Moxiao Guo | Architecture Portfolio 2024 | University of Waterloo

hello!

I am a second-year student at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture.

Through the lens of design, I am particularly interested in how spatiality, form, context, and other aspects of architecture come together to foster and strengthen communities from a local, intimate scale to an international or digital domain. How can we design to provide support and build a culture that benefits a collective whole? Architects possess the tools and capabilities to create extraordinary value in any facet of our physical, conceptual, or spiritual environments. Thus, we are responsible for taking on this challenge by continuously posing questions and engaging in discussion to adapt to our changing landscapes.

With my curiosity towards new experiences and learning opportunities, I am motivated to contribute to designing a more sustainable world with your team, where communities can excel without social, environmental, or systemic boundaries.

CURRICULUM VITAE

qualifications

• High proficiency with digital and other visualization tools through drafting, modelling, and conceptualizing for numerous architectural and artistic projects

• Strong interpersonal and collaboration skills developed through past experiences in community service, volunteering, recreation, and school projects

education

SEPTEMBER 2022PRESENT

SEPTEMBER 2018JUNE 2022

University of Waterloo School of Architecture

• Candidate for Bachelor’s of Architectural Studies / Honours co-op program

Unionville High School

• Ontario Secondary School Diploma (Class of 2022)

• Honour Roll (2019-2022)

experience skills

JAN 2024APRIL 2024

• Contributed to design discussions including feasability studies, preliminary concepts, and interior design with different project teams

• Prepared architectural diagrams, renders, and client presentations to visualize and demonstrate intent throughout iterative design process

• Developed Revit 3D models and working drawings

JULY 2023AUGUST 2023

NeighbourLink North York - Youth Worker North York, ON

• Collaborated with colleagues to facilitate programs to more than 40 unique youth, requiring weekly analysis, planning and efficient coordination to ensure safety and satisfaction

GEC Architecture - Student Architect Toronto, ON digital analog

• Enriched NeighbourLink programs through donation outreach; translated to the successful launch of summer program’s field trip initiative, with 4 free off-site experiences including complementary meals for children

• Performed marketing tasks such as designing posters, newsletters, and banners for events such as the inaugural Taste of North York night market

MAY 2023AUGUST 2023

Creative Genius Academy - Marketing Assistant Markham, ON

• Curated visual arts lesson plans with art instructors from pages and layout designs to text and content for multiple age groups on a project-to-project basis

distinctions

DECEMBER 2023

Dean’s Honours List

• Awarded for University of Waterloo 2A term

OCTOBER 2023

Buildner Pavilion of Humanity Edition #2 Competition

• Honourable mention

SEPTEMBER 2022PRESENT

NOVEMBER 2022

SEPTEMBER 2022

Excellent Academic Standing

• Maintained average above 80% at University of Waterloo

Project Feature

• 1A Studio project featured at Design at Riverside Gallery

President’s Scholarship of Distinction

• Awarded with an admissions average above 95%

• Rhinoseros 3D

• Enscape

• Revit

• AutoCAD

• Adobe Photoshop

• Adobe Illustrator

• Adobe InDesign

• Google Suite

• Microsoft Suite

• Model Making

• Laser Cutting

• 3D Printing

• Hand Drafting/Sketching

• English (native)

• Mandarin (conversational)

languages interests

• Basketball

• Sports

• Reading

• Chess

• Visual arts

• Photography

June 4, 2024

To Whom it May Concern:

RE: Reference Letter for Moxiao Guo

I am writing to endorse Moxiao Guo, who worked with us in our Toronto Studio as a full-time student architect during the Winter 2024 semester. Moxiao was a strong asset to our studio during his time with us; he was efficient and motivated, dedicated and hardworking, and was pleasant and punctual. He is a quick learner, a great team player, and was able to handle any task the team gave him. Having personally worked with many students throughout my career, I can say without reservation that Moxiao was among the most effective, reliable, and capable.

