Nikola Kolarov 2023 Portfolio

NIKOLA KOLAROV

EDUCATION

Rice University School Of Architecture | GPA: 3.83

B.A. in Architecture pending 2025, B. Arch pending 2027

Minors in Environmental Studies, Sociology pending 2025

Study Abroad (Spanish) | Costa Rica | Summer 2022

Houston, USA | 2021 - ongoing

EMPLOYMENT INVOLVEMENT RECOGNITIONS

Maths Teaching Assistant and Grader | 2020 - ongoing

Art of Problem Solving Online | Remote

Guide groups of 25-75 students through live online advanced Maths classes by answering questions, clarifying concepts, and addressing mistakes. Grade homework and olympiad problem submissions, providing personalized feedback focusing on approach and the process of problem-solving.

Interior Design Intern | July - August 2019

M&K Interior | Burgas, Bulgaria

Produce renderings and floors plans of commercial and residential interiors utilizing Autocad and 3DS Max. Support the office by performing research, scheduling and attending client meetings, and managing communications.

External Programs Coordinator | 2022 - ongoing Rice University Architecture Society

Coordinate the Rice Architecture Career Fair in conjunction with the Center for Career Development. Manage communications and scheduling with the 21 attending firms. Produce visual materials for the fair. Work with the Architecture Career Specialist to inform students of externship opportunities.

Studio Representative | 2021 - ongoing Rice University Architecture Society

Elected to represent group of 30 classmates at monthly Society meetings, providing feedback to school administration and communicating relevant information back to the studio.

Health SES Student Design Charette | 2023

American Institute of Architects Houston

Group awarded “best destination and placemaking solution“ for a community healthcare center proposal in the East Downtown neighborhood of Houston, Texas. Project developed in a 12-hour charette in a team of 5 students from various universities across the US.

Greene Prize - 1st Place Group | 2022 Rice University Center for Environmental Studies

Awarded for “exceptional student work related to environmental studies.“ Submission consisted of an EPA Superfund redevelopment proposal in the Westchase neighborhood of Houston, Texas. Collaborators: Mark Lichtenberger, Stuti Mehta, Jackie Aguilar.

Studio Project Nomination | Spring 2021, Fall 2022

Andrew Colopy, Brittany Utting

Project chosen by studio professor as one of two to represent the class in Rice Architecture archives and end-of-year NCARB report.

SKILLS

Adobe Suite (Ai, Id, Ps, Pr), Rhinoceros, 3DS Max, V-Ray, Enscape, AutoCAD, GIS Laser cutting, 3D printing, CNC milling, woodworking, freehand sketching Bulgarian (native), English (fluent), Spanish (advanced), Russian (intermediate)

BOARDING HOUSE

4720 Montrose Boulevard, Houston, USA

The design of this boarding gouse was firstly informed by a series of massing studies, producing a collective form unified by an elevated corridor, which creates a porous, yet intimate space of circulation and inhabitation both on the ground level and on the second floor. A public core separates the two rows of towers, driving interaction with non-residents and establishing a connection between The Post Oak School to the north, and Bell Park to the south.

The final massing, consisting of twenty three-story towers, connected by a habitable hallway and an overlapping roof system, takes advantage of the boarding house typology to explore gradients of domesticity and connectivity. This is further emphasized through the interior organization of the project, with residential towers consisting of one single, one double, and one triple unit, each spanning multiple floors. Lofts are used as a tool to explore privacy and adjacency both in plan and in section, with common spaces mirroring the residential organizational principle. The two circulation cores further strengthen the concept of habitable circulation by providing access to additional amenities to residents and non-residents alike.

massing 1

massing 2

massing 3

second floor plan

sample common tower floor plan

Instructor: Brittany Utting

SINGLE-FAMILY? HOME(S)

Typical residential infill lot, Houston, USA

The basis of this project is an abstract formal exercise, in which a primitive geometric shape is manipulated to explore spatial organization ideas through a series of operations. Afterwards, the same process is applied to a cube, and then the end product of that sequence. The resulting object is studied in section, creating inhabitation diagrams in varying orientations in order to explore its capabilites as a single-family home. Finally, a complete architectural project is developed, emphasizing the spatial experiences informed by the form, irrespective of preconceived notions of domestic architecture.

The house exhibits a strong binary logic guided by three major axes: one deliniating a main mass and a smaller unit, one dividing the two floors, and one separating the left and right side. Owing to the initial geometry, each sector varies in privacy and connectedness, which informs the response to program, circulation, and facade. Physical and conceptual connection is explored both both on a smaller scale, through the sequence and adjacency of individual spaces, and on a larger scale, through massing of the house(s) and site strategy.

Instructor: Andrew Colopy

second floor plan

ground floor plan

Instructor: Andrew Colopy

view from kitchen model perspective

Instructor: Andrew Colopy

view into small unit model perspective

THE INVERTED LABYRINTH

The Menil Institute, Houston, USA

This studio project began with case studies of the Miller House and Hartley House, which were then combined into a hybrid house, utilizing the formal and organizational logics of both precedents. Then, its floor plan was repeated and extended to create a field, segments of which were extruded to create a three-dimensional object that would act as the basis for a sculpture pavilion, part of the Menil Institute in Houston’s Montrose neighborhood.

The Inverted Labyrinth opposes the logic of a traditional maze: with walls becoming progressively shorter in an elliptical pattern stemming from the four corners of the structure, the heart of the labyrinth becomes the most clear part of the pavilion, encouraging exploration and curiosity. The main path of circulation, consisting of a ring around the four corners and a diagonal pathway across, guides the visitors through the entirety of the sculpture collection. Four exterior courtyards, housing one large-scale sculpture each, suggest both the formal organization of the pavilion and what could be found inside. A uniform grid of light posts juxtaposes the differing elevations, assisting orientation and providing night-time lighting.

Instructor: Jesús Vassallo

HOUSE OF CARDS

with Mark Lichtenberger, Prea Davis, Chris Kwon, Addy Choi

House of Cards is an exploration of the relationship between the components of a structure and their architectural articulation, as well as the application of structural principles to produce a stark contrast in scale between individual components. Through carefully-calibrated schemes and physical models, we succeed in creating intriguing spaces informed by structure, and stabilizing seemingly massive objects with minimal supporting elements.

The initial conceptual model uses actual playing cards to create a tectonic wall system supporting multiple plywood platforms. Afterwards, this scheme is translated into a tangible architectural object by reconceiving the slabs as visually dense, yet structurally light inhabitable floor plates, part of a lighweight steel frame structure, which informs program, circulation, and facade.

Instructor: Juan José Castellón

KIRIGAMI TENSILE PROTOTYPE

with Anwuli Chukwumah, Vitoria Caneiro Zhu, Khadija Derouiche

This project’s goal was to create a structural concept model that explores the formal and spatial potential of a tensile system through an iterative form-finding process generated by stretchable membranes. The first step taken was a process of material exploration and manipulation, focusing on paper, a sustainable, recyclable material. Through a system of cuts, inspired by Japanese kirigami paper art, the paper’s material qualities are altered, transforming it into a stretchable membrane

Next, the paper mesh is pulled at multiple discrete points in three distinct ways: one emphasizing the directionality of the material and following it, one going against it, and one connecting each “knot“ on the mesh to a corresponding point in the bounding box to create a softer, global distortion

Instructor: Bárbara Barreda

iteration I

iteration II

TENSION

Instructor: Bárbara Barreda