Simon Balotis - Portfolio 2017 for KADK

Simon Balotis Portfolio

Simon Balotis Curriculum Vitae

Contact simon@balotis.se 070 - 766 48 55 Sankt Annæ Plads 2, 1250 København K

“I always want to improve and learn more. Working with architeture is amazing in that way, that you are in constant development, and in the process you learn a lot about yourself and others.”

Education Sep 2013 - Jun 2016

Umeå School of Architecture, Umeå Degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts - Architecture

Aug 2008 - Jun 2011

Thorildsplans High School, Stockholm Technical program - Architectural orientation

Work experience Aug 2016 -Jun 2017 Jun 2016 - Aug 2016 May 2015 - Aug 2015 Jun 2014 - Aug 2014

May 2013 - Aug 2013

Tengbom

Architect - Internship

Bauhaus Store employee

Jysk

Store employee

Teleperformance Nordic Customer service

Merits Dec 2016

Intermediate Revit Course

Feb 2016

Basic course in ArchiCAD

Jun 2011

Scholarship for good grades

Jun 2011

Certificate in Advanced English (CAE)

3-day course from Tengbom

UmeĂĽ School of Architecture

Thorildsplans High School

Council of Europe Level C1

Knowledge Mac OSX Windows Adobe Photoshop Adobe Illustrator Adobe InDesign SketchUp ArchiCAD 3D Studio Max AutoCAD V-ray Revit Rhino Model building 3D-Printing Laser cutting

Study trips

Interests

Oct 2015

Ahmedabad, India

Feb 2015

Tblisi, Georgia

Nov 2014

Helsinki, Finland

Apr 2014

Barcelona, Spain

Nov 2013

Copenhagen, Denmark

Food

Reading

Photography

Skies

Travel

Drawing

Nature

Friends

1.

Year I

Year II

- Chapel of the Hills p. 5-6

- Revealing the Hinterlands p. 13-18

- Moving With Nature p. 7-10

- A Hidden Path p. 19-22

Year III

Post-educational

- Where to Find... Cashmere, Spices and Gold p. 25-26

- Bällsta Tower p. 38-40

- House 3320 p. 27-30

- Saranyu Urban Housing p. 31-36

2.

Year

I

Chapel of the Hills Narrative Space

- Studio Project / Individual -

- Skogskyrkogården, Stockholm -

- 1th Semester, 2013 -

“A man-made landscape taking you to heaven. From dawn to dusk, from earth to heaven.”

The task was to create a chapel to learn and reflect about sequence and narrative in architecture. I worked a lot with the terrain, letting it stear the path through the building, changing height and scale towards the totally flat and rectangular roof. For me, life and death is connected to the nature, and therefore I wanted the landscape itself create the rooms and path leading to the hanging open chapel, where you have the funeral. Afterwards, a large hill will lead you up over the roof, and under a big tree you can look out over the reflective roofing, creating a sense of heaven.

I worked with as few materials as possible. The copper clad underside of the roof is giving the space warmth, and is also creating a bigger contrast to the reflective upperside. The simple roof with pillars is also a tectonical structure that have been used for centuries, and is a structure people recognize.

The holes punctuating the roof is there to get small glimpses of the sky, and what to come when you step up the hill.

This project was very educative and gave me knowledge and reflection about narrative in architecture, and that many buildings tell a story.

Above: Early sketch of the relation between roof and hills. Beneath: Final result.

5.

The reflecting roof is creating a sense of being up in the sky.

Model 1:100 of the chapel.

Axonometric drawing showing entrance and topography.

6.

Moving With Nature Dance Space

- Studio Project / Individual -

- Broparken, UmeĂĽ -

- Semester 2, 2014 -

The task was to learn and test different steps of an architectural process. We were to choose a specific dance to work with as inspiration, and to transform it from something abstract to something concrete. The semester was divided into several parts that each had to do with steps within the architectural process. The different parts was: - Skeleton model - Solid and void - Measure space - Site analysis - Concept I chose a dance from Borneo in Malaysia, called Murut dance. The way of performing the dance lies in jumping and avoiding bamboo sticks that people around the dancer open and close. The dance was often performed before a hunt and showed that the hunter was quick and skilled, and for good luck.

After choosing the dance it was time to identify the different qualities, properties and movements from the dance that you could translate

7.

into abstract models. When you had worked with the dance and translated it into spatial models and forms, it was time to choose a site in UmeĂĽ where you could develop the concept further into architecture. When the site was picked, the time had come for site analysis and to connect the context to the concept and decide the program of the building.

Solid and void - abstract model.

Analyzing the dance by sketching, trying to translate movement into spatiality.

Skeleton model

Dancer performing the murut dance.

Process diagrams - translating the dance into space.

8.

1.

