ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO CATHERINE
ZHU 1
EDUCATION August 2022 – May 2027 Ithaca, NY
CORNELL UNIVERSITY Bachelor of Architecture | Real Estate Minor | GPA: 4.04
Septermber 2018 - June 2022 Portland, OR
OREGON EPISCOPAL SCHOOL High School | GPA: 4,0
EXPERIENCE NIKE, INC. | Sales Athlete June – August 2023 Portland, OR
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Assisted more than 100 customers daily during back to school season – accomplished over 10 member connections and app downloads in 2 weeks
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Partook in fiscal year end company store review: examined revenue and current Nike strategies to reposition store to excel in the post pandemic environment
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Summarized best selling products and sales projections as a team to project following year’s sales
CATHERINE ZHU
STARBUCKS | Barista
August - December 2021 Portland, OR
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Memorized all menu preparation to meet customer needs: elevated customer loyalty by remembering personal preferences and allergy information
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Enforced Starbucks branding by maintaining cleanliness of counters, machines, utensils, seating areas, and created original artwork for seasonal display
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Efficiently controlled line and crowd by offering good customer service and making personal connections
CONTACT: cyz23@cornell.edu 9712978682
SKILLS
LANGUAGES
RHINO VRAY
English
NATIVE
ADOBE SUITE - PHOTOSHOP - ILLUSTRATOR - INDESIGN
BLENDER
Mandarin
BILINGUAL
CLIMATE STUDIO
Spanish
LIMITED WORKING LEVEL
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 HOUSE INTERCEPTED
pg. 4 - 9
2 THE WEARABLE CHAIR
pg. 10 - 15
FALL 23’
FALL 23’
3 THE AVANT GARDEN COOKHOUSE SPRING 23’
pg. 16 - 21
4 UTENSIL SET DESIGN
pg. 22 - 25
5 NAPLES STATION STRUCTURAL MODEL
pg. 26 - 29
6 POCKET PAVILION
pg. 30 - 33
7 TEXTURAL COLLAGE
pg. 34 - 35
SPRING 23’
FALL 23’
FALL 22’
SUMMER 21’
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1 HOUSE INTERCEPTED FALL 23’
HOUSE INTERCEPTED UTILIZED THE CONCEPT OF A MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A NEW DWELLING AND AN EXISTING BUILDING ON THE ITHACA GUNFACTORY SITE. FORMALLY, THE NEW DWELLING LATCHES ON TO THE EXISTING STRUCTURE, SEEMINGLY HOLDING IT BACK FROM ITS IMMINENT TUMBLE DOWN THE GORGE NEARBY. THE HUMAN BODY TRANSCENDS THROUGH THE SLOWLY ENGULFING BODY OF THE NEW STRUCTURE AS IT ENVELOPS THE OLD BUILDING, OVERWHELMING IT AND CHANGING ITS IDENTITY. THE BODY THEN IS ABLE TO EXPERIENCE THE THRESHOLD BETWEEN HOST AND PARASITE BY MOVING DEEPER AND DEEPER INTO THE HOUSE, OR “ORGANISM”.
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THE EXPLODED AXONOMETRIC DISPLAYS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE INTERIOR STRUCTURE AND THE FACADE AS THE ORGANISM’S “TENTACLES” GRIP ONTO THE STRUCTURE MAKING ITS WAY FURTHER IN LAND AWAY FROM THE GORGE.
THE FORM OF TWO L’S TWISTING AWAY FROM EACH OTHER ALONG ONE LINE OF MOTION, REPRESENTING THE THRESHOLD OF THE CLIFF, BECAME THE STARTING POINT OF DESIGN
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ALLOCATION OF PROGRAM IS DETERMINED BY HOW CLOSE A ROOM IS TO THE ENTRANCE; THE FURTHER ONE DESCENDS DOWN THE GORGE CLIFF, THE MORE PRIVATE THE SPACE BECOMES. THUS, THE MOST PUBLIC, SUCH AS KITCHEN AND LIVING ROOM, COMES FIRST, AND THE MOST PRIVATE, SUCH AS BEDROOM AND STUDY IS FURTHEST AWAY FROM THE ENTRANCE.
