Architecture Portfolio (2020-2024)

Lara Carolan

Architecture Portfolio 2020—2023

Work Experience

Skills

June - August 2023

Digital

Maison V / Orient Occident Atelier

Rhino 3D / Enscape / Grasshopper / PSD / AI / INDD / AutoCAD / Laser Cutting / 3D Printing

Architectural Intern Hong Kong

June - August 2022

Analogue Hand Drafting / Sketching / Collage / Film Photography / Model-making

the Oval Partnership Architectural Intern London, England

June - July 2020

MLA Architects CV / Resume

Architectural Intern Hong Kong

June - July 2018

the Oval Partnership Architectural Intern

Others May 2023 Edwin A. Seipp Memorial Prize finalist: Shortlisted Entry 2023 Awarded to third-year student(s) in a special design competition at Cornell AAP

Jan 2022 - May 2023 Cornell University Sustainable Design (CUSD) Modelling Team Architect, Ithaca Carbon Neutral 2030 Project

Hong Kong June - July 2021

Education August 2020 - May 2025

NOLS: Alaska Backpacking 30 days backpacking in the Talkeetna Mountains. Off the grid, I learned how to navigate, trail find, basic survival and medical skills, overcome adversity, and take care of myself and my group in the outdoors.

Cornell University Bachelors of Architecture

2018 - 2020

Ithaca, New York

Elite Scholarship Grant, Hong Kong Sports Institute 2018-2020

August 2006 - June 2020

Chinese International School Hong Kong

2

Hong Kong Rugby Union. Competed and placed silver in U21 Women’s Rugby Asian Games 2018 in Bhubaneswar, India.

Content CV / Resume

02

Three Seed Library

04

Becoming San Juan Hill

14

Liberty City

22

Parasitic Piling

30

Miscellaneous

36

3

Three Seed Library Project Details Year | Spring, 2022 Location | Seneca Falls, New York Professor | Tom Carruthers Course | ARCH 2102 Design IV

Three Seed Library

For the comprehensive studio semester, the task was to design a library in a nearby town in Upstate New York. When learning the history of Seneca Falls, NY, I was inspired by the suffragette movement, particularly Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She had written under the pen name “sunflower” in the local publication The Lily. The symbolism of a sunflower, (specifically in seed form), drew harmonies from the precedents I had studied of shelled forms in Jorn Utzon’s Silkeborg Museum and the Imperial Kiln Museum. In addition, discovering the aging demographic of Seneca Falls contributed to my motivation for an eye-catching and radical design. Lastly, upon my site visit, I noticed the widespread use of brick in town, inspiring me to design these brick domes that stand in stark contrast formally, yet are familiar in materiality to the town of Seneca Falls.

This design is centralised around three seed forms that sit intentionally across a wider steel grid structure. Each seed holds a different purpose. One for community, one lifted slightly above ground inviting circulation along book stacks, and the last, looming highest above is a quiet space for reading, meditation and reflection. The three seeds are placed strategically with reference to circulation and function of the library, to optimise their separate functions. The community lecture hall is furthest back and easily accessed upon entry to the main hall. The circulation seed is suspended along the exterior (closest to the sidewalk) and offset to influence library navigation and offer a nuanced entrance directly to the second floor. The last is positioned front and south facing for ultimate privacy and exposure to sunlight for a calm and warming space. In a supporting effort, the interior walls are designed to create a formal connection between the seeds, and to accentuate their harmony even when placed atop a strict grid structure.

4

5

Three Seed Library

1st Floor Plan

2nd Floor Plan

Three Seed Library 1/16” = 1’

Long Section

6

Short Section

0

12

24

36

48

60

72

84

96

108 FT

Wall Detail Section Brick Dome

Wall Section Brick Dome

Condensation Weep Holes

Extruded Aluminium Retainer Cap Frame Vinyl Glazing Tape Assembly Screw Fastener Insulated Tempered Glass Extruded Thermal PVC Curb Frame Rubber Draft Seal

Condensation Gutter

T.O. Brick Domes 42' - 0"

Metal Flashing Rigid Vinyl Thermal Break

Rubber Membrane

Interior

Three Seed Library

Interior

Roof 26’ - 0”

Topping Deck (2") Sound/Noise Insulation (1") Level 2 13’ - 0”

Concrete Slab (4") Corrugated Steel Deck (1.5") Beam (W 12 x 22)

Brick & Masonry (3.5" x 2.5")

Grout Drainage Cavity

End Plate Welded to Beam A490-N Bolts Em-Bolt Embed Plate

Vapour Barrier Reinforced Concrete (8”)

Brick Veneer Anchor

Level 1 0’ - 0”

Gravel Drainage Pipe Concrete Footing Flashing

1/2” = 1’ 0

3

6

9

12

15 FT

7

Building Code Drawings

ELEVATOR

All doors 3’ Entrance 3 + 3 = 6’ 3' - 0"

