Aleksandra Kwietniewska Portfolio

ALEKSANDRA KWIETNIEWSKA

ARCHITECTURAL ASSISTANT PART II

ABOUT

MArch Architecture student at the University of Westminster looking for further professional experience. Studying a degree in Architecture allowed me to combine my passion for art with professional practice. The experience and knowledge I have gained studying and professional experience make me happy to be a part of the architectural industry.

CONTACT

Phone: 0751 3525 801

Email: al.kwietniewska@gmail.com

WORK EXPERIENCE

Architectural Assistant Part I at architectural practice Gowin & Siuta, Poland (January 2022 - September 2022)

working two competitions (one winning project):

• Interior Design for the headquarter of the Polish Bank in Warsaw (winning project)

• New Pavilion of the National Museum in Warsaw; gathering information about the site and the project, preparing 2D drawings, and creating 3D models of the site and surroundings, creating visualizations, working on a concept design, preparing mood boards and presentation boards; working on current projects: detailed modeling of the site, working on concept designs, 3D modeling of the concept designs, creating visualizations,

Software: ArchiCad, SketchUp, Rhino, Grasshopper, Lumion, Photoshop, InDesign

Graphic designer - San-Pack, Poland (January 2020 - February 2021)

creating advertisements for social media - practicing graphics software; product photography and photo editing - practicing photography skills and photography software

Software: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign

Internship in architectural office - Inwestprojekt, Poland (JulyAugust 2017)

the ability to observe conversations with clients and the design process; gaining basic knowledge about the work of an architect; creating physical models - practicing manual skills; the ability to design basic structures under the supervision of an architect

EDUCATION

University of Westminster (2022 - present)

MArch Architecture

modules: Architectural Productions, Architectural Reflections: Digital Design, Critical Practice, History & Theory, Applied Technical Studies

London South Bank University (2018-2021)

BA (Hons) Architecture FT

First Class Honours Degree

modules: Design, Technology, Cultural Context, Communication, Professional Practice

V Liceum Ogólnokształcące in Kraków (2015-2018)

secondary school with an extended architectural program

modules: History of Art, ArchiCad Course, Architectural Drawing Course

ACHIEVEMENTS

RIBA South East London Student Awards 2021 - BA Course Highly Commended

SKILLS

AutoCAD - Advanced

Archicad - Elementary

Revit - Elementary

Sketchup - Advanced

Rhinoceros - Advanced

Grasshopper - Intermediate

Lumion - Advanced

Vray - Intermediate

Blender - Intermediate

Adobe Photoshop - Advanced

Adobe Illustrator - Advanced

Adobe InDesign - Advanced

Adobe Lightroom- Advanced

Office Suite (word, excel, powerpoint)

Physical Modeling - Advanced

LANGUAGES

English - Full professional proficiency

Polish - Native

German - Elementary

French - Lower-Intermediate

CONTENT

Professional Experience - Competition Project

ARTS AND CRAFTS SCHOOL

Academic Project

3 4

VIADUCT MARKETSPACE GLASSBLOWING & LAMPWORKING

Academic Project

INTERIOR DESIGN FOR THE HEADQUARTER OF THE POLISH BANK IN WARSAW

Professional Experience - Winning Competition Project

NEW PAVILION OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM IN WARSAW

ARTS AND CRAFTS SCHOOL

ACADEMIC PROJECT

The main objective of the project was to design an Arts and Crafts School & Artist-in-Residence Complex. The building was designed to host multiple functions related to the teaching and practicing of arts and crafts, as well as local and international artistic activity. The goal was to link novel formal & conceptual ideas of spatial multiplicities, intertwining geometries, curvilinear & irregular forms, and playful atmospheres with the school & residential program.

The project began by making a series of casting and form-finding experiments.

The intention was to cast the void, the in-between space of a significant place for me, and then produce a set of exploratory drawings that enabled me to engage in the final design. The shape of the cast and further experiments gave me an idea about the sculptural approach to building design.

CASTING THE VOID - TRANSPARENCY

The first approach of casting the void was based on the search for transparency, as a link to the previous university project. Two trials were made: one using transparent jelly; the other using silicone. Silicone, due to the high content of air bubbles, did not give the effect of transparency, while jelly did, however, the structure of this cast was very flexible and prevented further tests of its use.

CASTING THE VOID - FROM SOFT TO STIFF

The second approach involved making the cast from a material that would give the effect of transparency while being more durable than jelly. Another cast was made with resin, which, despite the fact that it turned out not to be transparent, gave interesting visual effects using a light source, and due to its hardness and form retention, it enabled further tests with its use.