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SPAGHETTI MODELS TESTING FORM:
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE FLEXIBLE YET ALSO STRUCTURAL MATERIAL QUALITY OF SPHAGETTI TO EXPERIMENT WITH VARIOUS CURVATURES AND INTERSECTIONS
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AN INTERIOR RENDERING OF THE BOTTOM MOST FLOOR NEAREST TO THE GORGE BASE. LONG WINDOWS EXPOSE THE SPACES TO THE NATURE OUTSIDE AND WOODEN MATERIALS WERE CHOSEN TO BE INTERLACED WITH A DARKER GRAY STEEL IN ORDER TO CREATE A WARM AMBIANCE WITHIN.
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2 WEARABLE CHAIR FALL 23’
RATHER THAN CONSIDERING THE CHAIR AS A LIFELESS OBJECT, IT WAS INTERPRETED AS AN ORGANISM WAITING TO INTERACT WITH ANOTHER BODY; THIS MUTUALISM BETWEEN THE RECEPTACLE AND THE BODY CAN BE SEEN AS A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP. THE HUMAN BODY, WITHOUT AID, IS UNABLE TO SIT COMOFRTABLY. MEANWHILE, THE ORGANISM, WITH ITS HOLLOW CAVITY AND ITS THREE LEGS, APPEARS UNSTABLE AND UNFINISHED. TOGETHER, THE BODY OF THE HUMAN AND THE BODY OF THE RECEPTACLE INTERSECT AS ONE, RESULTING IN THE FORMAL THEME OF “INTERSECTING AXES”. TO ACHIEVE THIS DESIGN CONCEPT, THE STRATEGY OF CREATING A WEARABLE WAS ADOPTED. WITH TWO OPENINGS WITHIN THE RECEPTACAL CREATING A HOLLOW AXIS, THERE EXISTS OPPORTUNITIES FOR DIFFERENT WEARING CONFIGURATIONS. ULTIMATELY, THE CHAIR IS NO LONGER A STAND ALONE OBJECT BUT RATHER AN AUGMENTATION OF THE BODY WHICH SUPPORTS NEW POSITIONS.
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THE CHAIR DREW INSPIRATION FIRSTLY FROM MY SIGNATURE AND SLOWLY EVOLVED FROM A TWO DIMENSIONAL LINE DRAWING INTO A THREE DIMENSIONAL PAPER STRUCTURE. “INTERSECTING AXES” WAS THE MAIN SPATIAL CONCEPT EXTRACTED FROM MY SIGNATURE. VARIOUS PAPER ITERATIONS EXPLORED THE CONCEPT FURTHER.
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TOP
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FRONT
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FROM THE FINALIZED PAPER STRUCTURE, THE BODY WAS INSERTED INTO THE “INTERSECTING AXES” AND THE NECESSARY MEASUREMENTS WERE TAKEN IN ORDER TO CONSTRUCT THE PHYSICAL CHAIR. THE CHAIR CAN BE “WORN” THROUGH A MANEUVER SIMILAR TO THAT OF PUTTING ON A TURTLENECK.
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THE ASSEMBLY DIAGRAM DISPLAYS A SERIES OF PLANES SLOTTED WITHIN EACH OTHER IN A WAFFLE PATTERN, STIFFENED THROUGH CYLINDRICAL TUBES INTERSECTING THE LENGTH AND THE WIDTH OF THE CHAIR. THE CAREFUL SLOTTING OF THESE CARDBOARD PLANES RESULT IN A HOLLOW CENTER OR “MOUTH” INSIDE THE “ORGANISM” IN WHICH THE HUMAN BODY CAN FIT SNUGGILY WITHIN.
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THE PAPER MACHE COATING ALONG THE OUTSIDE OBSCURES THE VIEW IN PARTICULAR PLACES WHEN SITTING INSIDE THE CHAIR. STILL, THERE IS A DEGREE OF TRANSPARENCY DUE TO THE NATURE OF THE NEWSPAPER’S OPACITY WHICH ALLOWS LIGHT IN. IN THIS WAY, THE OCCUPANT IS VISUALLY SEPARATED FROM THE WORLD AROUND THEM, YET STILL PERCEPTIVE TO THE LIGHT, MOTION, AND SOUNDS BEYOND THE IMMEDIATE “ORGANISM” OF THE CHAIR.