How to draw people to site.

2.

Connecting.

3.

Plaza - to massive.

4.

More adapted.

5.

Final path - adapted to nature and capturing views.

Site strategy

During the process I tested several solutions to test out how my structure could interact with the site.

Unexposed

5 years Benching created by the different levels.

8 months

10 years

3 years

25-30 years

Diagram showing the patina of the copper.

The project turned into a floating park, lingering between the trees and connecting the allready existing pedestrian bridge with the site. I wanted the park to be attractive for people of all ages and be used for different activities e.g. enjoying and experience the little forrest from another perspective, between the tree tops. It can be used as an social incubator, or just for walking and excersising.

The shapes are inspired from the dance. The copper shell that surrounds the path represents how the dancers move around the bamboo sticks.

9.

Lighting diagram, the colour of the light changes by movement.

Flow diagram, movement throughout the path.

Plan drawing

Relational section 10.

Year

II

Elevation

Revealing the Hinterlands Exploring Rural Sweden

- Studio Project / Individual -

- Robertsfors, Västerbotten -

“The Hinterlands. Visiting an agricultural area, beyond urbanity and civilisation. Here lies only the raw truth benath the snowy landscape” Part 1: This semester we were to explore the village of Robertsfors, a society 5 miles outside of Umeå. The project was about exploring the term “to dwell” and gathering information about the ways of living in Robertsfors, and how they were affected by the urbanisation in Sweden. We interviewed people, visited their homes, made drawings and mapped the town both objectively and subjectively.

This information was then used for the dwelling project. Some information I used was how people were connected to nature and their relation to time.

Early sketches.

13.

- Semester 3, 2014 -

Exploded axonometric.

Courtyard in connection to the bathroom, strenghtening the relation to nature.

14.

Library and relax part in the sleeping module.

In the second part of the project, the task was to design a dwelling with the information gathered from earlier mapping. I choose to explore how we humans are living in relation to nature. The changes occuring as seasons, day and night and weather.

Part 2: Season-changing house is a house that originates from the idea of a life more woven into the changes of the nature. These changes could be seasons, weather, day and night, but also patina of materials. I choose to do a house that is flexible, with parts moving on rails to create different room configurations in relation to natural changes and climate conditions.

The building is divided into three parts. The first one is the permantent part, where all the piping are, consists of the kitchen, bathroom and laundry are. The two other parts are the movable modules. One where social activity takes place and one that is more private, consisting of sleeping space and a reading corner. The flexibility of the building makes it more compact and its climate footprint smaller.

15.

These diagrams are showing the different rooms and its functions. I have chosen to show four different configurations on the middle module as it is changeble for different occasions.

Model 1:50 showing the building on its topography.

16.

The social spaces in the house changes depending on the seasons. In winter time they are more introverted, and in summer time more extroverted. The terrace that is created between the modules when moving it one way, creates an natural outdoor space which is nice to use during summer time. This passage forces you to feel the elements of nature when you pass it and to strengthen the relation and respect for nature because of the integrations rather than isolation towards the environment.

Explanation of the movable shutters.

The relation to nature are more fragmeneted in the permanent part, where only small glimpses of the sky and ground are visible. The connection to nature there are in a way more abstract and controlled. When moving towards the fully glazed modules, the relation to nature changes and the border between inside and outside disappears.

Plan drawing 17.

Diagram showing different configurations.

Long section 18.

A Hidden Path More Than a Station

- Studio Project / Individual -

- Robertsfors Västerbotten -

The spring project in second grade was still taking place in Robertsfors, but this time the time had come to design a public building.

Firstly. we were divided in groups, and then assigned different categories of urban planning. Our category was infrastructure.

From that, we were supposed to write a competition brief that we then individually would follow. There are already plans in Robertsfors to build a train station that would connect to the planned North Bothnia Line, so it fell naturally to write a competition brief to design the train station. In the competition brief, we added the “more than a station” - meaning including a design strategy to decrease the impoverishment of the hinterlands.

19.

- Semester 4, 2015 -

From the brief, the task was now to individually draw a competition entry. The site of the project is currently a golf track, and my idea was to transform the site to a recreational zone, as golf is an excluding, expensive sport on the decline. The recreational zone, the “more” in “more than a station”, would include out door activities in combination with making the golf track a meadow, which is a decreasing bioclimatic zone in Sweden. Meadows are of ecological importance because they are open, sunny areas that attract and support flora and fauna that could not thrive in other conditions.

The station would work as a mediator between the train station and the natural meadow outside.

Sketches - trying to figure out how to work with the landscape.

20.

Site model 1:200 “A hidden path� is an example on an architecture derived from the surrounding landscape and its forms, and that tries to create a deeper relation to nature. The interior is an artificial landscape that mirrors the surrounding topography, and lies beneath a man made hill. Levels and stairs gradually leads the users upwards towards the train platforms and creates natural seating places. The model only show the interior of the building.

