GRADUATE ARCHITECTURE STUDENT ASSOCIATION | MAY 2021
WATT UP? GASA NEWSLETTER
WAYS TO STAY PRODUCTIVE OVER SUMMER | IDEAS- 01 A LIST OF BULLET POINT ADVICE ON JOB APPLICATIONS - 02
BIODESIGN- 03 STUDENT PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS- 04 LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT- 05
WAYS TO STAY PRODUCTIVE OVER SUMMER | IDEAS BY KATELYN LENTZ Whether taking on a summer internship, traveling or recuperating after the virtual school year, there are plenty of ways to stay productive over the summer. It’s a perfect time to gain some new skills to take into the next semester or give something new a try. Here are a few ideas!
This is a great time to learn software to take into the upcoming semester, especially before the schedule is packed with projects. A few rendering software to try are Maya, Cinema 4D and Blender as well as Enscape, Lumion and V-Ray.
SSummer is the perfect time to find some favorite spots to relax and soak up the sun, as well as brush up on those hand drawing skills.
Creating a beautiful website of your work can be time consuming, and what better time to prepare for the upcoming year than to start in summer? Plus, you will be one step ahead when internship applications roll around again.
Grab coffee with a mentor or meet up with a co-worker! It’s a great time to build your network before school starts up again.
Taking on a summer competition can help keep the design juices flowing while boosting your portfolio.
Los Angeles is known for some amazing architecture so explore and have fun!
A LIST OF BULLET POINT ADVICE ON JOB APPLICATIONS BY LIEM TRAN Hello! My name is Liem Tran, and I am the GASA M.ARCH 2021 Representative. Below is a list of advice for job applications that I have acquired from mentors, friends, and personal experiences over the years. I hope they can add some bucks to your pocket.
Before asking what firm to look for, ask yourself about your focus in design, values, professional goals, and priorities, etc. For example, are you open to relocating? If yes, what are the expenses you must consider? Firm characteristics to consider are values, visions, size, portfolio (building sectors), location, culture, etc. Don't limit yourself and be open-minded and flexible to the types of firm. Do you have any person to contact for the firm you are looking at? You can reach out to ask them about opening availability or their experience working at that firm. You may be lucky to also set up a "catch-up" or "greeting" meeting with the contact person.
Portfolio Digital portfolio means you are not limited to the number of pages; however, you are limited to the file size. The common file sizes for job applications are 5mb, 6mb, and 10mb. It is important to show the diversity of your works; however, you may want to treat your portfolio more as a work sample or a compact portfolio. Below are some tips for a compact portfolio: BE SELECTIVE! START SMALL AND ADD MORE CONTENTS LATER. 2 important projects: maximum 3 or 2 spreads 2 to 3 extra projects that include non-study elective (fabrication, coding, etc) works of interests: 1 spread each 3 or 4 professional projects: 1 spread or 1 page each Keep the file around 20-30 pages only. When exporting the portfolio from InDesign, set the compression setting around 110 to 140 ppi (around 200 ppi for 10 mb) I also use https://www.ilovepdf.com/compress_pdf with "less compression" option for a second compression to bring the file size down to the required size. Sites for inspiration https://www.behance.net/ https://www.designspiration.com/ https://issuu.com/ https://www.pinterest.com/ Archi Hacks account on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNfL0P1MAXpM8pQEM9jqZAw Resume Don't put a scale bar for your skillset or software section. I was recommended to also not include an image for diversity and equity reasons.
Website Having a website is a plus. You will leave a better impression, especially during an interview. Most website builders have pre-design templates that are easy to use. Some website builders: https://portfolio.adobe.com (what I am using) https://www.portfoliobox.net/ https://www.squarespace.com/ https://www.wix.com/ Cover Letter As mentioned, coming up with a list of firms that align with your passion and interest is important because it will save you time adjusting the content of the cover letter for every single firm. I normally leave the second paragraph discussing my design interest and how it connects to why I chose the specific firm. This allows me to quickly change out the information of the firm and their vision while keeping most parts of my letter unchanged.
Create an Excel Sheet to help you track your application process. Saving the application site website will allow you to quickly check on the firm’s reviewing process later on.
To speed up the process I create a file structure to manage the files: different folders for different portfolio sizes, one folder for resume, and folders with firm names for each cover letter.
It is an advantage to talk to firms you have already applied for. This leaves a better impression that you know about the firm and care about their work. You don't just treat the Firm Fair as a chance to get to know the firm but as a short interview with a person from the firm who can potentially pass on your materials to the hiring team. Always ask for contact information to send a thank you follow-up email with attachments of your resume, portfolio, or cover letter.
Every interview is different, and every interviewer has different ways to approach an interview. The best way to prepare is to know yourself enough to be flexible in answering their questions that would align with the firm's vision, background, and expectation. Talk about your Portfolio (Website is a plus!) Normally they would ask you to go over the portfolio to learn about your design and thinking process. Know your project by heart! Spend around 5 minutes on each project. You may go over 2 academic projects and 2 professional projects. My approach: I ask if I can present my website instead of the pdf portfolio to showcase how I picked up new video and animation making skills when doing virtual studio. I quickly introduce my content page and list out the different projects name and topic. I also tell them to let me know if there's any project that catches their eyes and they want me to specifically talk about. The first project I pick would be my favorite project that I feel most excited to share. Remember to mention if the project is individual or teamwork and the programs you used (Rhino, Enscape, Revit, physical model making, etc.). Passion for design and your goals in the coming year? It's good to know the type of projects you want to work on (scale, typology, sectors, public or private) and cater this toward the types of projects the firm does. Firm Pick 2 or 3 of your favorite projects of the firm to discuss if the question comes up. You should be able to identify why you like them (ex: focus sustainability, the spatial experience, façade design, technical execution, etc.) that tie back to the firm's value and your design value.