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3 THE AVANT GARDEN SPRING 23’
COOKHOUSE THE AVANT GARDEN TOOK THE PRECEDENT OF THE JAPANESE RAILWAY SLEEPER HOUSE IN MIYAKE ISLAND AND EXTRACTED THE SPATIAL LOGIC OF A RHYTHMIC ALLOCATION OF SPACES THROUGH A REGULAR PLACEMENT OF BEAMS AND COLUMNS. THE FOOD STYPE OF MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY WAS THEN CHOSEN TO BECOME THE THEME OF THE COOKHOUSE DUE ITS SIMILAR SEQUENCE DRIVEN CREATION STYLE WHICH ALLUDED TO THE SEQUENCE DRIVEN SPATIAL DESIGN OF THE COOKHOUSE. FOUR MAIN MODULES WERE ALLOCATED TO FOUR UNIQUE MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY TECHNIQUES: SPHERIFICATION, FLASH FREEZING, AERATION, AND AROMAFICATION. BY ELEVATING THESE MODULES ABOVE GROUND IN A STILT-LIKE MANNER, THE GROUND FLOOR WAS OPENED UP FOR A GARDEN WHICH WOULD BE ACCESSIBLE TO THE MODULES THROUGH SKYLIGHTS AND BALCONIES. AS THE INDIVIDUAL MOVES UP THROUGH THE SPACES, THEY WOULD RISE FROM THE NATURAL GREENSPACE AND GRADUALLY ENTER AN ENTIRE FOREST OF MANMADE BEAMS, AN ALLEGORY FOR NATURE’S GARDEN WHICH WILL ALWAYS BE A PREREQUISITE FOR ANY CULINARY EXPERIENCE.
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IC AT IO N HE RIF SP
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PLACE MAIN GUIDING AXIS
INSERT SOLIDS
STRUCTURAL SUPPORTING GRIDS
NON-STRUCTURAL GRIDS
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ESTABLISH HIERARCHY OF SITE
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STUDY MODELS: PLACEMENT OF SOLIDS WITHIN SITE
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THE COOKHOUSE WAS DESIGNED MODULARLY INTO FOUR SEPARATE UNITS CONNECTED VISUALLY THROUGH BEAMS AND COLUMNS. TO START, A SITE WAS CHOSEN WITH THE NECESSARY HIERARCHY FOR PLACING THE TWO MAIN AXES. THEN, THE MAIN SOLIDS WERE INSERTED ALONG WITH ADDITIONAL SUPPORTING BEAMS AND COLUMNS.
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THE AXONOMETRIC DISPLAYS THE PLACEMENT OF THE COOKHOUSE WITHIN ITS SITE: AT THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN LAND AND WATER. THUS, THE STILT-LIKE COLUMNS ACT AS A WAY TO SEPARATE SOME OF THE MODULES FROM THE WATER BELOW AS WELL AS ALLOW FOR GARDENING TO OCCUR ON THE GROUND FLOOR. CIRCULATION IS ENABLED THROUGH FOUR MEANS: THE OPEN AIR GROUND FLOOR, SKY BRIDGES, STAIRS, AND THE ELEVATORS. THUS, WHILE MODULES EXPLORING VARIOUS COOKING METHODS WERE BUILT IN ISOLATION, MOVEMENT IS POSSIBLE AND THIS ALLOWS THE OCCUPANT TO TRY VARIOUS DISHES ALONG THE WAY.
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THE SECTION CUT AXONOMETRIC VIEW DISPLAYS THE VARIOUS ACTIVITIES WHICH CAN SIMULTANEOUSLY OCCUR AT DIFFERENT ELEVATIONS WTIHIN THE STILT STRUCTURE; GROUND FLOOR WITH GARDENING BEDS, “FLOATING” MODULES FOR EATING AND EXPLORING, AND ELEVATED PATIOS TO LOOK OUT OF. THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR IS MAINTAINED THROUGHOUT SO THAT IN NO AREA IS THE PRESENCE OF THE GARDEN LOST TO THE VIEWER.
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USING THIN MATERIALS LIKE CHIPBOARD AND BASSWOOD TO REPRESENT THE FOREST OF BEAMS TO SUPPORT THE MODULES ABOVE GROUND CREATES A LEVEL OF TRANSPARENCY AND LIGHTNESS TO THE ENTIRE STRUCTURE
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4 UTENSIL SET DESIGN THE FORMAL CONCPET OF “TWISTING”, A SERIES OF UTENSILS AND SPRING 23’ THROUGH FLATWARE WAS DESIGNED IN ADDITION TO A CONTAINING VESSEL TO PLACE ALL THE INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS WITHIN. CONSIDERING ERGONOMIC DESIGN, USABILITY, AND COHENSION IN MATERIALITY, EACH PIECE WAS DESIGNED THEN 3D-PRINTED AND DOCUMENTED.
