B.A in Architecture, University of California, Berkeley
2024 Eisner Prize in Architecture
Spring 2024 Design Process Award
Spring 2023 Design Excellence Award
2023 AIA SF Chapter Howard Friedman Scholarship
Observant, insightful and independent thinker with a passion for art, math & architecture. Skilled in model making, video editing, & representation, with a strong interest in graphic and environmental design. Highly motivated, organized, and a quick learner with close attention to detail.
858.349.0991 oceane.ignatov@gmail.com
Table of Contents
1 — Winterhaven Abortion Clinic
2 — Vaulted Rec Center
3 — Timbrel Shell Muralist Residency
4 — Through Office
5 — Conversation Duplex
6 — Folded Spaces
7 — Orthographic Forms
1. Winterhaven Abortion Clinic, 2024
ARCH100D: Architectural Design IV
Instructor: Mia Zinni
Duration: 10 weeks
Located in Winterhaven, California, this clinic serves the greater Arizona population and neighboring states with abortion bans. In conversations with abortion healthcare professionals, they emphasized the critical balance between privacy and community and the diverse range of experiences of women seeking care. This project explores both the architectural and political context of an abortion clinic, focusing on accessibility, constructability, and surrounding climate conditions.
UC Berkeley Architecture Design Process Award Winner, Spring 2024
This clinic sits on the border of Yuma, Arizona — a city with nearly hundred thousand residents — and Winterhaven, CA — a small town with only about a hundred people. This analytical elevation highlights two stops on the Turquoise Line of the YCAT Bus: one in Yuma and one in Winterhaven. The project’s starting point focused on accessibility through the lens of public transportation, considering the experience of moving from one side of the border to the other, and examining the differences between the two cities in terms of building density, exposure to people and surroundings, and vegetation.
WINTERHAVEN,
The corridor is pushed and pulled to provide waiting areas for adjacent programs, such as the pharmacy or the ultrasound rooms. In both plan and in section, the solid and void shift across the corridor, providing those in transient spaces connection to the exterior through daylighting or a view, whilst protecting from outside eyes from peering into the building.
Physical model entrance closeup
Upon entry, the stair invites visitors to travel upwards, encouraging movement across the two floors. Nurses stations are positioned to direct patients and offer assistance at key moments throughout the building. The clinic’s orientation minimizes visibility from the highway and maximizes views onto the neighboring agriculture fields and river. The atrium and curved louvres bring natural light down into the building, while still shielding from the harsh Arizona sun. Analytical
View upon entry
Vaulted Rec Center, 2023
ARCH100B: Fundamentals of Architectural Design
Instructor: Maria Paz de Moura Castro King
Duration: 12 weeks
This Oakland recreation center explores how curves can form arches, how arches can form vaults, and in turn, how each of these different geometries create dynamic spaces for recreation. The vault structure becomes the main architectural element throughout the building, accomodating and connecting the spaces below. Arched windows provide a glimpse into the community spaces within, sparking curiosity among passersby and inviting them to explore further.
UC Berkeley Architecture Design Excellence Award Winner, Spring 2023
Northern elevation of physical model
South facing section
Because of the singly-curved nature of the ceiling surfaces, the model was constructed using white Bristol paper, with gray chipboard mullions and 3D-printed stairs. The foundation was intentionally removed to give reviewers a closer look at the vaulted ceilings.
Physical model
The three main recreation spaces surround the building’s core, which contains all accompanying program — lockers, offices, meeting rooms, etc. Both the basketball court, with bright, southern sun, and the library, with softer, northern light, reside under vaulted ceilings. The rooftop garden cascades over the two, bringing curves into the plan and forming various nooks for people to enjoy.
Fifth floor plan
The basketball court within the recreation center accommodates diverse viewing preferences at three levels: the bleachers resonate with the court’s active energy, the more receded, elevated café seating, and the rooftop garden terrace, which provides a tranquil view of the court.
