English portfolio Aleksandra Musiał by Aleksandra Musiał

A L E K S A N D R A M U S I A Ł

Architecture Student

Experienced in both Design & Construction Architecture

A B O U T M E

In my projects, I value simplicity and functionality to create designs that are intuitive and easy to understand for both users and contractors.

I am always aware of responsibility for the resources invested in an architectural project and their impact on environment, surroundings, and community.

Beyond architecture, I organize and compete in debating tournaments. Outside of my professional interests, I train in aerial gymnastics as a hobby.

E D U C A T I O N

2020 - 2026

WARSAW UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Home university | Architecture Faculty

2024- 2025

VIA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

Erasmus + | Architecture Technology and Construction Management

2022 - 2023

KAUNAS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Erasmus + | Architecture Faculty

CONTACT:

Tel DEN 66 50 94 06 | PL 724 501 842

Email olamusial10@gmail.com

Linkedin www.linkedin.com/in/aleksandra-musial-architect

LANGUAGES:

Polish Native

English

Professional Profiiciency

German Elementary Proficiency

Danish Basic (Currently learning)

E X P E R I E N C E

2024 - 2023

GRUPA5 ARCHITEKCI - JUNIOR ARCHITECT

Large scale housing projects | Proposal and Tender phase

2023 - 2022

FREELANCE WORK

Key projects included:

Kerria Piórkowski

Archicad model for renders | Concept phase

TŁO Michał Sikorski

Physical model of single family house | Concept phase

2022- 2020

DOMIN - DRAWING TEACHER

Teaching perspective drawing for multiple age groups

A W A R D S & O T H E R S

2025

VIA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE - STUDENT HELPER

Provided assistance and support to students with BIM systems, Revit, construction details, and general projectrelated problems.

2023

MICROHOME #5 | 3RD PLACE + STUDENT

AWARD

International competition organised by BUILDNER 2022

SKRAJOBRAZ | WORKSHOP & EXHIBITION

Rethinking future of Warsaw suburbs

01 WOOD CRAFTSMANSHIP CENTRE

02 YOUTH HOUSING RENOVATION

03 MICROHOME GROUNDED HOUSE

W O O D C R A F T S M

Individual project Year: 2022/2023 Winter term, student

exchange Location: Karmelava, Lithuania Area: 10514 m²

The project is located in Lithuania, near Karmelava Airport. It is a former post-Soviet military storage area, currently owned by a private investor. The plot is soon to be covered with heavy industry facilities.

The presented project is an alternative proposal, aiming to find a way to compromise the site’s difficult heritage. It seeks to create a restoration plan that benefits the community, the environment, and the investor

1. The town of Karmelava

Karmelava is a small town with approximately 1,500 residents, offering only basic facilities and lacking social spaces of interest. Due to its close proximity to Kaunas- Lithuania’s second-largest city - it can be considered a suburb.

Its population continues to grow as more people move out of Kaunas..

2. The airport

Karmelava Airport is small, serving around 8–10 flights per day, mostly from other European destinations. While analyzing potential plot revitalization, tourist movement was taken into consideration.

Creating a point of interest for travelers while offering them a place to stay would establish a mutually beneficial system for both new and existing infrastructure.

3. Military storage complex

The only structures currently existing on the plot are six massive concrete hangars (approximately 5 meters high and 20 meters long), complemented by paved roads leading to them, which create a grid and organize the plot.

The hangars are structurally wellmaintained and best suited for storage space.

4. The proposal

The Wood Craftsmanship Centre is a proposal that preserves all the existing structures while repurposing them to support the entire complex making demolition unnecesary.

The project consists of a multi purpose building that combines social functions (hotel, restaurant, vocational school) with manufacturing (lightweight wood production) while engaging existing structures compositionwise.

Hangar’s entrance

Hangar’s inside

The main idea was to leave the hangars untouched with while engaging them compositionwise. This way they are included to the project by their function which depends on the part of the building they are connected to.

That combined with longitudal shape of a building divides the area in two parts, where left (a,b,c,) serves social purposes while right (m) belongs to manufacturing.

Main entrance

from biggest courtyard providing the most representative view for manufacturing, there are two from which the woodmaking process is visible

In here the connections are the weakest. Hotel windows from some rooms provide view for manufacturing. Except from this - the only acces to shared couryards is by common parts of hotel.

