CORIN E AFZAL
ARCHITECTURAL STUDENT PORTFOLIO KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY 2025
PROJECTS
The Sculptural Thread
Ashokan Reservoir, New York, USA
Vediamoci A Palazzo Dei Sette
Orvieto, Umbria, Italy
Karajaranta Adaptive Reuse
Pori, Finland
RESEARCH
The Sculptural Thread
An Exploration of Tectonic Sculpturalism
Critical Regionalism & Contemporary Developments in Tropical Architecture
Current Work
Bangkok, Thailand
Pavilion At Anderson Lawn
Manhattan, Kansas, USA
THE SCULPTURAL THREAD
An Exploration of Sculptural Tectonics
Ashokan Reservoir, New York
Suspend your disbelief for a moment, and image you could place any work of architecture in a single location as a collection, ignoring the cultural, social, and transport problems that would exist.
The Sculptural Thread explores the interaction between humans, sculptures, and architecture, focusing on how we project our awareness onto the spaces around us.
Through the three chosen sculptural techniques of gesture, abstraction, and immersion, the anthology and collectoin examines the relationships between art, space, and the complex human perception. The research uncovers how these elements shape and influence our connections to the environments around us. The following entrance building design takes these lessons and applies them to a space that acts as a portal into the open air museum.
The architecture, pavilions, and sculptures from the collection are placed into the Ashokan Reservoir, away from their original context to be viewed isolated, much like the white gallery wall.
The visiter walks through the stone entry to reveil the dematerialization of the mass timber building, fading into the surrounding landscape, leading towards the collection of architectural and sculptural w orks.
OPEN AIR MUSEUM ENTRY SECTION
Anthology
Nine works of sculpture, pavilion, and architecture are studied under the lense of scultpural tectonics. Each are categorized by their main technique, gesture, abstraction, and immersion.
The visitor walks through the park and experiences not only the beautiful works but their common thread, tectonic expression of scultpuralism.
Sculpture Pavilion Building Forest as White Gallery Wall
The Collection
Sequence
Richard Serra 2006
Serpentine Pavilion
Junya Ishigami 2019
One, Two, Three Sol LeWitt 1979
The Oak Room Andy Goldsworhty 2009
House to Watch the Sunset Not Vital 2005
Twilight Epiphany James Turrell 2012
The Twist Bjarke Ingles Group 2019
Prostho Museum Research Center Kengo Kuma 2019
The Blur Building Diller Scofidio + Renfro 2002
Sculpture
SITE DESIGN
The site, located at Ashokan Reservoir in New York, balances public access with ecological restoration by introducing biodiverse greenways connecting the town to the waterfront. A 60-80 foot deforestation buffer along pathways addresses safety concerns from unhealthy trees in the man planted and dense forest. The collection is placed by sculptural technique in nature, along paved pathways and bike trails.
TRAIL SECTIONS
Open prairies with pollinator plants enhance biodiversity, and a 20-foot buffer of native greenery around pathways ensures visitors and pollinators coexist harmoniously. This approach transforms the reservoir into a space where nature and human activity thrive together.
The entry building does not compete with the collection, and instead aims to blend with the surrounding landscape of the Ashokan Reservoir.
Deforestation aids in regenerating the local ecosystem. The green buffer along the path ways creates a path for the local wildlife to reach the water.
Mass timber, stone, and dark metals are used in the entry building design to share the same pallette and the forest, allowing for the sculptures and architecture displayed inside to shine against its backdrop. This approach takes the notion of the “blank gallery wall” as the forest itself.
The buildings design abstracts the bouldery landscape and the dense and tall forest. Verticality and arrayment of structural members mimics the views out of the vast southwest fenestration.
The visitor is then presented with a choice of vertical movement between spaces, the forest, the forest floor, or the canopy above. After travelling to the lower levels, the visitor exits the building and begins their journey into the open air museum.
BUILDING SITE PLAN
DEMATERIALIZATION
A. CANOPY
B. FOREST COVER
C. FOREST FLOOR
ENTRY VIEWS
VEDIAMOCI A PALAZZO DEI SETTE
Kansas State Unversity Study
Abroad
Orvieto, Italy
Project Partner: Carter Broze
Tasked with contributing to the towns celebratory, yearly, and acient festival, La Festa del Corpus Domini, an entry to a new museum was designed to act as a year round reminder of the eucharist and Orvieto’s heritage. The space takes over a once empty piazza with a beautiful but worn glass roof.