8' - 0"

ENTRANCE

6' - 4"

Accessibility Plan

7' - 0"

1

2

CORNER

44"

3

4

5

10

14

6

11

12

HALLWAYS

13

7' - 0"

7

8 9

Railings 3” from wall 2” diameter Extend 3”

2"

3"

3"

Three Seed Library

Average width = 7'-0" (narrowest = 6' - 0")

EGRESS STAIRS

Egress Plan Library Occupancy Classification = Group A-3 Table 1017.2 Exit Acccess Travel Distance shall not exceed: Occupancy A-3 = with sprinkler, 250 ft 1st Floor

FARTHEST EXIT PATH

2nd Floor

1st Floor

99 ft

82 ft WHEELCHAIR CIRCULATION

1st Floor

2nd Floor

2nd Floor

EXIT ROUTE

8

Structural Axonometric Brick Domes, Steel Grid, Walls, Glass Facade

Structural Axonometric Steel Grid (beams, girders, column & truss), walls, glass facade

ROOF Steel beam & girder grid

2ND FLOOR Truss & Column

2ND FLOOR Walls

1ST FLOOR Steel beam & girder grid

1ST FLOOR Double skin facade with aluminium brick frame

Three Seed Library

2ND FLOOR Double skin facade with aluminium brick frame

1ST FLOOR Truss & Column

1ST FLOOR Walls

1ST FLOOR Steel beam & girder grid

BRICK SHELL

9

North Elevation

Three Seed Library East Elevation

10

Three Seed Library

Site Exploration and Analysis

Area

Population

Race

Density

Medium Income

Gender

Avg,House Prize

11

Three Seed Library Final Model

12

1/8”=1’

Three Seed Library Final Model 1/8”=1’

13

Becoming San Juan Hill Project Details Year | Fall, 2022 Location | Lincoln Centre, New York Professor | Sean Anderson Course | ARCH 3101 Design V

The concept is to host a creative laboratory of thought, an environment in which those who enter & flow through are free to come together to engage in shared activities and experience.

Becoming San Juan Hill

Heavily influenced by Relational Aesthetics and the work of Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija, the spaces I’ve created are influenced by the unpredictable interactions that are free to form between the architecture/architect and the visitor/occupant within. Rooted as a reactionary design intended to challenge and contrast against the sheer scale of the buildings that now stand around Lincoln Square, my design is one that consists of modular and a playful scaffolding structure. My site-specific interventions are tailored to the conditions currently present along the upper west side (eg. social, lounge, stage, etc.), while its informal and mobile design introduces an in-between threshold intended for open re-definition by the individual, and catered towards those who have experienced displacement, and experienced some form of isolation as the “other”.

My design introduces an experimental environment that stands against and opposite to the gentrification of San Juan Hill and those who frequent Lincoln Square for “high society” performing arts activities. Instead, by this addition of an embodied and holistic set of experiences defined by the individual and collective through interventions, I invite those who would otherwise walk along the outskirts of the site, to engage in open conversation and critique about the rigidity of our modern conditions.

This experimental environment culminates at Damrosch park, where two of my five interventions are located. UNSTAGE and INVITE are two structures at a close enough proximity that enables them to directly interact with one another, in addition to their individual interactions with the current conditions and buildings on site. UNSTAGE - As its name suggests, this intervention is designed as a reverse and counter stage to the bandshell across. The varying stage heights accompanied with the volumes and platforms for viewing create a dynamic performance space that blurs the lines between audience and performer. The scaffold is also pulled 15m away from the David Koch Theater. This setback allows performers and artists to engage with the audience along all four faces.

Additionally, creating potential for experimental use of the flat concrete facade of the Koch Theater, like projecting movies. This empty space left between UNSTAGE and INVITE initiates a further level of relational aesthetics between the structures that stand.

When occupying Damrosch park, the two interventions on either side are open to and can be interpreted as both engaging and confining. This space leaves it up to the occupant to freely circulate, interact with, and define their own unique experience.

14

15

Becoming San Juan Hill

Becoming San Juan Hill Rendering - Unstage Top View

16

Becoming San Juan Hill

Initial Studies - Public and Private

Interface Model & Final Drawing

17

Axonometric - Various Typologies

s/JUNGLE

Becoming San Juan Hill s/INVITE

Section - Various Typologies

18

Becoming San Juan Hill Plan - Unstage & Invite

19

Unstage - Final Rendering

Becoming San Juan Hill Invite - Final Renderings

20

Becoming San Juan Hill

Kitchen - Final Rendering

Jungle - Final Renderings

21

Liberty City : Back to Nature Project Details Year | Spring, 2023 Location | Liberty City, Miami Professor | Sydney Maubert Course | ARCH 3102 Design VI

Liberty City

Miami has a long history of displacement, global warming, and specific to Liberty Square, brain drain/ migration away and the temporary community of the area. My studies and conversations highlighted the unfortunate political and ecological exile of Miami’s local residents.

