Portfolio - Berk Oral

My name is Berk Oral, and I am a fifth-year International Honors student at Virginia Tech’s School of Architecture. With a GPA of 3.98, I rank among the top 3% of my major. Growing up in Turkey, Bulgaria, and Russia, I developed an acute sensitivity to the way architecture interacts with society and the environment— how spaces not only reflect but also shape the cultures that inhabit them. This understanding drives me to create designs that are flexible, adaptive, and deeply rooted in their context.

Whether it’s the contemplative simplicity of Pen & Perch in the Appalachian Mountains or the bold structural explorations in my thesis, Intersity, I strive to create architecture that challenges convention and responds to the ever-evolving needs of its dwellers. This portfolio encapsulates a process—an unfolding of ideas, where each project reflects a conversation between space, intent, and the ever-changing fabric of human experience.

Skills

AutoCAD

Autodesk Revit

Architectural Visualization

Adobe Creative suite

Rhinoceros 3D

Fabrication (digi + phys)

Education

2020-2024 | Virginia Tech - Blacksburg, Virginia

School of Architecture

5-year Professional Program

Expected Graduation B.Arch 2025

2016-2020 | Bilkent Foundation School, Highschool- Ankara, Turkey

International Baccalaureate and a Ministry of Education Diploma.

Honors and Awards

Clark Nexsen Architecture Scholarship

Deans List - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Year

International Honors Student

Chosen to participate in the 4th year integrative studio competition (18/126)

Honors College Norrine Bailey Spencer

Strong Start Honoree

Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award

Publications

Featured on For the Record (CDR/ Payette Open Lab), and Kunst und Kaffee (Heinrich Schnoedt)

Languages

English, Turkish, and Russian fluency.

Achievements

Modelled for the 2019 Spring Collection of Freedom of Space.

Experience

Architectural Intern at Roesling

Nakamura Terada (RNT) ArchitectsProfessional

Helped several design teams and project managers in the schematic design and design development phases of projects by building models, conducting research, and offering various design proposals during meetings.

CDR/Payette Open Lab - Academic

Across several courses, including an integrative design studio, fabrication seminar, and professional practice course, the OpenLab Studio offers the experience of working in an architecture firm and introduces students to the concept of Research as Practice.

Architectural Intern at Yuksel ProjeProfessional

Worked with a team of architects in the R&D department of Yuksel Proje, the largest engineering and consultancy firm in Turkey. Updated and corrected Revit models and AutoCAD drawings as per revisions proposed by the engineering departments.

Community Service

Pi Kappa Alpha toy drives, firefighter’s challenges, and fundraisers.

Special Olympics Ambassador of Bilkent Foundation School.

Studio | FS2023 | w/Tamia Barnes

| 3 Months

| Boston, Massachusetts

Zenith Haus 4

Competition | SS2024

| 3 Months

| St. Louis, Missouri

Pen & Perch 5

Studio | SS2023

| 1 Month

| Appalachian Mountains, West Virginia

Inter-sity 6

Thesis | FS2024 + SS2025

| 7 Months

| New York, New York

Multifamily Sliver Housing

Situated in the urban fabric of Boston’s North End, the site posed a unique typological challenge, inspiring Shift—a multifamily housing project that reimagines the sliver building and row house typology. In response to demographic research showing a shortage of suitable family housing, the design introduces five units, each with independent entrances, front yards, roof terraces, and basements. A core system integrates electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and structure, optimizing limited space while influencing surrounding division of program. Responsibilities included managing physical and digital fabrication and contributing to site analysis and design development.

Terraces extend beyond walls, forming a floating community.

the row house transforms the site into an active urban seam.

CLT Floor

Timber Stud Wall

Return Air

Supply Air

. Plumbing

Gas

Electrical

Drop Ceiling

Ceiling Hanger

By day, a quiet reflection of its historic surroundings; by night, a beacon of light, with glass bricks dissolving the boundary between home and street.

Reminiscent of geological shifts, a fractured volume settles within the landscape.

Woven into the terrain, the design anchors itself through slope and circulation.

Filtered through the brise soleil, shifting light animates the space, casting dynamic patterns that evolve with time.