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THIS COMPOSITE DRAWING OF THE UTENSILS ASSEMBLED WITHIN THEIR CONTAINING VESSEL DISPLAYS ALL THEIR VARIOUS MATERIALITIES IN RELATION TO ONE ANOTHER. FURTHERMORE, ONE CAN SEE THE MECHANICS NECESSARY TO ACCESS THE TOOLS WITHIN. FOR EXAMPLE, THE BOTTOM HALF OF THE VESSEL MAY BE OPENED UP TO REVEAL SLOTS FOR THE PLATES AND THE TOP OF THE VESSEL CAN BE PULLED OUT TO EXTRACT THE UTENSILS ORIENTED WITHIN A CIRCULAR FASHION ON A SOFT VELVET PLATFORM.
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5 NAPLES STATION FALL 23’ STRUCTURAL MODEL EMBT’S TIMBER STATION IN NAPLES, ITALY, WAS REPRESENTED THROUGH A COMPREHENSIVE STRUCTURAL MODEL DETAILING CURVED MEMBERS, STEEL AND BEAM CONNECTIONS, ROOF FRAMING SYSTEMS, AND CONNECTIONS TO FOUNDATION. THE STATION WAS MODELED TO SCALE (3/16” = 1’- 0”) THEN CUT WITH BANDSAW FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL PART AS WELL AS STEEL CONNECTING PLATES. GLULAM FOR INDIVIDUAL PIECES WERE HANDMADE BY GLUING LAYERS OF PLYWOOD. FOR CURVED ROOF MEMBERS, GLULAM WAS SIMPLIFIED TO BE IN THE ORTHOGONAL DIRECTION AS OPPOSED TO THE CORRECT CURVED ORIENTATION DUE TO TIME CONSTRAINTS .
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6 POCKET FALL 22’
PAVILION THE POCKET PAVILION, A VISITOR CENTER AND VEWING SPACE, IS LOCATED ON THE WHITE POCKETS OF ARIZONA. THE GEOLOGY, CREATED BY AN INITIAL EARTHQUAKE FOLLOWED BY WIND EROSION OF THE SANDSTONE, BECAME THE STARTING POINT FOR THE DESIGN OF THE PAVILION. AFTER DEVELOPING AN INITIAL HANDRAWING TO ENCAPSULATE THE ESSENCE OF THE GEOLOGY, PAPER AND WOODEN MODELS WERE PRODUCED TO TEST OUT POSSIBLE SPATIAL AND FORMAL CONDITIONS. THE FINALIZED PAVILION AIMS TO MIMIC THE UNDULATION OF THE GEOLOGY WHILE CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR VIEWING THE LANDSCAPE AT DIFFERENT POINTS ALONG THE STRUCTURE.
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AFTER DEVELOPING A HAND DRAWING THROUGH EXTRACTING THE ESSENCE OF THE WHITE POCKETS’ FORMATION, NAMELY THE MOTION OF EROSION, FOLDNG THE IMAGE ALONG THE VARIOUS LINES PRODUCED ITERATIONS OF THREE DIMENSIONAL PAPER MODELS WHICH EXPLORED THE SPATIAL POTENTIAL OF CREASES, BULGES, AND INDENTS. THEN, WITH A FOUR BY TWELVE INCH WOODEN BLOCK, THE BANDSAW AND THE CHISEL WERE USED TO MIMIC AND ABSTRACT THE FORM OF THE PREVIOUS PAPER MODELS.
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EATERY AND EXIT HALLWAY
SECOND FLOOR MEDITATION SPACE
LOBBY INTERIOR + OPEN AIR OUTLOOK
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LOBBY ENTRANCE
ENTRANCE HALLWAY
VIEWING SPACES
7 PAVILION SUMMER 21’
COLLAGE
GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF A SUMMER CAMP PAVILION PROJECT. OVERLAYING A TEXTURE CREATED BY NATURAL LIGHTING FROM A WINDOW AND EXTRACTING SPACIAL LOGICS TO CREATE A CIRULATORY MOVEMENT FOR THE EYE
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