SHARMEEN RIZVI
PORTFOLIO
BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURAL STUDIES
YEAR 01 2020-2021
TABLE OF CONTENTS drawing / ARCS 1005 Taught by Federica Goffi Exercise 11 Exercise 10 Exercise 8 Exercise 7 Exercise 6 Exercise 5 Exercise 4 Exercise 3 Exercise 1
introduction to multimedia / ARCN 2106 Taught by Adriana Ross Assignment 2 Assignment 3 Assignment 4 Assignment 5
introduction to architecture / ARCH 1000 Taught by Ozayr Saloojee and Mokena Makeka Monument Design
habitual studio 01 / ARCS 1105 Taught by Piper Bernbaum Project 1 Project 3 Term Sketchbook
director's project 2020 competitions 72HR Axonometric Battle Waterless World
illustrations and side projects
T R A N S M E D I A L I T Y
instructor: Federica Goffi
T R A N S M E D I A L I T Y
drawing | arcs 1005
exercise 11
staircase to the dreamhouse: naturescape wonderland
By exploring the natural forms that paper can create as a material, the patterns that were created due to these experiments were found to bear a resemblance to mathematical fractals. These manifest in natural geometry in a similar fashion to the curvilinear cutouts woven together for this design. This escalation is a tunnel that leads upwards in a labyrinthine fashion. Structurally, quadripartite rib vaults were a significant inspiration as their incredibly detailed design serves to lead wanderers through the spaces they occupy. The cutouts further serve as a roof feature to filter out light and create intriguing shadows around the structure, as shown in the images to the right.
exercise 10
weighty line drawing: nautilus unknown
This exercise called for the concept of either an unfinished tower, a labyrinth, or a vessel for thought and to then create a drawing based on the model. I chose to use balsa for this structure which was held together by thin wooden joints and grooves. The drawing on the right references the model's site with a water underlay and concentrates on the harsh shadows created by the ship/
exercise 8
anthropoetic body painting Using my hands and feet, I wanted to capture the swift movements and energy found in a swordfight. This form of battle has always intrigued me and takes a significant precise control over one's hands and feet, as the sword becomes an extension of these limbs.
exercise 7
anthropoetic tool
This tool physically translates the movements of the hand into gestures that can be seen visually through the page. due to the significance of my fingertips in Exercise 8, I decided to find a way to wrap wire around my hands ina glove of sorts that could then shift any tool attached to my fingertips to reflect the slightest tilt to the wrist or front of my hands. Magnets were also added to the fingertip cuffs in order to attach any tool that I may need, be it a paintbrush, a pencil, or even a fountain ink pen. This juxtaposes the restrictive and controlled design of the glove compared to the modularity of the magnets.
Due to this, I decided to use handprints footprints and swift movements across the page with acrylic paint to let a story develop itself. This further inspired my next Exercise (a tool inspired by these movements).
exercise 6 recto verso
This plan and footprint of the ship designed in Exercise 10, and I chose to mark out the hard contact in harsh black lines, while rendering shadows in small dashed and hatched lines to indicate their form. The other side has colour, separated into a legend to reflect path travel and model weight. The colour represents two functions; green for leisure and blue for function. The green reflects the attitude of a dreamer, whereas the blue is a path of function to tend to the ship and its necessary masts. The details of the plan were then inked in white to separate from the rest of it.
exercise 5 recto verso
To utilize the properties of the Mylar aper and white ink in the best way for my section's information, I designed the elevation and section to be photographed with two separate backgrounds - a white one for the elevation and a black one for my section. White blocks out the hidden information which shows the belly of the ship and levels of ascension, highlighting as well the hidden sails with dashed lines similar to the technique in Exercise 6.
exercise 4
bas relief: terra nova
This design serves Scott Kelly, an astronaut whose photographs of Earth's beautiful landscapes taken from the International Space Station awe millions. This space features a greenhouse and observatory for the astronaut's personal work as well as all the necessary components to a terraformed facility to support human life. The first floor focuses on exploration and lab work whilst the second floor is living necessities and the third provides recreation and lviing quarters.
exercise 3 cieling
Inspired by several ancient architectural aspects with a modern age twist. These shapes insspire the incorporation of Islamic domes and ornamentaion alongside Roman apses and basilica framework. This cieling represents an architectural reminder of Earth - which the artist (the astronaut) has left behind. Minimalist balsa lines and geodesic triangles are trademarks of architecture being built today.
exercise 1 axonometric
After mapping out the thresholds of my residence building, I wanted to incorporate all the different projects from throughout the semester. This features a natural flow of circular geometry alongside interior habitation detailing.
