PORTFOLIO 2023 - LIKA CORSON

LIKA CORSON

I am in my 5th year of the B.Arch program at Illinois Institute of Technology. My interests include exploring architecture as social infrastructure –including people-centric designs that address the surrounding context while also cultivating an inclusive identity. I am also drawn to projects where there is a compelling weaving of elements of form and function.

CONTACT

(904) 666 - 3859

lcorson@hawk.iit.edu

MORE INFO

LANGUAGES

English, Japanese

ACADEMIC STANDING

Dean’s List: 3.77GPA

May 2023 Expected Graduation

EDUCATION

ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

FALL 2018 - PRESENT

Bachelor of Architecture

Scholarships: Heald Scholarship, Elevate Scholarship

•Attended Japan Study Abroad Summer 2019

TOKYO METROPOLITAN KOKUSAI HIGH SCHOOL, TOKYO, JAPAN

APRIL 2015 - MARCH 2018

International Baccalaureate Diploma

•Internationally recognized college level curriculum

EXPERIENCE

HKS ARCHITECTS, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

JUNE 2022 - AUGUST 2022

NOMA Foundation Fellowship

•Worked with both sports and mixed-use teams on current projects

•Gained experience organizing documents, designing graphics, and engaging in conceptual design

WRIGHTWOOD 659, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

FEBRUARY 2019 - MARCH 2020

Visitor Service Associate

•Gallery of architecture work by Tadao Ando, as well as various artistic explorations from other esteemed designers

•Engaged with material of Dimensions of Citizenship, Tetsuya Ishida, and Allure of Matter exhibitions

•Greeted visitors interested in the work of Tadao Ando, answered questions about the work with expertise

WYZANT, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

AUGUST 2019 - PRESENT

Japanese Tutor

•Worked one-on-one with students struggling with Japanese either online or in-person

•Developed lesson plans that fit the needs of students learning Japanese for a variety of contexts

NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF MINORITY ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS (NOMAS)

SEPTEMBER 2019 - PRESENT

Illinois Tech Chapter - Member

•Engaged with mixed-use, social and environmentally sustainable design ideas as part of IIT’s submission to the NOMA student design competition in 2020 and 2021

•Attended NOMA conference ‘19 Believe in the Hype (October 16-20, 2019)

•NOMA (National Organization of Minority Architects) Foundation Fellowship Summer 2022

AWARDS SKILLS

•Student Chapter of the Year - Honorable Mention: NOMA Annual Conference 2020

•High School

Valedictorian: 2018

•Rhino

•Grasshopper

•V-Ray

•Enscape

•Adobe Photoshop

•Adobe Illustrator

•Adobe Indesign

•Adobe Rush

•Woodshop Machinery

•Model-Making

•3D printing

•Laser cutting

•Hand Drafting

NORTH FACING SECTION

CHI-ARTS HIGHSCHOOL

VIEWS FROM ATRIUM

A former masonry and mass timber warehouse in the Chicago’s West Loop is reimagined as an arts Highschool in this adaptive reuse proposal. Orbs intersect the existing rectilinear building to foreground the school’s primary communal spaces, and are integrated through referencing the existing structural grid in their structure, as well as brick pattern in their cladding. The introduction of these curvilinear shapes facilitates circulation and provides ample opportunity for cross-pollination across the different art disciplines.

IAUDITORIUM SPACE

PERSPECTIVE OF NORTH FACADE

GYMNASIUM GALLERY

FOOD COMMONS

This large scale plan for food production and distribution is conceptualized as part of a larger network of sites across Chicago that aim to make fresh produce accessible and sustainable in an urban setting. The flows of goods, people, energy, and knowledge are interwoven to create a cycle that can both support and engage the neighborhood. This culminates in the cultural hub at the North end of the site that mediates the diverse forces present within East Pilsen.

MASTERPLAN AXONOMETRIC STRUCTURAL DIAGRAM

GREEN CORRIDOR CONNECTION

MODEL - ZOOMED IN

MODEL - TRUNK TO CANOPY

ROOF - SECTION

STRUCTRUAL BAY CALCULATIONS

STRUCTURAL BAY DIAGRAM

ROOF - DETAIL

NEW FORUM

In order to better bridge the two communities located on opposite sides of Chicago’s Washington Park, Hyde Park and Washington Park, this intervention at a central intersection on the West edge of the Park explores the relationship between structure and interior and exterior. The Arts programs housed are spread across the site and unifyed by a continuous structural fabric that extends over the street and into the park. Engage passerbys in the art through the spread out program and underpasses that can be decorated by art made in conjuction with nearby arts institutions. Tracing the form lines reveals how the programatic elements are related to each other and the site.

STRUCTURAL MODEL

MODEL - ENTRY FROM NEIGHBORHOOD

MODEL - EXTENSION OVER STREET

RENDERED SECTION PERSPECTIVE TINY HOUSE COMMUNITY - FINAL ITERATION

Residents of this community dwelling site enjot privacy in their respective rooms on the second floor, and share adjacent first floor areas to encourage interaction with neighbors. Ideas from the first iteration were adapted to improve circulation, and increase occupiable space.

