Hello!
My name is Tahsin Khan, and I am a graduate from Carleton University’s Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism with a B.Arch and M.Arch. This portfolio is a showcase of my architectural and design work over the course of my studies which reflects my intentions for enchaning the built environment.
2020 - 2022
2016-2020
PUBLICATION
Carleton University
CITY Ottawa, Canada
Azrieli School Of Architecture And Urbanism
• Masters of Architecture - MArch
Carleton University
Azrieli School Of Architecture And Urbanism
• Bachelor of Architecture - BArch, Design
Building 22 Edition 19 2019
EXPERIENCES
WORK EXPERIENCE
VOLUNTEERING
Ottawa, Canada
Ottawa, Canada
• Building 22 is an annual student-initiated publication showcasing work coming out of the Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism at Carleton University.
Directed Studies Abroad (DSA)
Study trip to Japan 2019
• During the winter break in February, faculty members and students travel to cities around the world. The 10 – 12 day itineraries span multiple cities, where students observe and engage in urban situations outside of Canada, visit the offices of internationally renowned architects, and document specific sites that serve as the context for their design project during the semester.
Murray Award 2nd place 2018
• The competition challenges students to develop and present an architectural idea through hand-drawn drawing and to demonstrate an exceptional ability in using scaled and rendered drawings that include the conventions of plan, section, and elevation.
2023 - present
Gradient Wind Engineering Inc.
CAD Technologist
Ottawa, Canada
• Working for an engineering firm in the Computational Fluid Dynamics team where I am responsible for reading architectural drawings to create 3D models in AutoCAD to run wind simulations on. Additionally, creating context models to situate the stuided site using Google Earth, city application development websites and other available resources.
• Creating figure drawings for reports showcasing the proposed and existing conditions of the studied site. Furthermore assisting in designing new types of ways to show the results of the analysis through drawings.
Ottawa, Canada
3rd year
Winter 2019
Situated on the slender path across from Sumida Park in Asakusa, Japan, “Tsuro” or passage, are several public service buildings placed along the boardwalk lined with sakura tress. Creating a defined pathway, wedged through the center horizontally, splitting these structures to prevent obstruction of trees persevering the traditional practice of hanami, flower viewing. Several smaller vertical pathways cut through the site providing breaks along the way. The terracing on the site creates a viewing area over the Sumida River, the different levels are perfect for firework viewing during the summer festivals.
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Sunny Kang
Tahsin Khan
4th year
Fall 2019
The objective of the proposal for Stacked Garden on Carling Avenue is to tie the community into the heritage neighbourhood of Laurentain and Westboro though green spaces and a neighbourhood experience through condos. Keeping the building heights low and spreading out over the site creates a tight knit community. Breaking up the site into blocks, the commercial spaces are oriented towards the arterial main street of Carling Avenue, creating a break between residential and commercial. Based on specific dimensions of spaces, different units such as the bachelors, one bedroom and two bedroom are stacked strategically to create outdoor terraces and balconies which provide private and semi-private spaces for the residents. The circulation weaves through the mass of units, providing points of access to individual homes. As the buildings get closer to the Queensway, the height of the buildings gradually increase to give the residents a view over the highway.
Blue Ridge Housing
M.Arch 1st Year
Fall 2020
Welcome to greenLAB! Offset from Rue Laurier it creates a plaza space, becoming a break space between the public realm of the street and the active realm of the structure, creating a gradient between the realms. Essentially the structure follows a linear design. Starting off with a long corridor which will hold the smaller private areas such as the labs, offices, meeting rooms and mechanical rooms. There are indents on either side of this general interior defining the small program spaces. Then we have the larger program spaces such as the lobby, greenhouses, and engineering + woodshop spaces placed through the general interior and the greenhouse roofs are sloped leading down towards the plaza becoming closer to human scale. Finally, the project is embedded into the topography. This project is set on a topography that is mostly similar to the original topography.