T R A N S F I G U R A T I O N
instructor: Adriana Ross
T R A N S F I G U R A T I O N
introduction to multimedia | arcn 2106
assignment 2
light, time and shadows
To understand how to properly document our work, we studied the shadows created by the models throughout the day and also photographed them from below. These practices revealed interesting new spatial qualities about the way shadow and light interacted with the model itself.
assignment 3 traces in time
The transformation a simple rotation can create is astounding, and this fact was made clear to me while creating my collagepalimpsest for Assignment 3. I found myself thinking of a vague tower being formed by the altered drawing of my ship. Layering varying opacities and select sections of my model allowed me to create a glacial landscape that connected my moving model to the drawing as though it were a tower anchoring in the ship itself, which was previously adrift. This beautiful reorientation provided me a new lens to interpret my work through.
assignment 4 contiguous transfiguration
original (above), rotation (below)
When tasked with developing a completely new axonometric from a photogram of an Exercise from ARCS 1005, finding a new viewpoint was an incredible challenge. However the horizontality of the balsa lines lended themselves to creating an axonometric with varying levels and shapes. Due to these characteristics it was loosely modelled as a harbour in space, floating and awaiting the next travelling denizens to dock there and explore its mysterious forms. Transfiguring the form of a simple model can create thousands of new possibilities and an abstract narrative that is free to be interpreted as pleased. The Spatial Void presents itself to this notion by staying true to the original experiential characteristics of the model whilst turning it into something straight out of one’s whimsies and imagination.
assignment 5
concealing and revealing
Colours have always served as both a communication tool and a source of beauty in my life, furthered by experimenting with the varying styles of the artists I chose to draw my colour inspiration from. The colours present in the De Stijl movement were striking, especially since I have noticed a rising trend in using primary colours as a common palette in media online recently.
I then was inspired by the beautifully unconventional pairings found in Perry Kulper's work, and decided to have them highlight different features of the space, to accentuate and emphasize different relationships of the rooms and structures which would otherwise be ignored or lost within the complexity of the overall image. James Turell inspired me for the last three images, as his installations of vibrant lighting is an aspect of art that has always resonated with me.
assignment 5
concealing and revealing - LAByrinth
Superimposing elements of a plan and an elevation together on top of a pre-existing collage created a unique labyrinthine laboratory workspace designed for you to get lost in. It is also heavily influenced by the role of logistic building necessities (such as pipes and water flow) and the playful way they can be transformed.
You may even notice someone diving into the water reservoirs found at the bottom…It is intended to transform the technical drawing and functional lab to twist it into a holistically perplexing space
E T H I C S P O W E R
E T H I C S
instructor: Ozayr Saloojee and Mokena Makeka
A N D
A N D
P O W E R
introduction to architecture | arch 1000
monument design
created with Cali Russell, Justin Lortie and Jackson Eyabola-Bessala
This memorial is situated at the United Nations in New York City. The architecture of the future is uncertain. For this reason, the focal point of the monument is materiality, not form. The goal is for everyone to live an eco-friendly lifestyle. The future will revolve around sustainability and renewable materials. Sustainable materials like polycarbonate panels and translucent mesh are being used for the memorial. The red wall of the memorial reflects the dangers of climate change such as rising sea levels, depletion of the ozone, and rising temperatures.
The floor inside the monument is an interactive bioluminescent material which represents one’s carbon footprint. As one ascends the ramp, the floor will glow to represent feet as people move. The fading of the footprints represents an effort to minimize carbon impact. The use of water represents the earth's constant evolution. It symbolizes purity, fluidity, power, and clarity. The choices one will have to make in the future will be reflected in the architecture.
instructor: Piper Bernbaum
H O M E
H A B I T S
A N D
A N D
H O M E
H A B I T S
habitual studio 1 | arcs 1105
project 1
of home and habit photo-essay: a record of bemused observance in isolation
technical drawings: the soul found in taking up space
project 1
of home and habit
analyticals: beauty of desolation; spatial study on light and shadows
project 1
of home and habit mini-essay
For my project I found a strong theme recurring through the various deliverables I created that not only reflected my mindset in this point of the pandemic - but also gave me new insight into the way I perceive space. I’m living in residence on the Carleton campus right now, and my dorm is a very compact capsule. A habit I noticed I’ve developed since isolation became my new normal is that during the quiet moments of my day I often get mesmerized by inconspicuous details in this room. The most constant of all is the way shadows, light, and the permanent thresholds within this space define different moods and moments of the day for me.
Wabi-Sabi is a Japanese aesthetics principle that actually accentuates the beauty of imperfections and the significance of inconspicuous details. This quality is something I find within my small dorm, and within the constraints of pandemic restrictions. These fleeting shadows and light rays that pour through my room bring me peace despite having no rhyme or reason - serving as a great personal symbol to how much has changed for me since COVID-19 began.