The design was heavily inspired by Carlo Scarpa’s work in Venice and Vincenza, as well as the operability and physical interaction of Herzog & Kundig.
Bringing biodiverity into the center of the mideival town while providing shelter and shade for the public was the main goal of this project, while also acting as a public and tourist gathering space during different seasons of the year.
Biodiversity is introduced throughout the courtyard. Visitors can interact with signage and information surrounding Corpus Domini and the importance of biodiversity within cities.
The existing skylight is patterned with vinyl, bringing new life to the cherished historic piece. One panel is removed and made operable to allow breeze and roof access. Without this alteration, the space becomes too hot under the solid glazed ceiling and attracts pigeons that produce a foul smell.
incorporate modern architecture without taking away from the historical aspects of the space. This has been done through detail-oriented design and study of Scarpa’s works while abroad.
ORVIETO, UMBRIA, ITALY
Orvieto is a medieval hill town located near Tuscany. It has a rich history that predates the Roman era as a citadel.
The studio aimed to better the community of orvieto through its medieval La Festa de Corpus Domini, a parade that has taken place nearly every year since
1246. The town is currently a tourism hot spot. Its population of citizens dwindles because of the ancient city’s high price of property and degrading conditions that require intense maintenance, structural repair, and occasionally historic preservation.
The project takes into careful consideration the town’s plans to turn the Torre del Morro into a beautiful museum aiming to display authentic costumes, armor, and flags hand-crafted for the celebration and passed down through generations.
PALAZZO DEI SETTE
Torre del Moro’s Palazzo dei Sette was chosen not only because of its proposed museum location by the city itself but because of its central location in town and on the main street, Corso Cavour.
Our team decided on a multifaceted approach to a museum entrance, adding a much-needed green space to the barren town center, a public education opportunity, and a public gathering space for formal or informal events. The location has huge potential and could attract tourists and citizens alike to celebrate and learn about La Festa de Corpus Domini.
KARAJARANTA ADAPTIVE RE-USE
IFHP Urban Planning And Design Summer School
Pori, Finland
Project partners: Elias Pfeiffer
Uri Yokomori
The town of Pori, Finland has a unique and rich industrial and fishing history. The town currently has a twindling population and its youth often move out of town to seek better oppurtunities. The local government reached out to the IFHP Summer Planning and Design Summer School to asses Pori’s population problem and propose solutions.
After careful research and poling of locals, we found the area was being heavily gentrified with new housing, later confirmed by the local government, that was intended to provide new river side living, but lacked the youth to fill it. Our group proposed a new community center that rehabilitates industrial buildings, connects with the local culture, and could provide training and jobs for younger families to retain them in the area.
The River Walk de-privatizes the water front, celebrates industrial heritage, and protects fish populations with natural nesting and breeding grounds.
PORI, FINLAND
YOUTH AND WORKING CLASS MOVING FOR DIVERSE OPPURTUNITIES
Pori is located in the Satakuntan region, which lies in the southwest region of Finland. It has a population count of approximately 150,000 people, positioning itself as the 10th most populated city. Pori has a rich history in industry and shipment, being positioned on the southwest coast of Finland near the Kokemäenjoki River
The historical industrial buildings have been demolished in recent decades to
POPULATION DECLINE
RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS IN KARJARANTA
DWINDLING SOCIETY AND ECONOMY
DIMINISHED CULTURAL ROOTS AND PRIDE
UNSUSTAINABLE SOCIAL AND PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
predominantly construct high rise apartment buildings along the river.
The IFHP Program tasked students to analyze Pori, Finland from an archtiectural and city planning mind set to help tackle dwindling population and gentrification. The analysis was conducted in three modes: online research, visual analysis of the site, and in-depth conversations with locals of different backgrounds. Our teams master plan proposes utilizing adaptive reuse on the abandonned industrial building (10), turning it into a community center A board walk with integrated fish habitats lines the river, keeping the water front public.
A greenway breaks the site in half, connecting the river to the train tracks. Because the city was still concerned with new housing, the back of the site was dedicated to new homes. Local businesses that already existed on the site were left to remain, including Valta Works (8) that produces a large amount of equipment that is shipped internationally.