21.

Site model 1:200

Early drawing showing the relation between the train station and the meadow outside.

22.

Year

III

Where to Find... Cashmere, Spices and Gold Mapping Exercise - Field trip to India

- Study Trip -

- Ahmedabad, India -

“When I first came to India, everything seemed rather random. But after some investigation I understood the underlying systems connecting people like a web.”

- Semester 5, 2015 -

Ahmedabad

The placement of the shops.

The field trip to India was a part of the course “Mega Cities and Urbanisation”, examining informal living conditions and strategies for urban growth.

Ahmedabad is the world’s third fastest growing city, and has 7,2 million inhabitants. The city lies in the province of Gujarat in western India.

Ahmedabad is divided into an older city core from the 1000-century, and a newer part surrounding the old.

Several well-known architects has been working in Ahmedabad due to the strong textile industry there in the 1920’s, e.g. Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn. The trip provided both contemporary and older architecture to study.

It was interesting to study Indian modernism built by domestic architechts as B.V. Doshi and Charles Correa.

We were assigned with sites to investigate in groups, and then to find a behaviour or structure to observe individually.

25.

The site I mapped, Manek Chowk, is one of the most dynamic and active market places in Ahmedabad. It is alive 24-hours a day, and is constantly changing. Early mornings it is a vegetable market that later on, with the help of cows and elephants, is cleaned to become an ordinary market. During the day shops opens and close as an coral reef, to become a food market at night. This is happening without exception, all day, all night, every day, all year.

I chose to investigate different types of shops, how the interaction between customer and seller differed. It was interesting to see the many ways of interaction, and the display of goods. I studied a scarf shop, a spice stand and a jewellery store, all with different typology.

The field trip have strenghtened my understanding of architecture in relation to culture, and that our western way of living is not the only way.

Scarf Shop Average interaction time:

5-30 min 1-4

Average customers:

Spice Stand Average interaction time:

5-10 min 1-4

Average customers:

Jewellery Store Average interaction time: Average customers:

20-240 min 3-8

Medium interaction time, and therefore only provisional seating. The customers visiting the shop varies in age and quantity, everything from one person, couples to groups of friends. The shop owner often offers chai to the customers.

To buy spices does not take particulary long time. The buying part uses all of his or her senses when examining the quality of the spices, and the decisions are often quick. A seller weighs and wraps the spices in a plastic bag.

Indian families still values gold and jewellery as an important investment, and when the time has come to buy such, it is not a quick procedure, as it is important. The whole family is often present and they can sit for several hours and negotiate the right price.

26.

House 3320 Reflection by Design

- Studio Project / Individual -

- Ahmedabad, India -

Our first task after the field trip to India was to design a house based on the thoughts and reflections gathered from the trip, and this only in three weeks.

The traditional houses in Ahmedabad are very narrow and deep to protect the interior from the sun and to maximise cross-ventilation, and they are around 2 to 5 floors tall. Often they are designed with a small court-yard that lets in some natural light and to keep the heat down. We got three types of basic volumes to chose amongst; one low, one medium and one tall volume, and the maximum width was 3 metre.

I choose the tall building volume as I wanted to investigate vertical living further.

The climate in Ahmedabad is extremely dry and hot, except during monsoon season when it is raining non-stop.

The house I drew is adapted so that the wind ventilates the house naturally. Rather than walls on the short sides I tried to create a membrane, a shell that create rooms in between inside and outside. The only room able to be closed entirely is the bed rooms and bath rooms, as the temperature can drop to 10-12 degrees during winter nights.

27.

- Semester 5, 2015 -

Site plan

Light study from within the model.

Final model in scale 1:20.

28.

A section showing the direction of the wind throughout the

The house is made for a family of three generations living in

building, creating natural cross-ventilation. The short side of

the same house. On the ground floor the grand parents live,

the building is turned towards the usual wind direction in Ah-

who also operates a small spice shop in connection to the house.

medabad, south west. I have placed plants in relation to some

A younger couple uses the bed room on the top floor with a

openings that cools down and purifies the air that flows through.

infant. The couple also have to adolescent children that shares bed room on the third floor.

It was a challenge to create room for everyone in the house as the building plot only was three metres wide, and I had to work with levels of privacy and openess between the rooms. At the same time I had to take in consideration the cross-ventilation and sun conditions. The old grand parents could not go in stairs to much, and therefore they also have an own pentry to co ok with, but for social gatherings they can go up one floor to the large kitchen.

Placement of the house in relation to site.

29.

Plan drawings

Plan 4

Plan 3

Plan 2

Plan 1

Ground floor 30.