My first diptych translates how I have made this generic room my own with the objects that occupy it. These little inconspicuous details make up the bigger picture and by analyzing these - can give you a pretty good sense of who I am. The pandemic has forced us all to shift gears and adapt our mindsets to think healthy where once we used to be able to distract ourselves with work and social events. Before this, my mind was always occupied by attaining a sense of perfectionism or order that is celebrated in Western aesthetics. The past year destroyed that sense of order for me, and forced my perception of beauty and balance to change.
The second diptych returns to this fascination with light and space. I chose to analyze the many different shadows and light sources I’d documented in my photo essay and present them as two studies. Each focuses on two different spaces within this dorm: the first being the threshold to get ready, get dressed and exit whereas the other one is my sleeping space, dining room and studio all combined. I wanted to not only exaggerate the scale of light and shadow by overlaying different ones throughout the day, but also hone into the concept of this dorm without any sense of furniture or occupation. Each drawing within this set establishes the light of one space accurately while portraying what I see as light emanating into the other space through this passageway that joins the two.
I developed a really strong appreciation for the way these lights and shadows expand my space. This hyperawareness of my surroundings has led me to being grateful in some ways for the lockdown restrictions, since I’ve learned to appreciate the beauty of otherwise unnoticeable things…
project 3 floor plans
project 3 floor plans
elevations
project 3 floor plans
sections
project 3 sections
The Battery's history created an intergenerational divide between the occupants in the neighbourhood university students and longtime residents. I aimed to create a space that was multifaceted with facilities to host and house both age groups, despite their differing lifestyles and preferences. This meant prioritizing green space, privacy, and areas of social connection alongside spaces for private tranquility. By deriving from these aims, a stairwell with an elevator covered in refracting dichroic glass quickly took over my design flow.
Not only did I take a deep dive into a little bit of materials chemistry, but this project ensured I design in a new light I hadn't expected before. To create personal spaces for my clients (a retired university professor and his student daughter) in an infill site - I had to understand their habits and the nature of occupying space that would best suit them within the site. This led to some fun built-ins and cozy spaces hidden throughout the design, each with a trademark of my clients' inhabitation of the space. I found myself imbuing these imaginary clients into the very drafts - a concept I had never really
N O N A R C H I T E C T U R E
competed with Megan Elekes and Laetitia Chang as a team
N O N A R C H I T E C T U R E
competitions
In a time of water scarcity, we were challenged to create a recreational water park designed to exist in a future within which water was no longer readily available. Due to the competition's conceptual nature, this underwater ark was built, which reverses the notion of an aquarium by putting humans into glass domes in order to coexist with the natural oceanic wildlife without interfering with their day to day, yet continuing to enjoy the many recreational activities available . The images on the right concentrate on the details of the composition which I drew myself as it was a team effort to create this.
72 hour axo: water scarce water park
waterless world: a floating city The rapidly accelerating water crisis has created a need for architectural adaptation, in which cities and people must adapt to alternative water sources and rising sea levels. The source of the issue is not a lack of water, rather, the misuse of water; there is abundant water in our oceans to sustain life for hundreds of generations to come. UltraMarina eliminates the concern of flooding due to sea levels rising by pushing urban development onto the sea itself. In the North Pacific Ocean Gyre, calm tidal currents accommodate urban living above water. The city’s building materials are partially sourced and repurposed from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, further contributing to long-term sustainability.
waterless world: a floating city UltraMarina focuses on tackling the shortage of fresh water through the use of systems that rely on rainwater harvesting, filtering ocean water, and reusing treated water. Self-sustaining neighbourhoods are retrofitted with these systems and solar panels, while civic buildings and the city centre upcycle polluted shipping containers into usable community spaces to create a new water-conscious urban utopia. Built to outlast the future, the floating pods are modular and can be easily expanded if necessary, making UltraMarina the future blueprint of urban living in a water-scarce world.
Both were chosen as finalists. They will be published in the NonArchitecture Journal for 2021!
F U N
F U N F O R
F O R
illustrations and side projects
prints designs and illustrations As shown on the left, I enjoy experimenting with styles and colours frequently alongside the hybridization of art through multimedia. For these I combined inking with Procreate in order to create the visions I had in my mind whilst also taking the opportunity to understand the different aesthetics and styles of the references I was drawing inspiration from. The top left is of a gazebo in Pakistan, whereas the bottom is a castle located in Germany. These were requested by my followers on Instagram, as I've kept a record of my creative endeavours there since 2017.
generative art and computer animation These are sets of stills from two videos experimenting with open source 3-d modelling generative animation using Blender to develop new forms.
THANK YOU .
HOPE YOU ENJOYED BROWSING THROUGH THIS YEAR'S WORK!