Alice Kucherov 5th Year Portfolio

Architectural Portfolio University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design 2025

Alice Kucherov

Alice Kucherov

P h o n e : 3 14 .762 . 8 2 6 3 E m a i l : a l i cf l e u r @ g m a i l .c o m

Master of Architecture The University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design Fifth Year I’m a 5th year architecture student from St. Louis, Missouri looking for an opportunity to grow my knowledge and apply my skills to real world practice. I’m personally looking to take on a role where my individuality can shine, as well as gain experience from team projects and group work.

I’m looking to work in an environment that values personal growth and encourages innovation. I value open line communication and personal relationships, and look to be pushed to greater heights at work. I hope to work with a competent, passionate team that aligns with my values in the professional world.

Education, Honors

Work Experience

Parkway Central High graduate, Magna Cum Laude,

Graphic Designer for KU School of Engineering, 2024

2021

Counselor at Sabra Summer Camp, 2024

Special Distinction Award for Speech and Debate Honors Society, 2021

Architectural Design Intern with Benton Design Group, 2023 Host and server with Bengelina Hospitality 2022-2025

AP Scholar with Honor, Parkway Central High, 2021

Server at Bigg’s, 2022

St. Louis Group Scholarship Recipient, 2021

Service Consultant at Waterway Carwash, 2020-2022

St. Louis Artist’s Guild Young Artist’s Showcase

Party Host at Olivette Lanes, 2019-2020

Joanne Stremsterfer Prize, 2021

Courtesy Clerk at Dierbergs, 2019

KU Architecture Portfolio Review, Honorable Mention 2024 AIA Kansas Excellence in Design Merit Award Winning Team, 2024

Hard Skills Photoshop

Rhino

Illustrator

Grasshopper

InDesign

Lumion

Lightroom

Enscape

Premiere Pro

Procreate

Archicad

hand drawing

Revit

mixed studio media

SketchUp

Soft Skills I love collaborating with a group, sharing ideas, and working through compromises.

I’m detail oriented and like to be thorough.

I like taking initiative on problem solving, though I enjoy asking questions as well.

I aim to keep learning and getting better every day.

Interests Stage design, fashion, music, writing, cooking, traveling

Language English, primary language

Leadership

Russian, native

Studio Mentor, 2024

French, novice

Varsity Debate Team Captain, 2019-2021 STL Literacy Program volunteer, 2019-2020

References Adam Pickett Cody Howard Francesco Carota

636.515.0382 785.864.2936 785.8137196

adam@bentondg.com codyh@ku.edu francesco.carota@ku.edu

RYAN GRAY SHADE PAVILION, Lawrence KS

4-11

OAB VERTIPORT, Wichita KS

12-25

BOTANNICAL HEIGHTS, Shenzhen

26-35

CROSSROADS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, Kansas City

36-45

Study Abroad Documentation

46-47

Personal Works

48-49

ARCH509 Student Team: Ocean Babcock Allison Brooks

Natalie Chalona

Shyann Jonscher

Jeffrey Tistoj-Lara

Monet DeFreece

Alice Kucherov

Jillian Tomlinson

Anna Dority

Ashley Loza-Hernandez

Alex Ultzsch

Ellie Goodman

Nick Peterson

Rich Wiggins

Matthew Hahn

Kevin Rauch

Elaina Wright

RYAN GRAY PLAYGROUND SHADE PAVILION Lawrence, KS Van der Riet, Fall 509 DesignBuild Teaching Assistant: Suzanne Hampton

Professor, Project Manager: Keith van der Riet

DESIGN

SITE

The playground is dedicated to the late Ryan Gray, a dedicated Kansas basketball fan, and considered a “good luck charm” to the team.We visited and documented our targeted shade area; the picnic tables. To kick off the project, we were introduced to our site at Hillcrest Elementary. Their playground recently underwent renovations, meaning they lost most tree cover around the area, leaving recess exposed to the elements.

CONCEPT SKETCHES

DEVELOPMENT

SHADING MATERIALS TESTS

MOTION STOP

Developing our individual research, we also took inspiration from nature. The class explored the idea of “komorebi”, light being filtered through trees. I interpreted a bird’s wing as both shelter for the site. We broke up into teams, and mine explored the concept of play and motion As a class, we decided to go with the pleated pavilion, and develop a zig-zagging roof form with various shading options. We presented our ideas to the school board, our stakeholder group, and got feedback from the kids themselves.

CONSTITUENT MEETINGS

STAKEHOLDER PRESENTATIONS

FABRICATION

PLASMACUTTING

COLUMN PLATE

Beginning fabrication, we learned metal and wood shop skills, like welding, plasmacutting, saws, drilling, and communication. I learned a lot about teamwork since it was necessary to deal with heavy steel. We went on several facility tours including our galvanizers, seen to the left.

We moved carefully to our site from the warehouse.