Resin cast of the room’s void

Jelly cast of the room’s void

The void - experimental drawings

The shape of the buildings and cast forms

TRANSLUSENT CONCRETE

Translucent Concrete Experiments

Materials: - foam mold

- plaster - glue sticks

Cut glue sticks were attached to the mold, and then plaster was poured into it. After a day, when the plaster hardened, it was removed from the mold.

The aim of this experiment was to see the relation between the number of holes and their size with the transmission of the light

Transmission of the light - without a source of light

Transmission of the light - without a source of light

Transmission of the light - shadow studies

Transmission of the light - shadow studies

TRANSLUCENT CONCRETE - LIGHTING

a volumetric fiber ratio of 6% used in the translucent concrete panel leads to savings in lighting energy by around 50%

the sunlight channeled by optical fibers can contribute to the heating of room during winter but in summer months, it leads to a spike in cooling loads

SHADING

external vertical circulation - ramp wrapping up the whole building besides its initial purpose acts also as a shading device

vertical construction elements which support ramps provide shading of the building

Detail of the connection between translusent concrete wall and concrete floor

INTERIOR DESIGN FOR THE HEADQUARTER OF POLISH BANK IN WARSAW

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE - WINNING COMPETITION PROJECT

Competition design for the new headquarter of the Polsih Bank (PKO Bank Polski) in Warsaw in the newly created office and commercial complex SKYSAWA located at ul. Świętokrzyska 36 in Warsaw.

This bank headquarters is to be used primarily by the richest part of society. It was therefore important that the interior, in addition to meeting program needs, also meet the visual needs - the highest quality materials, careful workmanship, and modern solutions.

The main elements of the interior are stone, glass, and interactive screens. The interior proposal was made in two color variants: light stone + copper, and dark stone + aluminum. Glass capsules can change their transparency as well as they can display images on both sides of the capsule. In both color variants, the ceiling is covered with foam aluminum. The images displayed on the screens are to refer to Polish art and culture.

*All the works presented in the portolfio have been done by me

MOODBOARDS

Light Stone - Interior examples

Dark Stone - Interior examples

Vantablack - examples of use

Bent glass capsules in the office interiors

EXTERIOR VIEW & ANIMATION

ANIMATION

View of the surroundings and the building in which the bank’s headquarters will be located with the designed elements in front of the entrance.

VIADUCT MARKETSPACE GLASSBLOWING & LAMPWORKING

ACADEMIC PROJECT

The proposal aimed to design a public building that will host a mix of activities including creative workspaces and market facilities as well as various public spaces: food and beverage services, public gardens, and a performance venue. It was supposed to be a vertical public space, accessible to all visitors, day or night. The goal was to create a building that would be a shared

facility, encouraging the encounter of various populations living and working close to one another, yet rarely meeting.

Based on the history of the site that was previously hosting manufacture producing globe lamps, the main focus of the design was placed on glass and art fields related to glass

LAMPWORKING - WORKING WITH GLASS

The project started with experimenting with lampworking. The aim was to get to know the material and how to work with glass, what equipment is needed, and what difficulties should be taken into account. Using a torch, glass tubes were heated, and then their shape was modified using pliers by stretching, bending, squashing, and blowing.

LAMPWORKING - FINDING THE FORM

The results turned out to be successful and with the resulting mini sculptures, it was possible to continue the work by looking for the form. Photographs that were taken showed the potential for obtaining the outlines of the space and inspiration for the project.

Concept collage

FORM FINDING

NEW PAVILION OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM IN WARSAW

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE - COMPETITION PROJECT

The National Museum in Warsaw was originally founded in 1862 as the Museum of Fine Arts and is currently one of the oldest art museums in the country. After Poland regained its independence in 1918, the National Museum was ascribed a prominent role in the plans for the new state and its capital city of Warsaw, and the Modernist building in which it currently resides was erected in 1927–1938. Today, the National Museum in Warsaw boasts a collection numbering around 830,000 works of art from Poland and abroad, from ancient times to the present

including paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, coins, as well as utilitarian objects and design. The new pavilion was to perform the following functions: warehouses of collections of works; research work rooms of external stakeholders (query rooms); scientific work rooms for museum employees; technical rooms; the room of the Internal Security Service with support area; digitization laboratories; conservation studios; exhibition space; museum exhibits movement; café.

*All the works presented in the portolfio have been done by me

EXISTING BUILDING

Long section 1:100

Isometric drawing

Plan - ground floor

Plan - 2nd floor

Plan - 4th floor