Finally, be open-minded, patient, and flexible. Most importantly, start early. For this semester, I started preparing my materials in Fall 2020 and used Winter Break to refine and finalize them. I started my application process in early February. I also reached out to mentors and friends for casual portfolio/resume reviews. It may take up to 2 or 3 months to hear back from an application. Large firms may have 200+ applications for a position so you must be patient. And if there's no job posting online, reach out to someone at the firm you know and ask. Just keep applying and good luck! – Liem My Tran
LANDSCAPE FUTURES: BIODESIGN BY CHIZOBA IBEANUSI
The Biodesign Challenge is an educational program and competition that is shaping the first generation of bio designers. The challenge partners high school and university students with scientists, artists, and designers to envision, create, and critique transformational applications in biotech. In 2021 students from across the globe will present their projects to leading thinkers in academia, industry, art, and design before an online audience of over 5,000. In previous years the BDC Summit took place at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in New York City.
In Professor Aroussiak Gabrielian’s Spring 2021 540: Topics in Media for Landscape Architecture, a select group of students were tasked with re-imaging the future of biodesign through the exploration of sea organisms. Sea sponges, kelp, sea anemone, and diatoms were at the center of the coursework. We split into groups and tackled the Biodesign Challenge through a series of interactive and generative assignments that examined the anatomy, applications and uses of our selected sea organisms.
The coursework built up to the final presentation of our proposals that incorporated the sea organisms at all scales. Ultimately, one team was selected to move forward and represent USC at the BDC Summit.
“Sponge Futures” by Zoe Voss Lee (B.S. in GeoDesign, Ana Mangino (MLA +3), and Andrea Binz (MLA +3) critiques the present by looking back on a future in which the freshwater sponge plays a pivotal role in the year 2080, when crises of environmental degradation and socioeconomic inequality reach a turning point following the Los Angeles Arsenic Crisis. A podcast and website displaying “artifacts” of the event immerse viewers in the world of speculative design where a household filtration system inhabited by a living sponge provides a bottom-up, nature based solution to aid communities in California and beyond struggling with arsenic-contaminated drinking water.
Congrats to team Sponge Futures!
Topics in Media for Landscape Architecture cross-listed undergraduates and graduates within majors of Dornsife, MLA+U, Architecture, and the School of Cinematic Arts. Throughout the course we were taught by designers such as Faye Nixon at Kounkuey Design Initiative and read text such as BioArt: Altered Realities by William Meyers to deepen our understanding of trans-disciplinary approaches.
STUDENT PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS CURATED BY DAVID FLORES
The Shift Fall 2020 BY TARA AKDORA The Shift, an international student house located at USC, examines the needs and wants of the students and through both program and design offers an idea of home for its users.
The house aims to provide the students both connection and privacy simultaneously. Carefully examined student movement and circulation around the site, the design calls to bring the most amount of students into its courtyard and restricts isolation.
The curvilinear design emphasized towards the secured courtyard forces an offset from the site’s grid; whereas the project still maintains a site relationship through footprint and a regulated exterior facade.
The Shift pushes the boundaries between organic forms and regular, between curves and linear.
L.A. Med-Hive: The Pathway, Spring 2021 BY LEENA CHAUDHURI AND BIANCA ROH The Pathway acts as a nexus of the various circulatory networks surrounding the site. With a circulatory and programmatic ramp, the design of the L.A. Med-Hive aims to engage visitors with a pathway leading up and into the massing as well as the green space on the ground plane.
This project allowed us to thoroughly explore the context of Exposition and Crenshaw Boulevard, and further pushed us to think about how to use green space as a point of engagement amongst visitors to the Med-Hive. The ramp has varying structural conditions with a ground, floating, and cantilever condition, while the massing around it consists of a CTL post and beam structure.
Our goal is to emphasize the two structures and allow them to be synthesized into the design of the Pathway, which is oriented towards the busy pedestrian crossing along Crenshaw Boulevard. The pathway cuts through the site breaking up the main massing to create experiential spaces.
Domesticity and the Public Realm, Spring 2020 BY NENGJING LI My project is the study between interior and exterior space and their relationship to public and private spaces. According to Robert Venturi’s writings in Complexity and Contradiction, his interest in elements that are both “good and awkward, big and little, closed and open, continuous and articulated, round and square, or structural and spatial” were my point of departure and inspiration for the design concept.
The private space for domesticity, which is solid and closed, is expressed as a figural tower, in the middle of the project, and is a counterpoint to public space of the stepping roof, which is opened and in direct contact with its surroundings. The semi-public space of the open court and the glass enclosed living space below the stepping roof can be opened so that the living room and court are connected as a continuous semi-public gathering space.
Sunlight infiltrates the interior of the space in various ways. A large skylight in the tall space for domesticity, allow direct light to enter the space from above, while the glass façade of the living area lets indirect natural light to enter while providing a direct physical and visual connection to the exterior court.
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LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT A huge congratulations to everyone for completing what was an incredibly difficult and challenging year! Especially to the graduating class! I know zoom school was tough but we've all gained some incredible skills that will, without a doubt, help us in the long run! This is the last newsletter of the year, but if you have any other content you would like to see for next year please email us at gasatrojans@gmail.com Hope to see you all in person in the fall! Until then, I hope you all have an amazing and relaxing summer! Sincerely,
Shadan Mirzaei