This is where we found it the most crucial our drilled, cut, and reamed hole alignments were accurate. We poured concrete, caulked, dug out the bioswale, and carried rocks. Scaffolding allowed us to reach the highest elevations.

GALVANIZED COLUMNS

FOOTING

CONCRETE POUR

INFILL BEAM

CAULKING

BIOSWALE

ASSEMBLY

GRAND OPENING

CLUB LOUNGE

Since 1928, Wichita, Kansas has been known as “The Air Capital of the World”, yet evers since the 2008 recession, the city has been decreasing in population and industry. In an effort to revitalize the city, Wichita has come up with Project Downtown 2035. Plans of this project include an effort to bring aviation back to the downtown area. One such plan is an airport for Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVOTLs). As the first of its kind, this facility could once again put Wichita at the forefront of the aviation industry reestablishing its importance. Furthermore, this facility could increase traffic in downtown while encourgaing a green energy source. With McConnell Air Force Base and Dwight D. Eisenhower Airport near the downtown area, the vertiport will be geared towards short commutes to areas like Kansas City, Oklahoma City, St. Louis, and Dallas. This vertiport has the potential to be much more than a hub for transportation, it can also be a hub for conferneces and community gatherings.

Olive Ann Beech Vertiport Wichita, KS Van der Riet, Spring 609

PROJECT CONCEPT SUSPEND DISBELIEF....

DEF Y G R A V I T Y

DOWNTOWN WICHITA 2025

DOWNTOWN WICHITA 2035

In the Jet Age, fashion and design became all about the new and exciting technology that was transforming the world- commercial flight. Wichita is historically home to a spvirit of innovation and leadership in flight, therefore this project aims to inspire a future population to believe in the human ingenuity and perserverance that has brought them to the present.

In order for the Wichita community to take ownership of this new facility in the future downtown, the vertiport will utilize feelings of nostalgia and recognizeable elements. Impossibly heavy concrete forms tower and soar above curving volumes in the terminal, while allowing areas to view eVTOL takeoff and landing. The nonpublic hangar efficiently utilizes industrial materiality to function and communicate. The project will reminisce on past dreams of the future of commercial flight and engineering, including a clear architecural language of aerospace and transportation.

USERS

ISABELLA Age: 24 Occupation: Medical Student Why Wichita: Recently moved to downtown Wichita from neighboring suburbs. Moving out on her own to begin career and urban lifestyle.

Facility Use: Close to work, wants to grab a happy hour drink with friends in the lobby bar.

Facility Expectations: Urban, accessible, ambiance, familiar, exciting.

MIGUEL Age: 33 Occupation: Pilot Why Wichita: Wichita native, father was a commercial pilot, top of the EVTOL flight school class Facility Use: Primary work location, flies to and from Wichita hub full time. Likes to eat his lunch outdoors Facility Expectations: Cleanly upkeep, comfortable natural light, functional, efficient, stimulating

LARRY Age: 49 Occupation: Sales, ATT Why Wichita: Lives in Kansas City, must commute monthly for conferences.

Facility Use: Passenger travel, auditorium & conference room, sterile & non-sterile.

Facility Expectations: Cleanly upkeep, modern, professional, functional, stimulating.

MASSING

NIGHT LIGHTING PLAN

EAST ELEVATION

The site oriented around the southern flight takeoff and landing clearance while also responding to the urban fabric of the growing downtown. The northern picnic and garden plaza acts as a node between the arena and river areas, as well as connecting to the greater downtown on Broadway.

Currently, Wichita faces invasive parking lots and excess heat gain. A series of gardens and bioswales fill the site to hold water and heat. Species are low maintenance and native to Kansas prarie ecosystems. Small shrubs, grasses, and flowers provide an experience for the senses while preventing bird collisions.

GROUNDSIDE LOBBY WALL SECTION

EXTERIOR LIGHTING PLAN

EAST ELEVATION

Architectural uplights are angled at 45 degrees to wash the concrete façade in light, reinforcing the massing and curvature of the roof while echoing the building’s interaction with daylight during daytime hours. A clear approach view is maintained for the air traffic control tower, ensuring safe and uninterrupted oversight of the landing pads and surrounding airspace. The lighting hierarchy is calibrated to support wayfinding, minimize glare and light pollution, and ensure the building maintains its presence in the city like a beacon.

