Nina Tsolakis Portfolio

PORTFOLIO

NINA TSOLAKIS

NINA TSOLAKIS CONTACT

AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS

(417) 569-4375 ninatsolakis@gmail.com linkedin.com/in/ninatsolakis

5th year • HSA Thesis Research Winner, “Assembling Identity” • Librarium Nomination: an HSA student showcase made up of nominated studio projects, with top prize awarded by guests jurors.

4th year • Librarium Nomination (Spring Project) • Librarium Nomination (Fall Project) • Catherine Kik Taylor Book Award (HSA) • WeCreate Design Competition Finalist 3rd year • Librarium Winner (Spring Project 2023) • Librarium Nomination (Fall Project) • Tom Cray '77 Flag Plaza Design Scholarship (HSA) 2nd year • Outstanding Second Year Student (HSA) • Judge Warren White Scholarship (DU) • Design-Build for Revive 66 Shelter(HSA) 1st year • Outstanding First Year Student (HSA) • Outstanding Freshman (DU)

EDUCATION M.Arch: Master of Architecture Minors: Art History and Fine Arts Certificate: International Studies Cumulative GPA: 3.97 Anticipated graduation with Honors: May 2025 Drury University (DU) Hammons School of Architecture (HSA) Springfield, MO

EXPERIENCE Student intern, LRK (Summer 2023), Baton Rouge, LA Student Tutor, HSA (2021-present) Grading assistant, HSA (2022)

I am a fifth year architecture student graduating in May with a master’s degree in architecture. My liberal arts education taught me to engage critical thinking skills and a holistic perspective comprised of sociological, sustainable and cultural contexts. I am eager to enact the design, software and creative tools I have accquired in school into a professional and collaborative environment.

SKILLS Software programs • • • • • •

Revit Twinmotion Formit AutoCAD Sketchup Adobe: Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator

Interests • • •

Sketching Painting Travel

• •

English Greek (conversational)

Languages

CONTENTS

1 2 3 4

Birthplace of Revive 66 Fall 2024 | Individual

West Oakland Revitalization Fall 2023 | Individual

Dignity in the Dark Fall 2021 | Design-Build Studio

Center for Ecology in Venice Spring 2023 | Group

ROUTE | CREEK | CITY

Birthplace of Route 66 Museum Springfield, Missouri

This is a proposal for a Route 66 Museum in Springfield's downtown area. This site was rich with opportunity: first being culturally-tied to Route 66 in the 20th century while also containing Jordan Creek, a historic landmark running through its center, around which Springfield formed.

creek

museum: facilitator and destination

route This was a comprehensive studio combining in-depth site, historical and cultural analysis with conceptual, material, structural and mechanical considerations.

Being local to Drury, the familiarity of the site allowed further contemplating on the role of design and built form in shaping the visual and physical experiences of people around it.

1

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ROUTE 66 MUSEUM

2

1 PEDESTRIAN "DRIVE-IN" AMPHITHEATER 2 3

1

4

2 CREEK WALKWAY AND BRIDGE 3

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3 EXHIBITION HALLS

4 PEDESTRIAN THOROUGHFARE ROUTE 66 MUSEUM

4

MATERIAL CONCEPTS

TEXTURED| PERMEABLE

EXHIBITION CONCEPTS

DE

N

TIO

A STIN

Wood Screen

UR

JO Y

NE

UR

JO

Perforated Aluminum Decorative Paneling

Y

NE

GLOWING | EVOCATIVE Glazing

CREEK

HVAC and Mechanical Equipment

PERFORATED | VAULTED Sheer Wall System

Structural Steel Framing

5

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IMMERSION THROUGH LIGHTING, VIEWS AND SCREENS

HISTORY

SCULPTURE

CONTEMPORARY

PUBLIC

TEMPORARY

ROUTE 66 MUSEUM

6

7

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ROUTE 66 MUSEUM

8

WEST OAKLAND REVITALIZATION

Social Equity and Hybrid Alternatives in Oakland, California Oakland is one of the most diverse, walkable and historically-rich cities in the United States. However, the city's demographics and their health, financial and educational outcomes are disproportionately related to their race, access and environment. This studio, through urban and historical analyses, explored the roles of hybridized programming in historically redlined and highway-facing districts to heal and empower underserved communities.

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BUFFER

CONNECT

REPAIR

Hybridized structures of parking, commercial and co-working functions target the highway to protect residences behind them.

Secondary structures connect residential structures to commercial amenities and insert themselves below the highway.

Reparative interventions that enforce inclusive design while being culturally sensitive and experiential.

CONCEPTUAL EXPLORATIONS

WEST OAKLAND REVITALIZATION 10

REIMAGINING HIGHWA

Facilitated passage | art walk, seating, dining

11 | TSOLAKIS

buffer | hybrid parking, reta

AY UNDERPASS DESIGN

ail and co-working building

west oakland plaza Through raised platforms, wide, lit ramps and tactile wayfinding, this entry plaza directly responds to West Oakland with a community haven protecting from flooding and vehicular traffic while encouraging entry through the rest of the site.

