New York, NY carlascemama@gmail.com 786-327-6791 carlascemama.com
A
bit about me:
Dear Reader,
Architecture, to me, is more than just the creation of structures—it’s about crafting experiences. From an early age, I realized design could tell stories, whether it’s through a thoughtfully curated restaurant, an intimate home, or an immersive retail space. This approach has guided my journey from architecture school to my current professional experience, where I blend creativity with technical skill to bring concepts to life.
Currently, at Studio Superette, I manage several global projects, including the 20,000 sq ft estate in Greenwich, Connecticut, where I lead interior design. I also managed the design and construction of the Ring Concierge flagship store, from initial concept through permitting and documentation. Previously, at Lang Architecture, I was deeply involved in high-end residential projects, including the renovation of a midcentury home in Ardsley, NY.
Alongside architecture, my passion for art shapes my design approach—whether through figurative painting, guerrilla-style art shows, or experimenting with materiality. I believe that creativity and technical precision go hand-inhand in creating spaces that are both functional and inspiring.
I am eager to bring my experience in design, project management, and creative problemsolving to a collaborative team, contributing to spaces that leave a lasting impact.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to discussing how my skills can contribute to your team.
Sincerely,
Selected Works: (2019-2025)
Ring Concierge Flagship Store
An 8,000 sq. ft. jewelry flagship store in Soho, NYC, blending luxury design with an elevated shopping experience.
60 Lafrentz Estate, Greenwich, Connecticut
A 20,000 sq. ft. estate featuring a bespoke interior design that combines elegance with modern luxury.
51 West 71st Townhouse, NYC
A full gut renovation of a historic townhouse, combining contemporary design with classic architectural elements.
BellaKvarter Basketball Court & Park
A public outdoor park and basketball court designed to serve as a functional community space.
CIFF Temporary Fashion Displays
A series of temporary fashion installations designed for Copenhagen Fashion Week, focusing on creative, impactful displays.
Paintings (Portrait & Figurative Art)
A collection of oil paintings focusing on portraiture and figurative art, created for both gallery and personal exhibition.
CARLA SCEMAMA
New York, NY carlascemama@gmail.com
786-327-6791 carlascemama.com
BIO
I thrive at the intersection of art, design, and architecture. Whether crafting interiors, retail, or large-scale residential spaces, I focus on materiality, craftsmanship, and storytelling— balancing bold concepts with technical execution. Outside of work, I enjoy painting portrait and figurative art with oil paints, organizing guerillastyle art shows, and slacklining in McCarren Park.
EDUCATION
Tulane University | 2014-2019 Masters of Architecture
Completed an accelerated 5-year Masters, where the 5th year was dedicated to thesis. Studio projects included briefs for museums, an acquatic center & Spa, educational facilities, mixed-used residential buildings. I also participated in the Urban Build program in my 4th year, where I was part of a team of 13 students who built a house in New Orleans from foundation to finish.
During this time, I enrolled in many art studio classes to combine my interest in design and art, such as: Printmaking, Ceramics, Watercolor Painting and Architectural Sketching
Melbourne School of Design | Jul- Dec 2017 FIRE Studio
Attended Melbourne School of design for semester exchange for a studio who’s brief concentrated on a design for a local High School addition to an existing campus
AWARDS
Scolastics National Art Portfolio Award (2014) Young Arts National Design Award (2014)
Tulane’s Portfolio Award (2016)
Dean’s List at Tulane (2014-2019)
Honorable Thesis Award at Tulane (2019)
SKILLS
Technical: AutoCAD, Rhino, V-Ray, Revit, Enscape, Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign), Microsoft Suit (Excel , Word)
Design: Interior Design, Retail & Residential Architecture, Graphic Identity, Wayfinding, Model Making, Hand Sketching, Art Exhibit Installation
Languages: English (Native), French (Native)
EXPERIENCE
Studio Superette
Architectural & Interior Designer
Jul 2022- Current
Retail Design: Led the concept, design, and execution of high-profile retail projects, including the Ring Concierge Soho Flagship, overseeing design development, permitting (Landmarks & DOB approvals), contractor bidding, and construction administration.
Luxury Residential: Spearheaded the interior design and documentation of multiple high-end homes, including a 20,000 sq. ft. estate in Greenwich, CT and renovations in Pennsylvania.
Global Brand Projects: Currently managing all Stella McCartney store projects in the office, including: Soho Store Revamp (NYC): Construction documentation, contractor coordination, budget management, and site supervision.