Moxiao had the opportunity to work on several projects while he was with us, as well as assisting with proposals and marketing efforts. His assignments included:

• Undertook preliminary design, programming, and concept development for a new multi-use warehouse and maintenance depot for a large utility company.

• Supported the schematic design of a public works facility in York Region, including design drawings, 3D models, and product research.

• Helped produce technical drawings for a small rehabilitation to an affordable housing development

• Developed as-built drawings and planning diagrams for a spatial master plan for the University of Toronto.

• Supported the design of a renovation to an academic building at McMaster University.

• Supported project teams with the preparation and assembly of client presentations.

• Prepared diagrams and drawings to support proposals and marketing materials.

Moxiao was a pleasure to work with and easily integrated into our Toronto studio. He would be an asset to your team, and I have no reservations about recommending him. We wish Moxiao success in his future career.

Yours Truly,

GEC Architecture

Tyson Bolduc PARTNER

B.Sc., M. Arch., Architect, OAA, AIBC,

TB

AAA, SAA, MRAIC, LEED® Green

Associate

To Whom It May Concern,

Maria Speare Executive Director

NeighbourLink North York 89 Centre Avenue Toronto, ON M2M 2L7 416-221-8283 x1 maria@neighbourlink org

I am writing to wholeheartedly endorse Moxiao Guo, who joined NeighbourLink North York as a Canada Summer Jobs student this past summer. Our organization's mission is to empower neighbors to support one another in practical, relational, and sustainable ways, enabling the realization of their full potential. Moxiao is an individual of passion, charisma, empathy, and dedication, who wholeheartedly committed his summer to making a profound impact on our community members' lives

In his role as a Youth Worker, Moxiao supported various initiatives such as organizing a children's summer camp and youth basketball program for under-resourced families who would not have otherwise accessed such enriching experiences Moxiao's collaborative spirit was evident as he worked seamlessly with his peers and engaged effectively with community members, all while demonstrating his individual problem-solving capabilities

I had the privilege of witnessing Moxiao's genuine enthusiasm for learning and willingness to step out of his comfort zone during his time with us, which included highly successful outreach efforts. These efforts resulted in the addition of valuable elements to our summer program, such as field trips and providin g nourishing meals for our participants Moxiao's proficiency in design and illustration also proved invaluable, as he contributed to activities such as poster creation, website input, and newsletter production, and events support

Through his community development work, Moxiao displayed an understanding of issues related to housing , politics, and community building. His ability to build trust within our community in such a brief time frame is a testament to his character, values, and his potential as a future leader These qualities are invaluable to any organization fortunate enough to have Moxiao as part of their team and he has my highest recommendation for any opportunities that may come his way. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out to me at 416-221-8283 x1 or via email at maria@neighbourlink.org.

Sincerely

NeighbourLink North York

| BUILDNER HONOURABLE MENTION

converge.

PROJECT: Buildner Pavilion of Humanity Edition #2

PROGRAM: Pavilion

LOCATION: Svalbard and Jan Mayen

COLLABORATORS: Cindy He

What human achievement is significant enough to show to extraterrestrial visitors?

Humanity would be a modest species compared to other intelligences in the grand scheme of the cosmos. We are fragile organisms with short lifespans and limited technological prowess; if extraterrestrials were to visit our world, no feat would accurately represent the relative impacts of our accomplishments. Yet, our mere existence proves to be an achievement in itself, and its finite limitations contextualize this achievement as well as our fundamental being.

The Convergence Pavilion represents a collective, ongoing human effort: our ability and desire to share, preserve and express our memories and emotions to create connections— to transcend beyond our existential boundaries through nonquantifiable means.

We invite those beyond our planet to listen to our stories and share their own, not necessarily tales of perfection or accomplishment but of subjective significance, simplicity, compassion, and growth. And for those living with us on Earth, this pavilion acts in the same manner, a beacon for reconciliation, learning, and self-reflection, and to understand each other for our uniquenesses as we tread in the shared peaceful certainty that is impermanence.