Indoor basketball court Analytical
Timbrel Shell Muralist Residency
, 2023
ARCH100C: Architectural Design III
Instructor: Maria Paz de Moura Castro King
Duration: 12 weeks
Nestled within the vibrant neighborhood of Morro da Babilônia, Brazil, this artists’ residency is situated between Copacabana beach and the nearby favela. Five cylindrical residences surround the central courtyard: the funicular, thin-shelled vault adapts itself to the site and serves as a unifying roof for gallery spaces and circulation.
The public gallery welcomes both locals and tourists, allowing visitors to view the murals on display, take respite from the heat, or simply enjoy the view of the beach.
The placement of the five apartments form the central courtyard within — each unit faces away to provide a canvas for the artists’ murals, whilst preserving the privacy of each resident. The supporting gallery program is tucked away underneath, making use of the change in elevation of the site without introducing a new formal language.
Courtyard
Apartment interior
This project serves as an exploration of the ordinary, rectangular mud brick, and how it could be used in a way that it becomes lightweight, curved, and freeform. The shell is achieved through funicular form finding and a construction method called timbrel vaulting.
Timbrel vaulting starts with a wooden waffle formwork. A layer of thin bricks is built around the formwork going in one direction, followed by a second layer rotated 90°, and a final layer rotated 45° on top. The formwork can then be removed, leaving the thin, freeform vault as a result. The catenary shape serves as additional support to reduce tensile forces within the bricks. The vault is then covered in a layer of cob to protect from the elements — a layer that can be maintained throughout its lifetime.
Physical section model
West & north facing sections
Through Office, 2022
ARCH100A: Fundamentals of Architectural Design
Instructor: Andrew Atwood
Duration: 8 weeks
This Oakland office building explores the tensions between convention and exception. A square grid guides the circulation throughout the space: a large, angular void — the exception — cuts through the main core of the building. In both plan and section, this void is the only break in the otherwise conventional circulation, dictating where the larger meeting spaces are formed.
This design serves as a deliberate exploration of the relationship between a strict square grid and an irregular void cutting through it. The void welcomes occupants beyond the otherwise austere exterior. Upon entry, one’s gaze is naturally drawn upwards, offering a comprehensive view of the building’s program. Employees and guests alike can take advantage of the stairs to access different meeting spaces and viewpoints.
North-western entrance
The rectangular apertures on each side of the building bring light into the long corridors and emphasize the square grid system further, while the facade’s metal panels bring the interior grid to the exterior.
Entry lobby
Conversation Duplex, 2022
ARCH11B: Introduction to Design
Instructor: Rudabeh Pakravan
Duration: 7 weeks
Drawing from Bridget Riley’s painting “Conversation” (1992), a grid composed of horizontal and angled lines serves as the primary syntax for this duplex. The design explores how these sharp and seemingly uninviting angles could be manipulated into comfortable, open, and inviting spaces. Rooms with large, triangular apertures create different areas for residents and guests to frequent: such as a large yet private kitchen and dining room for the kids to enjoy, or a studio with lots of space and light for the artists upstairs.
Artists’ studio
Rooftop stairway
Living room
Third floor
Second floor
Ground floor
South facing section
6.
Folded Spaces, 2022
ARCH100A: Fundamentals of Architectural Design
Instructor: Andrew Atwood
Duration: 6 weeks
Preliminary drawing
Neighboring a local park, a set of stairs tunnel throughout and within this public space. Several niches with varying degrees of privacy allow for different scales of group gatherings — smaller spaces provide areas for only couple people to quietly hide away, while larger spaces can host up to a dozen park-goers.
A set of preliminary drawings and models play with the idea of “things hiding other things,” and served as a base for the design of the public staircase. They focus on how solid can obstruct the void, only being fully revealed in section.
Hand-drafted illustration: Cube no.7
Orthographic Forms, 2021
In this introductory design class, an abstract form emerges by combining eight smaller, randomized cubic forms — each with their own unique subtractions and material shifts. It focuses on how each of the cubes intersect at the seams, creating continuous fragments of color throughout the form.
The cut planes are then isolated from the preliminary model and are combined with stairs, columns, and other extending planes. The design is established through a clear grid system, nestling a smaller 2x2 form within a larger 4x4 grid.
ARCH11A: Introduction to Design Instructor: David Orkand