KARAJARANTA: EXISTING CONDITIONS
PROPOSED SCHEDULE
ZONES
2040 VISION
ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
HERITAGE & CULTURE
CLIMATE
CLIMATE CONSIDERATION
UNSEALING
UNSEALING AND RE-GREENING OF STREETS
INTEGRATING THE RIVER
Unsealing and Re-Greening Streets Public
DESIGN FOR PEDESTRIAN WIND PROTECTION
DESIGN FOR PEDESTRIAN
CREATING A GREEN NETWORK
CREATING A GREEN NETWORK
RESTORATION
RESTORATION
Celebrate Industrial Heritage
CELEBRATING INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE
CELEBRATING INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE
Invest in New Industrial Technology
INVEST IN NEW INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY
INVEST IN NEW INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY
SOCIAL GATHERING
Social Gatherings
SOCIAL GATHERING
PRESERVING AND ADAPTING EXISTING BUILDINGS
Preserving & Adapting Existing Buildings
PRESERVING AND ADAPTING EXISTING BUILDINGS
BUILDING URBAN FURNITURE
BUILDING
LETTING THE BIODIVERSITY GROW
PRODUCING GREEN ENERGY
IMPLEMENTING BLUE INFRASTRUCTURE
CONNECTING INDUSTRY AND EDUCATION
Connecting Industry & Education
CONNECTING INDUSTRY AND EDUCATION
Recycling Local Materials
RECYCLING OF LOCAL MATERIALS
RECYCLING OF LOCAL MATERIALS
MASTER PLAN
THE PAVILION AT ANDERSON LAWN
Manko Design Competition
Nominee | ADSVI | Summer 2023
Manhattan, ks
This project was designed during a detail and construction focuses semster. The initial detail of connection and materialization was decided upon first, and then led the way to an open air pavilion placed on Manhattan Kansas State University’s campus. Art
The work aims to continue the long conversation of the nuance grid and human perspective.Artists such as Sol Le Witt, and architects Kengo Kuma and Sou Fujimoto were studied.
SECTION PERSPECTIVE
MANHATTAN, KS
Anderson Lawn was chosen as the pavilion site because of it’s central location on campus.
Prospective students begin their campus tour at Anderson Hall (left of lawn). The pavilion would be a marker for tours to begin and end.
The pavilion was rotated to align with the sites slope, and avoid facing any surroundings head on in order to abstract and frame views.
ANDERSON LAWN, KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
SUBJECTIVE FORM
SUBJECTIVE PERSPECTIVE
The Pavilion at Anderson Lawn aims to initiate experiential projection, inspire diversity of use, and bring awareness to the human perspective.
The interior form of the pavilion was organically generated to create a carved feeling. The interior grid is squared off to avoid injury to the user. The organic interior contrasts with the orthogonal grid and squared off exterior.
GRID VS VOID
SCALE
Other dimensions, angles, and sizes of grid were explored, but none had the same datum, rhythm, and wayfinding as the nominal square, as the precedents had determined.
The grid montages Anderson Lawn creating a subjective narrative for the user that changes with each visit.
SUBJECTIVE OBJECT
SITE RESPONSE
High reflectivity glazing was chosen as the rain shield in the roof system to enhance the grid through its reflection. It sits at a slant that matches the site’s slope and creates an interesting angle for reflection.
Chrome paint was chosen to coat the carbon fiber dowels to create a disappearing effect for the grid, abstracting views further. In turn the user and the surrounding lawn would reflect as the structure of the pavilion.
Orange paint was chosen for the sections of grid that touch the interior space because of its contrast to the surroundings for wayfinding. The floor of the project is also designed to wayfind easily.
Carbon fiber was chosen because of its stength to slenderness ratio. The pieces were designed to be as small as possible while able to hold the roof structure above.
ARTWORK
Kain (Detail)
Acrylic and Charcoal on Canvas
48” X 38”
2016
Wanderer
Acrylic On Canvas
58” X 48” 2019
Self Portrait
Acrylic And Pastels On Canvas
48” X 38”
2018
Fortune Fades Photoshop, Colored Pencil and Image Transfer
4” x 6”
Wanderer Photoshop, Colored Pencil and Image Transfer
4” x 6”
Wanderer Photoshop, Colored Pencil and Image Transfer
4” x 6”
Julia’s World Acrylic on Canvas 24” X 36” 2022
Lost
Acrylic on Canvas
20” X 36”