Gallery, Café, and Observation Deck

Rooted in the town’s cultural fabric, the gallery showcases the works of a local artist alongside rotating exhibitions, serving as a catalyst for artistic exchange. Its butterfly roof folds toward the town hall, with its larger wing rising in dialogue with Marktplatz Street. Above the café, an observation deck frames a striking view of the extinct volcano and the church atop Vulkankegel, grounding the space in its dramatic landscape.

ASCHE SAAL

Angled toward the city hall, the basalt gabion wall carves a path of arrival.

Water gathers, drains, and vanishes through basalt, mirroring the erosion that revealed Parkstein’s volcanic past.

Upper Floorplan

Strategically designed, the foundation adapts to the site’s slope, seamlessly transitioning between structure and site.

The roof shears toward city landmarks, echoing tectonic motion.

Main St. Elevation

Galvanized Steel leg supports

Finish: Dull Matte

Galvanized Steel legs

Finish: Dull Matte

Inflatable Recyled Plastic sleeve

Finish: City Relief Green (transparent)

Recycled Plastic retractable panels

Finish: City Relief Blue (transparent)

3600 Aluminum leg support ties

Finish: City Relief Red

Inflatable Adaptive Shelter

Supporting City Relief’s mission to provide compassionate care to those experiencing homelessness, the modular pop-up units create adaptable spaces for rest, support, and interaction. Designed for rapid deployment, they inflate and fold within minutes, fitting narrow sidewalks while ensuring accessibility. Embedded magnets allow watertight connections between units, while transparent elements offer privacy without isolation. Retractable panels display critical resources and wayfinding, enhancing both functionality and engagement.

BUBBLE REFUGE

Structural legs anchor the units to the ground while linking them into a unified system.

Form follows adaptabilityeach adjustment shaping a more efficient, livable whole.

Sliding, folding, and disappearing - furniture transforms the space.

Modular, Smart Living

As part of the 2025 Solar Decathlon Build Challenge in St. Louis, ZenithHAUS features a modular framework that incorporates smart technologies to maximize energy efficiency while maintaining a low environmental footprint. Each module is engineered for effortless transport and assembly, presenting a new vision for compact, energy-positive housing. It transforms the concept of flexible living spaces, demonstrating the potential of intelligent, scalable design.

ZENITH HAUS

The Cartridge Concept uses drop-down floors to make some modules just 3’ wide.

components, including furniture, ship in one 45’ and two 40’ High Cube containers.

Modular configuration and sectional rhythm offer a flexible framework for evolving needs.

Efficient form, sustainably crafted—scan the QR code to see the assembly process.

Getaway, Home, and Office

PEN & PERCH

Set against a ruin believed to be an unfinished archer tower from a past war, the retreat unfolds across two levels. The upper level is dedicated to expansive communal spaces, while the ground level houses a bedroom and home office, oriented to frame sweeping views of the Appalachian Mountains. The design employs a perforated steel facade as a canvas backdrop, contrasting the ruin with its environment. Displaced openings in the facade evoke tears, fragmenting the canvas and blurring the boundary between past and present.

A vertical cut through time, aligning past and present.

Choreographed circulation carves through folds and cuts.

Raw wood beams link floor to ceiling seamlessly.

INTERSITY

Inter-sity explores a new model of vertical urbanism, reimagining the relationship between structure and program. By pushing traditional servant functions outward into an expressive structural exoskeleton, the design opens expansive, flexible living spaces that remain perpetually served. The project challenges the conventions of urban living, offering a dynamic, adaptable framework that responds to the evolving needs of city dwellers. Through this approach, the thesis redefines the boundaries of both the city and the building itself. The work remains in progress, with completion expected by early May.

A microcosm, balancing fixed structure with a malleable, ever-evolving skin.

A negotiation of forces - where stability and flux define the building’s rhythm.

Between the anchored core and free-floating slabs, space takes shape in the tension of structure and release, permanence and possibility.

1. column

2. exterior sheathing

3. weather resistant barrier

4. insulation

5. thermostop isolator

6. adjustable bracket

7. horizontal carrier track

8A SDS bracket to stud

8B SDS vert. track to bracket

8C SDS hor. rail to vert. track

9. panel framing

10. GRFC panel

The exoskeleton holds with purpose, yet wanes, letting light and life slip through.

Inter-sity reshapes vertical living by dissolving rigid spatial hierarchies, creating a framework where structure and program evolve together.

Spaces interwowen across multiple levels embrace verticality.