View entering bottom level

SPECTRUM

The programming disperses itself onto a spectrum between the interpersonal and the intrapersonal, defining the basis for the pavilion’s functions, senses, and experiences. The core of each floor formulates the two extremes on this range.

CONVERGENCE

The first level converges multiple bodies to generate an overlapping arbitrary space in the centre, encouraging interactivity and crossing between spaces. The lower level establishes a continuous winding pathway that descends and acts as a subjective and singular experience.

View of performance space

EXPLODED AXO

Self-supporting curved canopies transition into the ground beneath, acting as landforms that emerge from the site to reveal the entrances to the pavilion.

The above level consists of interactive programs working and arranged in accordance with the form of the converging volumes. The performance space connects to every other program, acting as the most active interpersonal space.

A spiralling sequence leads the user through the story of humanity; the gallery, the mediator of past and present, of supposed objective reality and subjective experience, disperses itself around the perimeter.

The most secluded intrapersonal space is in the centre, where structural partitions deminishes vision and stimulates the other senses as they traverse towards the centre. The person's experiences are isolated and internal.

View of gallery space

View of workshop space

culture.

PROJECT: ARCH 292 Studio Design

PROGRAM: Living Archive

LOCATION: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

SUPERVISORS : Lola Sheppard, Val Rynnimeri

How can architecture expand and reaffirm historical and cultural appreciation?

The built environment plays a critical role in facilitating practices around the world. Through the globally shared traditions of drink-making and fermentation, The Culture Archive explores the transformation of an old heritage building once used for incineration, the Wellington Destructor in Toronto, Canada, into a facilitator of cultural regeneration and creation.

Responding to the existing site conditions, visitors follow a circulation that reflects the processes of drink-making, from processing ingredients to fermenting and interacting. Programming found in this hub, including workshops, public display of amphora, tanks, and other artefacts, visible storage, event spaces, and tasting spaces, is tied together by the building's vertical display column, acting as the circulation and visual connection between floors, as well as a wayfinding element that identifies the stages of the drink-making process.

A MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

A fermented drink is a unique time capsule containing a significant story. From its cultural origins to its formation, production, and consumption, the vessel, augmented and energized by the passage of time, facilitates dialogue and occasion. With the loss of these sources, cultures and ways of experience are lost with them.

DIVING DOWN

This project aims to rejuvinate cultural energy and passion through feremented beverages by closely following the progression of creation and experience, and opening the public to different forms of interaction.

Harvesting

Outside the building, the process begins at harvesting, where ingredients are collected, picked, milled and acquired.

Processing

Ingredients come together to create recipes for distinct flavours and textures.

The upper level of the building introduces the cultural and historical stories of fermented beverages around the world.

Fermentation

Fermentation utilizes bacteria to break down sugars into other products including alcohol, and carbon dioxide.

Exibition spaces hold vessels, amphora, containers, and canisters used for fermentation.

Interaction

Drinks are completed and experienced on the ground and lower level in both large gatherings and intimate settings.

Finished fermented drinks act as a catalyst, where the production of fermented beverages can begin again.

Retaining much of the existing site and building, visitors from the bridge and traverse down and through Archive to the gardens and green space below.

This study fragment model explores the use of a central display column to mark and establish programming for each floor throughout the building based on the progression of drinkmaking.

axonometric

Site model

North facing section

Third floor plan

Second floor plan

Public display and storage of historic artefacts for fermented drink-making

Understanding significance of food and drink in traditions and cultural practices

Harvesting and botanical teachings

First floor plan

Lower floor plan

Connecting through tastes, smells, and feelings in informal, hands-on settings

Fostering community and sharing experiences

Experiential forms of learning through workshops and group events

The tasting gallery is a more confined space that concludes the sequence with a heightened sensory experience for tastes and smells.

But not all drinks are consumed in an intimate matter. The tasting gallery spills out into the courtyard under the bridge, reengaging the guest with the

outside world for larger, informal interactions, and restarting the progression of drink-making through the sharing of impressions and knowledge.

MODEL PHOTOS

View of tasting gallery

reveal.

