SELECTED WORKS 2021-2025
This portfolio contains the design work of Aiden Olsted
Aiden Olsted Works/Portfolio © 2025
Bachelor of Architecture
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture
Address 9 Stableford Place Mechanicville, NY 12118
arolsted@icloud.com olstea@rpi.edu 518.430.7072
SPRING 2024
COMPREHENSIVE DESIGN STUDIO 2
CRITIC: EMILY GRUENDEL
LOCATION: NEW YORK, NY, USA
PROGRAM: MULTI-MEDIA PUBLIC LIBRARY
This NYC branch library comprises two distinct wings split apart by a vertical chasm. The composite structure is enclosed with a facade of perforated metal fins which, through perforation and rotation, mitigate how light, air, views, and people enter the structure. This creates a controlled environment for the library’s users and allows the various programmatic spaces to be customized for their specific needs.
The southern wing is thin and light, composed of glass and metal. It houses a Spanish staircase/auditorium connecting the ground level to the High Line entrance. The northern wing is wide and heavy; comprised of solid materials and the building’s core. The chasm is a spine of vertical circulation featuring a continuous public staircase.
The interior program is organized such that louder programs are arranged around the spine, getting quieter as they grow more distant from it. Lobbies and auditoriums are accessed directly from the spine while focus rooms and study pods are pushed towards the quiet edges of the structure.
3.1
1/2" = 1'-0"
3.2
1/2" = 1'-0"
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN STUDIO IV
CRITIC: ADAM DAYEM
PARTNERS: JILLIAN LIN, PARISA NORI
LOCATION: TROY, NY, USA
PROGRAM: APARTMENTS
The site on the corner of Congress and Third Street is surrounded by walkable boutiques, restaurants, and a farmers market. The proposed building includes new retail spaces on the ground level, parking on the floor below, and residential units on the floors above. The project includes two slanted cuts into a central courtyard to promote an alternative circulation and to open up space around the busier bus stop. This creates a sense of porosity between the building and its environment. The storefronts are moved into the courtyard to ease congestion. Another slanted void creates a private patio for residents to enjoy. All of these voids allow for more southern exposure for warmth and light to cloak the building.
A continuous slanting exoskeleton surrounds the building and acts as a sun-shading device. These slanted fins run through the project and organize the interior space, creating slanted unit walls. The fins also emphasize the structure’s verticality while breaking it up into more human-scale chunks.
ALTERNATIVE CIRCULATION COURTYARD
FALL 2024
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN STUDIO V
CRITIC: FLEET HOWER
PARTNER: JILLIAN LIN
LOCATION: RED HOOK, NY, USA
PROGRAM: APARTMENTS AND FACTORY
The residential project in Redhook, Brooklyn, New York, features a progressive development model centered around prefabricated CLT (Cross-Laminated Timber) and Glulam (Glue-Laminated Timber) units. Manufactured on-site in factories built in multiple phases, the project showcases the efficiency of modular construction. The on-site buildings function as live advertisements for the prefabricated units, offering customizable layouts with varying bedroom sizes to meet the needs of customers and developers. This innovative approach allows for flexibility and efficiency in residential design.
Materials for component construction are gathered from local sources and brought to the factory complex. These materials are fabricated into subassembly components on-site according to a modular construction system. Project clients choose which construction methodology is best for their project. Either, the subassembly components can be joined into complete modules, being shipped as full units to construction sites, or the individual components can be shipped to construction sites and assembled there.
DOCK (INDUSTRIAL)
UNIT FACTORY (INDUSTRIAL)
UNIT FACTORY (INDUSTRIAL)
FIELDS (COMMUNITY) FLOWER
(COMMUNITY) UNIT FACTORY (INDUSTRIAL)
TREE
(COMMUNITY)
OUTDOOR GYM (COMMUNITY)
SECLUDED
DOG
(COMMUNITY)
SMALL TOWER (RESIDENTIAL)
Vetted construction materials and products for the building components are gathered from local suppliers
Subassembly components are produced in company factories to meet modular construction requirements
Clients participate in selecting their desired unit types to meet programatic or housing needs
Job Type
Based on client preferences, shipping restrictions, and construction timeline, either assembles units or subassembly parts are shipped to the construction site
Full Assemblies
Subassemblies
Unit Shipping and Assembly
Fully assembled units are shipped to the construction site, where they are stacked and secured in place This may lead to increased shipping costs, but faster and more efficient construction timelines
Design for Adaptation
All construction sites are provided with extra subassembly components which can later be used to adapt the original units
Follow Up
Follow up checks are provided to track user adaptation patterns and to help inform future original unit and adaptation configurations
Part Shipping and Assembly
Subassembly parts are shipped to the construction site, where they are assembled into units on site This leads to lower shipping costs and more flexible transport, but longer construction times
COLUMN COLUMN-TO-COLUMN CONNECTOR
BEAM-TO-COLUMN CONNECTOR CLT PLUG
BEAM-TO-COLUMN CONNECTOR
6 X6 GLULAM COLUMN
SPRING 2022
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN STUDIO II
CRITIC: WALAID SEHWAIL
LOCATION: TROY, NY, USA
PROGRAM: PAVILION
Troy, New York has been undergoing a re-imagining for the past decade. The city’s access to the Hudson River waterfront has been a focus of this transformation, turning it into an amenity that can be enjoyed by all residents. Located at 1 Monument Square, where the City Hall used to stand, a chunk of the shoreline has been removed, creating a flooded cavity for plants and aquatic life to thrive.
Component chunks create a retaining wall for the surrounding land and branch out into the cavity to create spaces for plants and animals to inhabit. In the center of this space resides the main pavilion, comprised of an underlying structure with swappable components attached to it. The pavilion’s spacial conditions change as the tide rises and falls throughout the day, entering and exiting the porous structure as it needs. As programmatic needs change, various components can be removed by boat and new ones can float in to be attached. Visitors are encouraged to interface with the local nature by being brought closer to it than usually possible.
Above: Component grid of swappable parts Right: Exploded diagram of swappable
SPRING 2024
INTENSE 3D PRINTED ORNAMENT
CRITIC: RILEY STUDEBAKER
LOCATION: TROY, NY, USA
FOCUS: 3D PRINTING AND CASTING
This project uses the “eggshell” method of concrete casting, pioneered by ETH Zurich, to create a high-resolution ornamental column for the historic Paine Castle in Troy, New York. Ornamental patterns were 3D-scanned from the surrounding building and applied to a twisting column structure. The global geometry starts as one form at its base, which contorts as it shoots upward until eventually breaking into two separate forms. This creates an implied vector that the viewer can imagine continuing endlessly. The ornament on the column reacts with it, twisting as the column twists, forming new patterns as the historic and the digital collide.
The column is composed of stacked concrete pieces. Each piece was made by casting concrete into a thin-shelled 3D print. The plastic was later removed with a heat gun and pliers, leaving highly unique and detailed concrete forms.