The woodmaking process starts with bringing the logs from storage bunker. Then they are cut (1), adjusted to smaller shapes (2) - and leftovers are sent to recycling (a,b,c), when scraps are sorted (a), recovered manually (c), and Theundergoes

Back of the building - manufacturing side

Front of building - main entrance

The slow production Wood Craftsmanship Centre is not only a compromise between the investor’s need to profit from the plot and the area’s heritage, but it also provides an attractive space for both the local community and tourists.

Additionally, it sparks discussion about the growing demand for sustainable resources and revives traditional woodworking in a modern way. Throughout the entire complex, visitors experience different stages of the craftsmanship process, as all spaces seamlessly flow into one another.

Despite serving different purposes, the entire building is unified by its modular structure with a visible wooden frame. This structure, covered by a curved roof that opens to the outside, invites everyone to enter and become part of this community.

Final physical model 1:100 Wood and cardboard

Section B-B

Section C-C

Section D-D

Vocationary school, manufacturing

Main entrance

Hotel, manufacturing

Y O U T H H O U S I N

Group project

Co authors: Year: 2024/2025 Winter term Location: Horsens,

Long section, outline proposal

Main entrance

Graphic author: Aleksandra Musiał

G - R E N O V A T I O N

Klara Bójko, Rahul Choudhary, Mark Gavriljuk Horsens, Schüttesvej 15-21 Area: 2137m²

Used software: Revit, AutoCad

Used software: Revit, Lumion, Photoshop

The project is located in Schüttesvej 15-21, Horsens and it’s own by city’s municipality. In XX century it served as industrial complex - and laboratory for agricultural products.

Long section, project proposal

Graphic author: Aleksandra Musiał

This project aims to give the complex second life by adapting it for a youth housing

Our main design principles when evaluating the existing conditions were to preserve the existing structure, to minimise costs while maintaining the building’s original character.

Newly created rooms are arranged around already established by existed columns grid - with two shared spaces in the middle - in order to provide attractive spaces for community.

Additionally all elements added by our team were carefully designed to complement and respect existing building.

In the end proposal introduces only minimal changes - demanded by client - while preserving as much as possible.

1. Preserving existing columns. 2. Creating two common spaces in existing module

4. Creating steel extension for main entrance, extracting unused part from back.

3. Placing apartments around common spaces

Grounfloor and roof structure

Graphic author: Aleksandra Musiał

Used software: Revit, Photoshop

5. External walls remain almost untouched (preserving as much bricks as possible

6. New roof covering is created - skylights placement is also changed

7. Balconies are added - with triangular shape to provide light acces to lower parts.

8. Rooms that don‘t have acces to balconies - got their own gardens

First floor and renovated roof Graphic author: Aleksandra Musiał

Used software: Revit, Photoshop

The building is entered by steel extension on east elevation. Then - two main shared spaces are visible. Around them residential units are placed. Apartments’ layout is adjusted to existing column placement - which has created lots of challenges in design phase - especially for an apartments layout.

Main hallways is ended in extracted part - which was removed to reduce unused surface of building.

Shared spaces are two storey height - that’s why we see them enclosed on secon floor.

All added balconies are triangular shaped - in order not to block sunlight from units below - but also for design purpose. In shared balconies (east and west elevation) it allows to separate individual spaces.

On elevations - one of most important elements - is plinth - added to cover foundation revealed in process of ground leveling.

Long section, finished version

Graphic author: Whole group

M I C R O H O M E - G

Group project Co authors: Alicja Adela Jarochowska Year: AWARDED IN BUILDNER COMPETITION

R O U N D E D H O U S E

2022/2023 Winter term, competition project Area: 25 m²

3RD PRIZE + STUDEND AWARD

Used software: Rhino, Lumion, Photoshop

Grounded means one that is rooted in the ground and rises above, lives on it and eventually comes back to it. It also means a house that is reasonable, pragmatic, simple and understanding

Everyone who was raised in the countryside knows the rule that nothing ever goes to waste there. It is a simple and basic rule that we began to call circular economy. Our project applies to this rule, being made of materials of natural origin, upcycled or to be reused.

The main decision was to place the house below the ground level, to provide the feeling of reunion with the earth, but also to solve the problem of insulation. Using the thermal mass of the ground ensures maximal thermal comfort with minimum energy and additional materials required.

We design in the rural area of a temperate climate, exploring the challanges that come within. Those are the changing seasons, the need for strong insulation, problems in agriculture and limited access to alternative energy sources.

Therefore, the house was designed to be energetically efficient all year long, due to the thermal mass of the earth and strong insulation.As a source of energy we chose biogas that is a great yet underappreciated solution, especially for small scale architecture. It runs on food and biological waste which makes it very suitable for rural and agricultural areas.