PROJECT: ARCH 193 Studio Design

PROGRAM: Children's Library

LOCATION: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

SUPERVISORS: Rick Andrighetti, Isabel Ochoa

How do the youth appreciate and maneuver through architectural spaces?

Despite the decline of what is known as a traditional library, the development of problem-solving, critical thinking, learning, and knowledge persist with this building type. Situated on Broadview Ave and Thompson St in Toronto, Canada, "The Reveal" represents a mechanical puzzle, a symbol of the attainment of knowledge through engagement and experimentation.

Children learn through trial and error and example as they engage with everyday problems that continually grow in complexity. Within this building, shifts and connections unveil and embrace the central element, the children's area. Resulting is a circulation that concentrates the language of the building's key programming and the importance of child development in a complex world.

establish central element open towards neighbourhood shift according to site to create courtyard extrude towards commercial final

East facing section

View into children's area

Employees can monitor outdoor programming while retaining privacy if necessary.

Area featuring rest, study, and performance spaces enclosed by children's book stacks.

Rooms for study, meetings, and library programming such as children drop-in activites.

Quiet spaces for rest and breastfeeding closely supported by staff.

Visual connection to courtyard; caregivers can monitor children.

Sliding glass doors open up outdoor resting and play spaces to the children's area.

General book stacks for all ages on the second floor.

Building shading device for screen visibility.

Spaces can provide other media such as board games and digital resources.

Gender neutral containing baby changing tables.

2nd floor plan

North facing section

South facing elevation

West facing elevation

View of outside courtyard

feather.

PROJECT: ARCH 193 Studio Design

PROGRAM: Pedestrian Bridge

LOCATION: Kitchener, Ontario, Canada

SUPERVISORS : Rick Andrighetti, Isabel Ochoa

What can elevate the journey between two destinations?

Spanning 30 metres across the lake of Victoria Park in Kitchen, Ontario, The Feather gently rests in the bushes on either side. Taking inspiration from the wonderous biology of the bird species that return to this park every year, the bridge's steel "barbs" extend out of its rachis, continuing the canopy and creating a sense of rhythm like the texture of a real feather. These steel members establish the general silhouette of the bridge and reach down to nestle onto the walkway beneath.

Instilling dynamism, movement, and swiftness, the bridge's asymmetrical spiralling gesture invitingly connects both sides while guiding the gaze towards the rest of the park.

North facing section

Prefabricated steel panels

HSS ornamental members welded to HSS structural arches

HSS arches welded to steel plates bolted to concrete footings

Wood decking boards bolted to steel angle bolted to HSS bridge beam structure

Stainless steel guardrail with cable railing system

Side HSS beams connected by HSS beams supporting central HSS beam

Additional HSS ornamental members

other works.

Featured in Riverside Exhibition

This conceptual problem asks to reduce architecture to its essentials, to the simplest of forms, a cube, and using solids and voids to create spaces for gathering, rest, and contemplation. The pavilion accomplishes this through a subtractive and iterative process of a monolithic solid, focusing on the dance between natural light and shadow, and the formation of both expansive and confined cavernous spaces.

Overall view

View of second floor

interlock.

Volume Zero Marsception Architecture Competition 2024

On the Martian planet, the potential for extraterrestrial life or inhabitation is slowly becoming a reality. Cultivated on the invaluable progress of past missions and the lessons learned from our own terrestrial planet, the pilot mission fosters limitless growth potential, capable of expanding indefinitely with modular pods in accordance with foreseeable needs.

(In collaboration with Jayden Chan and Sylvana Kam)

Jezero crater context plan

professional work.

GEC Architecture, January - April 2024

A collection of works and contributions during my time at GEC Architecture, including design and technical drawings, visualizations, and studies.

View of public works centre office space

York Region public works centre elevations

View of public works centre lunchroom

Public works centre exterior view

professional work.

GEC Architecture, January - April 2024

A collection of works and contributions during my time at GEC Architecture, including design and technical drawings, visualizations, and studies.

Site circulation

Existing natural lighting

Existing building connection

New building connection addition