AIRSIDE HANGAR WALL SECTION

CROSS SECTION

LONGITUDINAL SECTION

TERMINAL CIRCULATION

SECOND FLOOR

HANGAR CIRCULATION

SECOND FLOOR

ATC TOWER

35’

32’

1

32’

2

16’

3

5

4

a 10’

UP

32’

b

2’0”

32’

4’0”

c

32’

d

e

32’

4’0”

Angled Columns

f

2’0”

Linear Columns

32’

UP

29’

g

UP

11’

h i N 0 0 1:20

35’

32’

6

7

4'

8'

16' 2"

32’

8

9

77’

j

31’

k

34’

l

Average Span

30’ 0”

Longest Span

77’ 0”

Shortest Span

12’ 0”

N

29’

m

n

UP

N 0 0

TERMINAL EGRESS

4'

8'

16' 2"

STRUCTURE DIAGRAM

UNDERFLOOR HVAC

CONCEPT DIAGRAM

CLASS SITE MODEL

PEARL RIVER DELTA, GUANGDONG

BOTANNICAL HEIGHTS

Shenzhen, Guangdong, China Carota, Fall 2024

As Shenzhen is an experiment in rapid urbanization, the project aims to carefully create lasting bonds in community to ensure the city’s stabilization in the coming years. In order to address the complex social context of Shenzhen as well as defining what the given brief of “luxury” means in the modern world, this project breaks up the looming density of the surrounding context by scattering smaller scale communities across the site.

The project aims to be integrated into the fabric of the city, while providing refuge from the urban scale. The site is wrapped in greenery and winding paths, reminiscent of a peaceful Chinese garden. The site is shared with a classmate.

SITE CONCEPT SKETCH ABOVE

SITE AXONOMETRIC

MASSING CONCEPT

MASS

PUNCH

LIFT

CUT

STACK

PLACE

WEST ELEVATION

EXTERIOR RENDERING

NORTH ELEVATION

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

SECTION BB

INTERIOR RENDERING, COMMON TERRACE

SECTION AA

Defining spaces that can introduce public life to the site meet private, secluded residences with communal areas that define the core of the program. Visitors can be hosted by residents and increase the odds of chance encounters. Encouraging social interaction is the key of the project’s program intent, as building a local social fabric will be essential to the city’s stability and growth.

3 BED LOFT

2 BED FLAT

2 BED LOFT

1 BED FLAT

TECTONIC DIAGRAM

The ceramic tile facade references traditional Chinese cladding while responding to climatic conditions. Ceramic tiles function well in humid, hot climates as it sheds water and absorbs heat. The tiles are directly adhered to a cavity wall that can weep moisture. The white facade envelopes the solid concrete core like a sheltering wave, creating a volume within.

LOBBY RENDERING

BUILDING HEIGHTS

USE

TRANSPORTATION

CROSSROADS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Kansas City Crossroads Gross, Spring 508

A new performing arts center is taking form in the Kansas City Crossroads, a site rich with a history of transformation and independent artistic culture. This budding identity of the KC Crossroads is just in its adolescence, and will see even greater investment and growth in the coming years and decades. This performing arts center is meant to be a lasting symbol of the local spirit, organic to its conditions, and a peek behind the curtain for the everyday visitor.

SCREEN REUSE & PATINA DIAGRAMS

SOUTH ELEVATION

Lobby

CONCEPT DIAGRAM

The site is cattycorner to the iconic Kansas City Star building, which is currently being proposed to be torn down to make way for a new sports stadium. In order to preserve the history of the area, the new performing arts center plans to rescue the copper panels of the Star to screen the facade. The old panels would be perforated in a pattern to allow light, which is inspired by the accoustic properties of water under vibration. Everything but the lobby would reuse panels, which would use a new copper that would patina over time as a symbol of the building settling into its new home.

East Elevation

A recital hall, experimental blackbox theater, and dance studio make up the majority of the program, including a main lobby, rehearsal rooms, and additional back of house facilities. Specialized architectural applications create functional spaces for various performance, such as a hydraulic floor system in the theater, recital hall acoustic design, and a saucer shaped performance area in the lobby.

The glass saucer which acts as the enterance to the lobby can preview a show inside the bowl from the outside, or act as an interior viewing gallery to the outdoors. An audience can also gaze down from the second story balcony.

RECITAL HALL RENDERING

In the recital hall, thick cast in place concrete walls offer mass for sound isolation. Hollow concrete clouds add absorbtion and reflection, while a massive hollow volume in the ceiling adds the illusion of a larger hall. The front and back walls are curved to move more sound to the audience.

LOBBY WALL DETAIL

RECITAL HALL WALL DETAIL

FILM ROW COMMUNITY CENTER Kansas City Crossroads Remboldt, Spring 209

In order to express the legacy of historic Film Row, as well as define a physical identity of the modern day arts district, the empty lot under the Kauffman Center in downtown Kansas City is becoming an arts center holding a theater, film galleries, and community programs.

Art lovers might approach from the south gallery enterance while meandering First Fridays, while theater enthusiasts might be attracted by the dome and north plaza just across the road from Kauffman.

Incorporating a 45 degree angle, spaces can imply direction, and move a visitor along by providing necessary previews of their destination.

SPAIN & PORTUGAL SKETCHES Study Abroad Documentation

MIXED MEDIA