Ceramics Portfolio by Vivian Gruendel

Ceramics

Vivian Gruendel

Vivian Gruendel

Skills

Digital Literacy

AutoCAD

Rhino 6 & Grasshopper

ClimateStudio

Ladybug & Honeybee

Revit

Bluebeam Revu

Representation

Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom & Premiere

Enscape

Digital Fabrication (LaserCAMM, 3D

Printing & CNC)

Manual Model-Making

Ceramics

Photography

Sketching

Other

Post-Occupancy Evaluations

Written & Verbal Communication

Python & Java (Introductory)

Microsoft 365

Languages

English (Fluent, native bilingual)

Spanish (Fluent, native bilingual)

French (Proficient)

Clubs + Activities

Honors College Student Council

Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society

VT AIAS

VT Empty Bowls

Ceramics Independent Studies

Experience

LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/vivian-gruendel/ Portfolios https://issuu.com/vgruendel Email vivian.gruendel@gmail.com

Summer Intern - Perkins&Will, Washington, D.C.

Jun 2023 - Aug 2023

Developed materials for SD & DD packages for a multi-story, two-tenant lab/office space. Assisted development & delivery of presentation materials for weekly client & consultant meetings. (10 weeks)

• Collected & organized site & usage data across 6 NIH campuses for NIH Sustainability & Resilience Assessment publication. Designed graphic content & coordinated feedback & contributions between Perkins&Will, CFR Engineering & Client. Facilitated on-site POE & resilience workshops at Bethesda main campus with NIH employees including administrators, engineers & researchers. (4 weeks)

• Volunteered assistance with punch visits, model-making, marketing, design studies & communityengagement documentation across various other projects in addition to primary responsibilities.

Service Desk Associate - The Home Depot

May 2021 - Aug 2021

• Quickly & accurately answered customer questions, suggested effective solutions & resolved conflicts to increase customer satisfaction

• Enhanced team’s productivity by anticipating coworkers’ needs & delivering support

• Organized & developed retrieval processes for large-format online-order inventory & reduced order retrieval time by 50%

Tiny House Build - Self-Directed Gap Year

Aug 2018 - Jul 2019

• Designed, built & donated a grid-compatible mobile tiny house

• Managed a $20,000 crowdsourced budget, developed materials lists & coordinated special orders

• Collaborated with industry professionals including contractors, plumbers & electricians Self-taught relevant building codes, design & construction skills by leveraging local & online resources (libraries, Youtube, Google & Reddit)

Education

Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

Aug 2019 - May 2024

Bachelor of Architecture; Minors in Sociology & Landscape Architecture; GPA: 3.87

• Accreditation Leed Green Associate (August 2024)

• Awards Harold Hill Memorial Award (1st Year Competition), Deans List (2019 - 2024)

Published Works ‘Breaks: A Post-Colonial Mural’ (in collaboration with Room One Thousand, Cruz Garcia, Nathalie Frankowski & 10 students at Virginia Tech); ‘How Will We Live Together,’ 17th Venice Architecture Biennale Italian Virtual Pavilion Sezione del Padiglione Italia (15 teams including Workshops for Other Worlds at VT)

• Research & Thesis Architecture of a Stitch: Sewing & embroidery as lens & rehabilitative design tool for failing Virginia rail towns

Europe Travel Program

Aug 2022 - Oct 2022

Architecture; Fall Semester, Western Europe

Collected photographs, sketches & notes to include in research papers & graphic materials

Assisted the organization of lobby exhibitions & student publications

• Research ‘Empathetic Functionalism: A Study of Alvar Aalto’s House & Studio’ analyzed how light, material simplicity & spatial organization reinforce relationships with nature & improve quality of life

Design Studies of the Built Environment

May 2022 - Jul 2022

Landscape Architecture + Industrial Design; Summer Semester, Western Europe

Research ‘Fragmentation, Layering & Weaving: A Study of Organizational Design Methods at Three Scales (Urban Fabric, Building & Material)’

Thomas

Jefferson High School for Science & Technology

2014 - 2018

Prototyping Research Laboratory Graduate; GPA: 4.2

Research ‘Hybrid Production & Construction of an Electric Ukulele’ year-long thesis employing manual woodworking & digital fabrication techniques

1 Seattle Intensive

A Practice in Refinement

Project Type

Studio Date

Location New Skills Ceramics Kokanee Fall & Winter 2024 Bellevue, WA

Glaze chemistry, large form-making, studio management

After moving to Seattle at the end of the summer, I dedicated four months to a selfdirected pottery intensive as a full-time member of a local studio. In that time, I produced 75 pieces (bowls, plates, cups, mugs, vases, goblets, and light fixtures), while refining my wheel-throwing and glazing techniques.

This experience not only expanded my technical skills but also introduced me to a diverse and creative community of makers. I embraced the discipline of daily practice: planning my sessions, processing clay, throwing, trimming, glazing, firing, cleaning the studio, documenting my progress in sketches and writings, and finally, photographing the results. I studied online creators whose work I admired, borrowed books from the studio and the library, and sought feedback from incredibly talented and generous peers. We shared tools and tips, carried bags of clay and buckets of glaze for each other, commiserated over failed pieces (cracks, drops, and misfires galore), introduced eachother to music and art of all kinds, and later inducted new members into the studio. It was a wonderful introduction to my new home, and out of that environment, this collection was born.

Special thanks to the kind individuals at the Bellevue Library Makerspace, who lent me their photography equipment and sunlit siderooms more frequently than their schedule allowed, and on more than one occassion let me borrow their flashdrive overnight.

2 Independent Study

A Collection of Wheel-Thrown Vessels

Project Type

Studio Date

Location New Skills Ceramics

Sullivan Spring 2024 Blacksburg, VA

Wheel-throwing, Trimming, Glazing

This semester’s independent study explored curved forms and resulted in the throwing, trimming, and glazing of 24 bowls, cups, mugs, and vases. Some works studied stacking, while others attempted different shapes or levels of curvature and texture.