WEST OAKLAND REVITALIZATION 12

DIGNITY IN THE DARK Shelter for Revive 66 Springfield, Missouri

This was a semester design build project that began with individual design explorations and ended with studio-wide collaboration into an overnight shelter for Springfield's Revive 66 non-profit organization. The 10'x8' structure provides a rentable haven for a couple on weekdays.

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Early individual design explorations

DIGNITY IN THE DARK 14

Interior views from morning to evening.

Exterior detailing and plays with light.

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Early rendering made personally to explore color, material and experiential qualities.

DIGNITY IN THE DARK 16

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LAGOON | SCAPE

Center for Lagoon Ecology and History Sant'Erasmo, Venice, Italy

This is a proposal for a lagoon ecology and research center on the island of Sant'Erasmo. The center respectively services tourists interested in local ecology, history and amenities and visiting scholars, historians and archaelogists.

Sant' Erasmo's fabric is a distinct, patchwork composition of sprawling water channels and complex elements of farmland, gardens and raw site. The proposal seeks to embody, exalt and rise from the island's interactions between overlapping water, lush vegetation and walkable path.

LAGOONSCAPE 10

LAND | WATER | HISTORY

and the ury

A complex weaving farmland, Land |fabric Water | History The site's flat, marshland is first zoned into areas of the laggon and centuries-long milital A complex fabric weaving farmland, the lagoon and organized, urban activity that rise with public terraces. history, the site is located at the island's centuries-long milital history, the site is located at the Pedestrian paths converge onto a central plaza of northwestern tip facing the 15th-century island’s northwestern tip facing the 15th-century overlapping marshy water, vegetation and terracing pieces. quarantine island of Lazzaretto quarantine island of Lazzaretto Nuovo. Nuovo.

To the south, flexible landscaping privileges

m

Lazzareto Nuovo

’

nt

Sa

as Er

o

free, intimate experiences of the island. Patterns of interactive farmland, water and raised paths speak to the subtle, but deeply nuanced character of the island.

Mixed Landscape

The site's flat, marshla organized, urban activity t Pedestrian paths converg Farmland overlapping marshy water, ve To the south, flex free, intimate experiences interactive farmland, wate the subtle, but deeply nua

Venice Proper

Low Terrace

High Terrace

Site Plan

11 | TSOLAKIS

The site's flat marshland is first zoned into areas of organized, urban activity that rise with public terraces. Pedestrian paths converge onto a central plaza of overlapping marshy water, vegetation and terracing pieces.

To the south, flexible landscaping privileges free, intimate experiences of the island. Patterns of interactive farmland, water and raised paths speak Planof the island. to the subtle, but nuanced Site character

Public Exhibition Hall responds to visitors

Exhibition corridor creates linear connection

Research Facility splits to create residential

Research Facility responds to private street

Interior courtyard formed along water way

Exposed timber columns plunge into earth

ENTRY AND EXHIBITION EXHIBITION CORRIDOR RESIDENCES RESEARCH FACILITY INTERIOR COURTYARD LAGOONSCAPE 12

c

2

1 a

b

3

1. Exhibition Interior Entry a Restrooms/ Lockers b Storage c Offices 2. Exhibition 3. Cinema

exhibition for the sandoli

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The tourist entry serves as an atrium hosting traveling exhibitions, in this case, the historic sandoli boats of Venice.

Exhibits may hang, line the orientation space, or be posted on the large east wall facing the entry.

3 a

b

c

2 1

1. Reading and Study Room` 2. Research Administration a. Conference Room b. Staff Lounge c. Offices 3. Collection Storage

reading room

Through a layering of platforms and interactive, connective stairwell, the reading room is subdivided into community, lounging and private research spaces. A central loft and strips of windows provide researchers with a direct visual experience of the lagoon.

LAGOONSCAPE 14

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LAGOONSCAPE 16

Notable Projects

Study Abroad | Fine Arts | Thesis Research

Study Abroad in Venice Summer 2022

Sketching studies saw relationships between people, water, land, and their built environment. This series explored a campo on the island's south end.

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Painting Studies Fall 2024

Painting studies from third to fourth year expanded on drawing and mapping knowledge into concepts of value, color, light and shadow.

NOTABLE PROJECTS 20

Assembling Identity:

Reclaiming the Self and The City Through Spatial Agencies

21 | TSOLAKIS

Systemic and infrastructural ideologies creating spatial exclusion in American cities are exemplified by the worsening state of homelessness. The unhoused are by definition denied the urban belonging, spatial agencies and visibility vital to the formation of social, practical, and emotional resilience.

Located in San Francisco’s downtown, this project proposes housing measures bolstered by trauma-informed design and identityspecific resources and, through an infrastructural architectural response, explores the role of spatial justice in embracing a collective identity from the residents to the city.

Full book available below:

https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:d3a39aef-693d-4d83-99d3-b577741c34c9

NOTABLE PROJECTS 22

References Available Upon Request