Nordstrom NYC & IFC Mall Hong Kong: Oversaw design, construction, and contractor bidding. Woodbury Outlet Store: Led design, permitting, and construction administration.
London Flagship (Conduit Street): Leading concept development for a permanent and temporary store rollout.
Lang Architecture
Project Architect | Nov 2021- June 2022
Led design and documentation for a 1960s midcentury wood-clad home in Ardsley, NY, including a new addition and renovation, ensuring seamless integration of old and new elements.
Project Designer | Jul 2021- Nov 2021
Worked on a four-bedroom residence in the Hamptons and a NYC Townhouse renovation, handling client presentations, material selection, rendering coordination, and construction documentation.
CIFF
Architect & Experience Designer | Jan 2020 -Jul 2021
Designed and coordinated fair installations, creating immersive booth environments for brands like Levi’s, 3.Paradis, and emerging designers. Developed the graphic identity, signage, and wayfinding for CIFF, ensuring a cohesive visual experience across marketing materials and exhibition spaces. Designed a street basketball court on a rooftop at Bella Kvarter, integrating sports and public space with a multi-use design for events, fitness, and leisure.
Located at the corner of Prince Street and West Broadway, this flagship store introduces a fluid approach to retail design. A continuous, serpentine display winds between structural columns, allowing customers to explore jewelry from both sides. As the brand’s first physical location, the design translates its digital identity into a dynamic, immersive space.
try-on bar try-on area dedicated to engagement rings
BOH 1 back of house for main sales floor, services pick up & repairs west broadway west broadway sidewalk, contains two entry points window displays double sided vertical displays engraving bar personalization service bar appointments for piercing & returns main entry main entry point on west broadway prince street prince street sidewalk, provides ADA access serpentine main continuous jewelry display vip entry entry for guests at bespoke consultations insta moment branded marketing instagram moment
WHERE: SOHO, NYC
WHEN: 2022-2024
WHAT: RETAIL
The Jewel Bar offers on-site personalization, where a jeweler engraves, solders, and makes small repairs, turning charms into bespoke keepsakes. The Try-On Bar reimagines engagement ring shopping with a communal, standing space where customers can freely try on cubic zirconia replicas, exploring styles without pressure. These elements make fine jewelry more interactive and approachable.
138 PRINCE ST.
serpentine casework a continous double sided display
serpentine banquette section through banquette & display drawer
bespoke desk consultation table for bespoke appointments
try-on tables try-on tables, where you can shamelessly try on wedding bands
serpentine casework glass top at display
serpentine casework elevation drawings
serpentine drawer operability
WHERE: SOHO, NYC WHEN: 2022-2024
WHAT: RETAIL
The drawings above showcase shop drawings and millwork details, analyzing the operability and construction of the serpentine display. To the right, renderings depict the bespoke area—an intimate space designed for private appointments, where clients create high-end custom engagement rings.
BOH 1
Back of house for main sales floor, services pick up & repairs
PROJECT REF JEWELRY VITRINE DISPLAYS
WHERE: SOHO, NYC WHEN: 2022-2024 WHAT: RETAIL
We collaborated closely with the client to shape their physical branding, from millwork displays to the curated elements within them—neck forms, backdrops, and fabric choices. To the right, a rendering of the concierge desk at the entrance reflects the Ring Concierge brand while creating a seamless flow to guide customers through the space.
138 PRINCE ST.
owner’s wing main bedroom, main bathroom, library & offices
WHERE: GREENWICH, CT
WHEN: 2022-2025
WHAT: SINGLE FAMILY HOME
This large estate features a new home and guesthouse on a property with an existing equestrian barn. The conceptual layout includes two wings connected by a central, expansive wing for communal living, with a grand two-story room, kitchen, prep kitchen, and family room. One wing is dedicated to the children’s spaces, including playrooms and bathrooms, while the other houses the owner’s wing, featuring a bedroom suite, library, and offices.
kid’s wing kid’s bedrooms & bathrooms, playroom, laundry grand room grand room for hosting
canopy entry canopy to denote main entrance point
enlarged plan enlarged plan of grandroom and entry point
section section through double story grand room
exterior elevation north elevation view, looking into grandroom
WHERE: GREENWICH, CT
WHEN: 2022-2025
WHAT: SINGLE FAMILY HOME
The Grand Room is a two-story space designed for both everyday living and hosting, eliminating the need for an underused event barn. It features a suspended two-story fireplace, creating a striking focal point. Located just off the main entry, the room opens to the formal dining area, also a two-story space. A catwalk on the second floor divides the two rooms, connecting the owner’s wing with the children’s wing above.
ground floor featuring grand room, library & fofices, kitchen & prep kitchen, family room
WHERE: GREENWICH, CT WHEN: 2022-2025 WHAT: SINGLE FAMILY HOME
The Owner’s Wing includes a library in a rich forest green, with glossy shelving designed for books and records, leading into a double office space. The second floor is reserved for the main bedroom, a spacious closet, and an oversized bathroom featuring a shower room, toilet room, and sauna. The wing also includes a guest bedroom, offering a perfect balance of privacy and comfort.