This project aims to create a longer-lasting community through health and culture. A reintroduction of indigenous plants, wildlife, and pastoral farming to the area is emphasised to nurture the already existing close relationship between local wildlife and the people of Liberty Square, while a community kitchen intervention strengthens the community and gives the residents a chance to share their crops with one another. Additionally, an outdoor exhibition space and gallery is inherent to my plus program for fostering community. My intention with this temporary/mobile space is to honor and create pride for its local culture and artists like Aaron Jackson (photographer).

22

23

Liberty City

Collage Explorations

Liberty City Textural & Conceptual Site Plan Foodways and the reintegration of Marshland

24

25

Liberty City

Plan - Residential

Liberty City Block Plan - Ground Level

26

Plan - Residential Program

Section Detail

Liberty City

Section - Residential Program

27

Elevation

ELEVATIONS

Residential - Stepped

Scale 1’-0” = 1/8”

Liberty City

Residential + Program

Atmospheric Perspective Collage

28

0’

5’

10’

15’

30’

Liberty City Edwin A. Seipp Memorial Prize finalist: Shortlisted Entry 2023

Studio Project A0 Summary Poster

29

Parasitic Piling Project Details Year | Spring, 2021 Professor | Felix Heisel & Sasa Zivkovic Course | ARCH 1102 Design II Parasitic Piling is an exploration of concrete, emphasising the dependent nature of each individual block/ shape and how they rely on one another to hold a unified form that stands upright.

Parasitic Piling

My goal with this project was to investigate self similar modules and how they rely on one another to create an overall form. To explore the tension between a heavy material like concrete and gravitational limitations in the act of piling.

With the assignment to design a bookshelf from two materials, I was paired with a peer to further explore my material of concrete and hers of glass. Immediately, our individual prior studies exposed the inherent contrast in the two, where glass is a delicate and transparent material, while concrete is massive and monolithic. We wanted to create a pile that was daring, holding structural integrity while creating the illusion that it could topple over at any moment. Additionally, to combine them in harmony, we decided to follow these stereotypes of material characteristics, assigning the role of foundation to the concrete formwork, and the book holding/protecting to the glass material. Lastly, we wanted to further develop our respective explorations into modular piling, creating a final design and model that could further agglomerate to expand and form a larger bookshelf/ library if so desired.

The final progression this semester was to create a neighbourhood bus stop library on Ithaca’s local number 36 bus route. My initial explorations with the concrete material explored self similar modules with a core narrative and challenge of creating a daring pile by unconventionally playing with the gravitational limitations of piling.

30

31

Parasitic Piling

Parasitic Piling A01 Material Exploration Rockite and concrete studies, using piling as a joinery mechanism

32

Parasitic Piling

Test Models From left to right: Acrylic, Ice and Latex

A02 Book Shelf Collaborator: Karishma Chatani

33

Axonometric Final Design Bus Stop Library

Parasitic Piling

34

Parasitic Piling

Section Final Design Bus Stop Library

Final Model (right) Bus stop library made of concrete with wooden site/base Assembly Diagram (left) Final design origin, step by step configuration

35

Miscellaneous From documentation, experimentations and explorations, to my photography work over the years.

Projects Include I. Structural Systems Model : The Dragonfly II. Finished / Unfinished Space

Miscellaneous

III. Analogue Hand Drawings: House for Professor IV. 1st Year Design Studio : On Paper - Body Application V. Collage and Drawing VI Textural Swatches: Concrete & Nature VII. Film Photography

36

Miscellaneous I. Structural Systems Model (1:25)

Structurally precise model of Rintala Eggertsson Architects The Dragonfly in Northern Sweden. Completed in collaboration with Ela Malaz & Manu Nores for Structural Systems II at Cornell University

37

Miscellaneous 38

I. Finished / Unfinished Space Recycled Cardboard and Acryilc Paint Studies Created in experimentation phase for Becoming San Juan Hill (ARCH 3101 Design V)

Miscellaneous II. Analogue Drawings: House for Professor

Axonometric (Program Plus) and Section Perspective drawings for Arch 2101 Design III with Professor Kana Arioka

39

III. 1st Year Design Studio : On Paper - Body Application Vapor catching vest made from crumpled trace paper

Miscellaneous 40

Miscellaneous

IV. Collage & Drawing Explorations done for first phase of Becoming San Juan Hill (ARCH 3101 Design V)

IV. Textural Swatches: Concrete & Nature Explorations done for first phase of Liberty City (ARCH 3102 Design VI)

41

Miscellaneous V.. Film Photography A small selection from my archive over the years

42