Renna Cukier Architecture and Design Portfolio

RENNA CUKIER SELECTED WORKS FROM 2018-2021

ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN PORTFOLIO

A TOY STORY This project was completed for my first year drawing and representation studio. The goal was to explain the assembly of a spherical puzzle. The idea I followed throughout this project was that the puzzle can be explained as three disks on different axes, each made of a pair of pieces. The puzzle looks extremely simple on the outside due to the uniformity of the curved edges, and by clearly cataloguing its pieces, demonstrating its assembly and exposing the interiror through a series of sections, the viewer is able to see important information that is needed to fully understand the puzzle.

GARDEN PAVILLION This project was completed for a first year technology and design course. I was tasked with developing a floorplan through script generation in processing, and manipulating it in grasshopper, adding trusses, a support system, and a parametrically designed roof. Using a combination of repeating circles and squares, I designed a floorplan to resemble garden plots.

I added a truss system, and finally, a curved roof with parametrically designed openings of various sizes to allow for both sun and shade. The resulting design is an open air pavillion of ambiguous use, with the focus being on form. initial floorplan coded in processing

DONALD JUDD PAVILLION This project was completed for a first year design studio. I designed a pavillion to house Donald Judd’s sculpture “Untitled”, mirroring its angular, geometric appearance in my design. As the artwork is monochrome, I deisgned a pavillion that would allow it to standout, rather than be hidden. The columns mimic the shape of the artwork and create a path for viewers to follow, and, along with a semi-transparent roof, allow light to enter. The pavillion is located in Bellevue park, away from the playground and surrounded by trees to allow it to exist in a quiet area.

Donald Judd’s “Untitled”

MAPPING TORONTO This project was completed for a second year urbanism studio. I was tasked with closely surveying a site in Toronto, with the goal of developing a deisgn solution to a problem found within it. I conducted multiple site visits as well as background research.I categorized its development into three periods: original neighbourhood development in the 1950s and 60s, large commercial and residential development near the hydro corridor in the 60s and 70s, and finally the development of apartment and townhouse complexes beginning in the 80s and continuing in the present. I then looked at how these three different periods affected the park spaces within the site. I studied two green spaces developed in each period, looking at how they deter or hinder public use. The final design proposition includes solutions for one park in each of the 3 periods, providing a basis to improve inclusion and accessibility for all parks falling under that period.

keymap

site map

hydro corridor isometric

development map

periods of development

park typologies

park typologies image collage

key issues identified

proposed solutions

LAYER 1, 2 & 3 This project was developed over the course of a second year design studio. I explored the form-making capabilities of the word “layer”, allowing that word to drive my design process through a series of vertical and horizontal surfaces. In this project I explored the formal possibilities of vertical surfaces. The third design builds off the previous two projects to create the final, volumetric space. I focused on circulation, in addition to spatial and light qualities. This project incorporated function, and is designed as a study space at U of T.

COMMON HOUSE I designed this house for a third year residential design studio.

Named “Common House”, this house serves as a space for all members of the neighbourhood. Situated in the Republic of Rathnelly, I discovered through site analysis the strong sense of community in that neighbourhood, which played a major part in the development of this design. It was designed for a married couple: an urban farmer and a chef, both extroverts who enjoy interacting with their neighbours. Through the visual blurring of community and private spaces, this house becomes a space for the entire neighbourhood to congregate and enjoy.

WALDEN 7 PRECEDENT STUDY This project was completed for a third year large scale residential design studio. This series of diagrammatic drawings describe the foundational design elements and methods used in this building. Walden 7 is driven by Ricardo Bofill’s mathematical thesis of a cube aggregating symmetrically towards or away from a base unit, resulting in a community oriented building with matrix-like circulation, large voids, and moments for interaction between residents.

INHABITATION STUDY This project was completed for a third year large scale residential design studio. To better understand domesticity and how we live in a space, I drew a corner of my room, focusing on how the space is made up of the possessions that fill it. I continued with this theme in a plan drawing of my room and the surrounding areas, abstracting the drawing by removing all architectural elements such as walls, doors, and flooring, leaving the space to be defined by the objects within it.

IDENTITY CATALOGUE

In this self portrait series, I explore the feeling of having two identities and two ancestries. My mother was adopted, so I grew up around family members I am not related to by blood. Despite that fact, I became close with many of them. Recently, my mother has gotten in touch with several of her biological relatives, so it is as if I have discovered a new ancestry and new family history I never knew I had. I took a self portrait that resembles a passport photo, one of the most recognizable symbols of personal identity, and covered one facial feature in each of the three iterations. Below it, I have curated a catalogue of each specific feature from photos of my relatives: both biologically related and not. I explore the idea of being biologically related to someone that I have never met, and having to acquire photos of them from the internet, which speaks to a purely biological relationship. Creating a catalogue of physical features eliminates any personal relationships and displays only the physical ones. In each image, I included photos of the same family members: mother, father, biological grandma, adopted grandma, biological cousin, adopted cousin, biological uncle, adopted uncle, and myself in the centre. By comparing all these images in a catalogue I am questioning whether similarities in appearance is enough to create a relationship with someone you have never met, or if personal experiences and memories are needed. Grouping images of physical features together creates a catalogue that is not separated by biological relation, but instead, portrays the different sides of my family as one entity that builds my identity.

VISUAL ART WORKS

SELF PRESERVATION For my first attempt at choreography, I created this routine for the U of T Dance team. This piece explores the theme of loneliness and isolation as a response to dealing with ones problems. In the piece, the dancers turn down help from each other in order to keep their emotions inside, ending with one dancer running off stage, and leaving the audience to interpret why that happened. https://youtu.be/gu96y1lZ_us