WHERE: GREENWICH, CT
WHEN: 2022-2025
WHAT: SINGLE FAMILY HOME
Sprinkled throughout the communal wing, each powder room features a unique color scheme and tailored design. For example, the blue powder room showcases blue wallpaper, matching paint, and an oversized stone sink with a striking backsplash. Mood boards were created for each room to carefully select materials, finishes, hardware colors, and tiles, ensuring a cohesive and thoughtful design in every space.
green powder material palette & finish selection for hreen powder room
powder material palette & finish selection for blue powder room
blue
millwork
WHERE: GREENWICH, CT WHEN: 2022-2025
WHAT: SINGLE FAMILY HOME
Separated from the main house by the pool, the guesthouse features an indoor/ outdoor kitchen perfect for entertaining by the water. It includes two guest bedrooms and a double-story main bedroom. Designed to evoke elements from the main house, the guesthouse reinterprets key concepts and moments on a smaller scale, maintaining the estate’s cohesive design language.
WHERE: GREENWICH, CT
WHEN: 2022-2025
WHAT: SINGLE FAMILY HOME
The above photos showcase the guesthouse portion of the project scope. The progress photos showcase the steel structure of the guesthouse, now connected to the ICF walls with concrete poured in place. The wraparound porch is taking shape, with exposed I-beam columns framing the perimeter, highlighting the guesthouse’s structural rhythm.
WHERE: GREENWICH, CT
WHEN: 2022-2025
WHAT:
SINGLE FAMILY HOME
The overall silhouette of the main house is now visible, though interior work has yet to begin. The grand room’s vast steel structure stands out, while the two wings, built entirely from ICF walls, remain free of structural interior walls. Drone footage captures the canopy stretching across the home, and while windows are not yet installed, all apertures are clearly defined.
WHERE: UPPER WEST SIDE , NYC
WHEN: 2020-2021
WHAT: SINGLE FAMILY TOWNHOUSE
The Lincoln Square townhouse is a comprehensive renovation, addition and furnishing, including five renovated floors and a new rooftop addition. The 7,000 square foot townhouse was converted from fifteen studio apartments to a singlefamily residence.
WHERE: SOHO, NYC
WHEN: 2022-2024
WHAT: RING CONCIERGE
The project embraces the historic fabric of the existing building, with a refinement of detail and re-proportioning of spaces to create a fresh and cohesive language for the building. The rear façade is substantially opened with full height windows at the parlor level, allowing for the penetration of light deep into the primary living areas, and visual openness to the yard and sky.
WHERE: UPPER WEST SIDE , NYC
WHEN: 2020-2021
WHAT: SINGLE FAMILY TOWNHOUSE
The Lincoln Square townhouse is a comprehensive renovation, addition and furnishing, including five renovated floors and a new rooftop addition. The 7,000 square foot townhouse was converted from fifteen studio apartments to a single-family residence. The section above showcases the transformation of individualized units to a large unified space, through a beautiful continuous staircase.
The brief called for asked for integration of a full-size street basketball court in the design of the roof. The aim is to make an active outdoor area for residents and commuters, and at the same time create a new venue for Bella Center. From the roof you can enjoy the ride down a 16-meter-long curved slide to a playground area for kids and families in green surroundings next to the building – or take the staircase.
BELLA KVARTER
CHRISTENSEN STREET
ORESTADS STREET
WHERE: COPENHAGEN, DK WHEN: 2019-2020
WHAT: PLAYGROUND
They aspire to host professional street basketball games and outdoor sport fashion shows. The wish for multipurpose was solved by placing the basketball court in the center of the roof, and fitness equipment, and running trail around it in different zones. A 100-meter running trail passes a panna court and exercise box, a slack line, balancing posts, trampolines and a meeting box.
