as a strong candidate for the Master of Architecture Graduate Program at South Dakota State University. Thank you for taking time to review my application and considering me as a candidate. I look forward to hearing your response. Sincerely,
Rebecca Woytassek