Saranyu Urban Housing Qualitative Housing in Response to Urban Growth

- Bachelor Project / Individual -

- Ahmedabad, India -

- Semester 6, 2016 -

“The interconnecting web between people strengthened them. Togetherness and companionship is what is remarkable in such a place.�

Ahmedabad

My Bachelor project was developed from information gathered during an one month field trip to Ahmedabad in India. We got different sites to choose amongst, and the site I chose was a chaotic marketplace.

I wanted to contribute to the rapid urban growth and immigration of people moving to the city. Therefore I chose to redesign the current market on the site, and investigate how to combine it with dwellings to strenghten the identity of the place, and keep people living where they worked.

To design the housing part, I looked into how the Indian way of living could be translated into a more qualititative way in regard to lighting conditions, space, privacy and natural ventilation.

Site contours 31.

Basic building volumes

Volumes divided

Uniform facade

Living 2600 m 2 dwelling space 57 apartments 120-150 residents Dwellings Common space

Commerce Marketplace

Formal selling - shops

Informal selling

32.

B A

A

B

Ground floor 1:1500

33.

I tried to balance the relations between private and semi-private spaces. It is a problem in India today with new housing projects, that they tend to turn more individualistic and western in their character.

This is a sign of globalization, ignoring the way Indians live in their culture. Many people were proud of the strong family bonds they have in their culture, and living more than one generation in one home.

Plan 5 1:1500

I tried to create levels of privacy by dividing the building into private, semi-private and public areas. The semi-private space connects all the private volumes, and must be walked through before entering ones apartment.

In India commmon space are used for many activites such as the communities many festivals, meetings, play and food. This was important for me, and therefore i tried to keep these characteristics of the space.

Plan 2 1:1500

Plan 1 1:1500

34.

Materiality Terracotta screens

Terrazzo

Apartment type examples

Jali [jaali or jālī , meaning “net”]

- is the term for a perforated stone or latticed screen, usually with an ornamental pattern constructed through the use of calligraphy and geometry.

Indoor space Balcony/Courtyard

35.

S

M

L

18 m 2

44 m 2

62 m 2

1-2

2-3

3-4

XL 100 m 2 4-8

Rendering showing the atmosphere of an apartment.

The apartments are designed with natural cross-ventilation in mind. The terracotta screens, called Jali in India, protect the spaces from the strong sun while still letting air flow through, creating a natural ventilated building, and using traditional ways of modern living.

Plants are used in front of the screens to cool down the air flowing through. This method is called evaporative cooling. When watering the plants, the condensed water particles cools the air going in to the building.

Cross-section B

36.

Post-educational

37.

Bällsta Tower Office building

- Internship - Competition -

- Bällstastaden, Stockholm -

The new office building for a large Swedish company will act as a catalyst for the development of Bällstastaden. A iconic tower with an unique facade that will be a new land mark for the region, while connecting to the local context. The office is designed for today and is at the same time able to meet the unpredictable needs of tomorrow.

During my internship at Tengbom Arkitekter, I have been a part of the team designing a sky-scryper for a large Swedish technology company in a closed competition.

Urban environment

- December 2016 -

This was very exciting and I learned a lot from the process to quickly design a competition proposal, as developing a concept in context to parameters that we did not have to consider in school. I have been working with material and models for the competition. The renderings are made of our 3D-studio.

The 130 m tall sky-scraper would be a part of a larger planned city part. The building would be in the border between the new district and the forrest around it and would need to create a connection to both. By spreading out the volumes in staggered terracess rather than on each other we hope to achieve this.

High and low

Green areas LANDMÄRKE

KONTOR AKTIVITETSPARK

STAD

GRÖNSKA

LOKAL AKTÖR HOTELL

GRÄNS

38.

The atrium will link the open ground floor with the upper floors.

A large atrium is connecting all the lower floors in the tower and through the roof windows you will get a glimpse of the towers. This will allow for both visitors and employees to easily navigate throughout the building.

The facade is inspired from the high-technology work the company is developing, and will give some protection from outside spionage. We decided to drape the facade in a golden mesh. This mesh is placed in between two laminated glass panels and is more or less reflective or transparent depending on the density of the mesh. The lower parts will have more dense mesh and the higher you get the mesh will get less dense. The glass panels are angled and this in combination with the natural changes of the mesh will create a living and ever-changing facade.

Diagram of how the facade is working.

39.

Model 1:200 - building in relation to the forrest.

Entrance situation - an open ground floor.

1.

2.

Total m of project. Some functions need to be placed beneath or close to the surface.

2

3.

Extra m added for future expansion needs.

2

4.

5.

6.

Public ground floor connects the different functions.

Creating two entrance plazas.

Entrances from the north and south makes the central part the heart of the building.

40.

40.

Thank you!