SECTION PERSPECTIVE

EXPLODED AXONOMETRIC

INTERVENTIONS FOR RESTORATION IN THE LENÇÓIS MARANHENSES

Located within the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park on the coast of North-Eastern Brazil, several interventions are introduced in succession to facilitate the maintenance and restoration of forestry in this beautiful and harsh environment where there is limited access to industrial building materials. The landscape is produced by a combination of strong winds and the annual monsoon season that sustains life in this area seemingly for only a few months a year. The rural communities living within this park face trouble growing crops and live with the uncertainty that there homes may be encroached by dunes or flooded. To honor their resilience, the pavilion is constructed at the end of the river - Rio Negro - that erodes the strata underneath the dunes and flows into the ocean. Nurseries are introduced to begin the process of cultivating an agroforest that will provide both food and raw materials for the community and slow down the erosion of the restinga coastal ecosystem where they reside.

FIX SANDY SOIL

Layers of Earth

start by digging

--

4” mulch from biomass/weeds

plant seedlings/crops underneath

-

lake covered in sand compressed organic matter from previous ancient forest

use in water harvesting structures, ceramic goods

---

pigeon pea

SAND PEAT-

plant beans/legumes -shade the ground -nitrogen fixing

to Build Soil - in planting bed:

organic material (4”)

-

nitrogen from livestock droppings

moisture

darkness living root

forest beans

weeds/ mulch

dirt

sisal tolerates:

long roots loosen compacted soil use as chicken feed

- high in protein symbiosis with nitrogen fixing bacteria

CLAY BEDROCK--

gamba grass decomposes slowly improves soil fertility good forage for livestock

drought high temps sandy soil harvest fibers for rope/fabric

pear cactus stores water supplement crops in drought symbiosis with nitrogen fixing bacteria

--

elephant grass protecting soil fertility good forage for livestock makes phosphorous available

--

-

Mexican sunflower fast growing restores soil nutritious increases subsequent crop yields

SECTION - KILN APPENDIX - CLAY HARVESTING AND SOIL RESTORATION

RIO NEGRO AND PAVILION

TRANSPORT

from kiln to coast

FRAGMENTATIONRESILIENCE

History of from Values and

Survive through Mixing of Cultures

seasonally migrate for jobs incorporate farming & livestock indigenous way of building

pass down methods of fishing

-

CORAL FORMATION

first settler of Quimada dos Britos from drought stricken NE

to Pavilion Rio Negro Glass rocks

+sea level rise Artificial Reef forms on top of foundation

porous semi-glass

Submerged Pavilion Foundation

CONCEPT - FRAGMENTATION AND WATER

Lençóis Tremembé People Diaspora

Watershed Direction Diagram

SECTION - NURSERY

PLANTING MATERIAL

3-4 months

2-3 years

METHODS TO REPOPULATE

Framework species:

Alto Jequintinhonha Creole Seed Catalog registry of seeds passed down generations

PLANT IN SUCCESSIONAL GROUPS

plant to attract pollinators/seed dispersers grow canopy that will close quickly-

--have specific nutritional characteristics -resistant to pests, weeds-

integrate native & exotic species for a healthy ecosystem and economic considerations

Assisted Migration:

plant species where they can thrive in the future -

LAYERS OF AGROFOREST

High Middle Ground

coffee

doesn’t spread easily grows in degraded soil grows into canopy quickly harvest as firewood or sell as timber

ginger

papaya

indigenous to NE Brazil regularly fruits acai-like fruit grows slower, integrate with other food producing species

--

Brazil has established nurseries for native seedlings!--

achiote cacao fig

-Emergent Low

maize squash

jackfruit

-

west

sell native & exotic fruits establish nursery sell seedlings teach grafting techniques grows quickly/in degraded soil edible leaves - don’t drop in dry season fruit liked by fauna/cattle harvest as firewood or sell as timber/pulp

APPENDIX - AGROFORESTRY

Indian elm

Jucara

eucalyptus

avocado mango copaiba cassava banana beans or peas

SECTION - MANGROVE NURSERY

Rice planted in DRY season sell

fish in

increases

soil

Ducks

Milkfish

Tilapia

Insects

----Rice

ducks eat insects act as natural pesticide fertilize rice with droppings

fish soften soil oxygenate water provide nutrients for rice

fallen insects feed fish attracted to rice

rice protects, feeds, and shades fish

-----

IRRIGATION

SOIL SALINITY

salt accumulation cover with salt tolerant crops

beachwood planting bed

raised bed reduces water needs by 1/3 protects from accumulation of salt

palms fig guava-

alfalfa

salt bush

water flows down hill plant variety together

soakage

pit burm

-clay core

emptied during growing season compacted clay lining

-planting surface

-

HABITAT varied depths seasonal fluctuations in ecology

AQUACULTURE

controlled inflow & outflow designed for seasonal harvest

APPENDIX - WATER HARVESTING AND AQUACULTURE

INTERIOR RELIEF STRUCTURE

This structure offers a quiet place of contemplation for visitors to Henry Palmosino Park in Chicago. The wooden frames and translucent webbing give visitors the opportunity to enjoy both light and shadow.

STAIR SPACE

This design is for a public outdoor space in a hypothetical urban infill site. The stairs are intended to be a series of spatial experiences that encourage horizontal and vertical movement throughout the site, while allowing places to gathered and accomodate individual activity.

ORGANIZATIONAL DIAGRAM