BELLA KVARTER
WHERE: COPENHAGEN, DK
WHEN: 2019-2021
WHAT: CPH FASHION WEEK DISPLAYS
For this special booth, we repurposed discarded rebar salvaged from a dumpster, transforming it into cage-like displays. The rebar structures, painted white, served as frames for hanging clothing inside, creating a striking contrast between industrial rawness and refined fashion. A smaller version was designed as a stand for showcasing accessories like purses, maintaining the same aesthetic language.
CIFF DISPLAYS
WHERE: COPENHAGEN, DK
WHEN: 2019-2021
WHAT: CPH FASHION WEEK DISPLAYS
For this unique fashion show, the designer envisioned a circular runway for a multisensory experience. Inspired by flowers, we designed a suspended installation featuring dried flowers pressed between two layers of transparent acetate curtains. Hung from a circular metal frame, this structure allowed models to walk through its center before posing around it, creating an immersive, ethereal atmosphere.
CIFF DISPLAYS
WHERE: COPENHAGEN, DK
WHEN: 2019-2021
WHAT: CPH FASHION WEEK DISPLAYS
This booth showcased a classic approach to brand representation, featuring a curated mix of strategically placed graphics, hanging racks, mannequins, and distinct floor treatments. Each design choice was tailored to reflect Nigel Cabourn’s heritage-driven aesthetic, ensuring the space felt cohesive with the brand’s identity.
CIFF DISPLAYS
WHERE: COPENHAGEN, DK
WHEN: 2019-2021
WHAT: CPH FASHION WEEK DISPLAYS
This special installation highlighted the brand’s focus on 3D-printed accessories and details. We designed and suspended organically shaped 3D-printed branches, transforming them into unconventional hanging racks for the collection. Additional photos showcase signage interventions, wayfinding elements, and transition spaces that contributed to a cohesive exhibition experience.
CIFF DISPLAYS
WHERE: COPENHAGEN, DK
WHEN: 2019-2021
WHAT: CPH FASHION WEEK DISPLAYS
This booth highlighted Levi’s commitment to sustainability through intricate patchwork pieces made from reclaimed denim. The circular space featured suspended garments with projections showcasing the making process, immersing visitors in the craftsmanship behind each piece. Guests were invited to repurpose their own jeans at dedicated stations, with seamstresses on-site. This hands-on experience reinforced Levi’s vision for circular fashion and sustainable design.
CIFF DISPLAYS
WHERE: COPENHAGEN, DK
WHEN: 2019-2021
WHAT: CPH FASHION WEEK DISPLAYS
This booth, designed for the special projects wing at CIFF, showcased the 3.PARADIS streetwear brand. Their collection drew inspiration from newspaper clippings and the word “paradis” translated into 50 languages. Using leftover striped fabrics from their collection, we stretched the material between mannequins to create a dynamic, pulled-apart effect. The stark white backdrop with black text provided contrast, allowing the vibrant clothing to stand out.
CIFF DISPLAYS
WHERE: COPENHAGEN, DK
WHEN: 2019-2021
WHAT: SIGNAGE & WAYFINDING
While my primary role focused on designing and coordinating displays, I also contributed to the development of CIFF’s graphic identity, signage, wayfinding, and marketing materials across the city. The goal was to create a flexible identity that could adapt across a range of formats, from keychains and postcards to largescale billboards.
CIFF DISPLAYS
WHERE: COPENHAGEN, DK
WHEN: 2019-2021
WHAT: SIGNAGE & WAYFINDING
This cohesive visual language extended from city-wide advertisements to the signage guiding visitors through the fair. The photos highlight the bold CIFF branding in pink, green, and lime green, displayed on trucks, within the Copenhagen International Fashion Fair venue, and across buildings in Copenhagen.
CIFF DISPLAYS
WHERE: NEW YORK CITY, NY
WHEN: 2022-2024
WHAT: OIL PAINTINGS
This series centers on reflections—both literal and emotional. Through doublesided paintings, I explore duality in everyday life: how our inner selves often diverge from the way we present ourselves to the world, or how conflicting emotions like anger and sadness can coexist. Each piece invites viewers to confront their own reflection, challenging the complexities of identity. The mirrored surfaces blur the line between self-perception and outward projection.
PAINTINGS
WHERE: NEW YORK CITY, NY
WHEN: 2020-2025
WHAT: OIL PAINTINGS
Rooted in my background in architecture, the spaces in my paintings aren’t just backdrops—they are deliberate extensions of the figures, emphasizing dualities: strength and vulnerability, introspection and expression, internal and external identities. My art is an extension of my inner thoughts and feelings, but seeks to connect with universal experiences.