There was a great focus on the creation of the greenhouse façade. Polycarbonate is a popular material used in greenhouse because its able to diffuse direct sunlight and extend growing seasons for the plants however the polycarbonate gives a distorted view into the greenhouse where objects further away become more blurred. The window punch outs allow for viewing into the greenhouse.
The polycarbonate cladding is fixed onto the steel of the greenhouses.
The steel frame following an 8m x 8m grid system primarily in the greenhouses shows a hierarchy of program through materials. The steel allows for thinner members which optimize the amount of light allowed into the greenhouse.
The concrete frame following an 8m x 8m grid system allows for the continuity of material from the Laurier retaining wall to the courtyard through to the building. Helping to push the embedded agenda of the landscape architecture. The concrete retaining wall in the back of the structure provides an exit through the embedded side of the building.
The primary materials used in the project will be concrete, steel and polycarbonate. Concrete will be used for most of the building; however, the greenhouse will be steel and polycarbonate. This is to differentiate the spaces by the material. The concrete, the grounded part of the structure housing the smaller programs as the large steel transparent bored greenhouse sits on top. Doing so shows the hierarchy of programs giving importance to the greenhouses, which also house the circulation cores. With the building integrated into the landscape, the pockets of exposed spaces, the greenhouses become fragmented garden.
The circulation can be seen as a dance routine spiraling around the structure. Leading the user down from Rue Laurier, through the programs into the greenhouses, and back up again to almost street level where they are guided to either the other greenhouses, the pedestrian pathway, or the second outdoor growing area on the roof of the building. the circulation is an integral part of the building.
M.Arch 1st Year
Fall 2020
Welcome to the Mer Blue Bog VR studio experience.
To start off the site chosen was the Mer Blue Bog located in Ottawa. Being part of the Greenbelt this wetland is situated in an ancient channel of the Ottawa River surrounded by peat moss and is also home to a variety of wildlife. The goal for this project was to create a retreat for the artist, a place to work and relax.
An overview of the bog with the existing boardwalk. Views of the path leading from the mossy perimeter to the water. The gumdrop-shaped structures, the studio spaces scattered around. The area is lined with different paths diverging from the boardwalk to prevent disruption to the environment however these paths are hidden.
The only way to these studios is through augmented reality, a path of whimsical toadstools will appear to the goer through their device guiding them to any of the unoccupied studios
These studios initially blank on the inside, it is up to the user to go to where ever they desire or customize a space to be however they want. Say you are a travelling artist away from your studio, you could simply upload your studio into the simulation and begin to work in comfort. Or vice versa you could be an artist needing to visit a specific place in the world to observe an environment.
Overall, the parts of the piece blocked out by colour being the element that is not actually there, part of an alternate reality. This view is a sample interior view of the goer deciding to sketch a drawing of the thinker statue in an underwater dollhouse-like room surrounded by penguin friends. Possibilities are endless.
M.Arch 2nd Year
Abstract
This thesis will examine how architecture is used in videogames to tell stories. It will explore how we, the player, make references and connections to the real world and our own experiences. Architecture becomes a reference, an emulation designed to trigger memories in the player, forming a relationship between the lived-in world and the digital world. Similar to progression in a movie, the buildings in games do not always serve a function as they do in the actual world; however, it is still necessary to suspend the player’s disbelief, enveloping them into the game space. Video games offer the possibility of reflecting upon what it means to experience a place. It allows us to immerse ourselves into an environment; architecture— both landscape and structure — plays an integral part in conveying the game narrative. This project aims to explore this hypothesis by creating a game proposal.
This city is meant to be the first town the player enters, the home residence of the character. Like other adventure games influenced by D&D, the area where the character starts their adventure intends to be based on Western European medieval aesthetics. This town is loosely inspired by Mont Saint Michel in France. I found that this particular town was used as a reference for other towns in media, such as the Kingdom of Corona in Tangled and the Minas Tirith from the film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Based on medieval European towns, this town will be the characters’ hometown, the town that the player will start in. The town will be large and be a central location of this world. A major town in which many people reside and have businesses.
This area is meant to be a trading town, a waypoint for travellers and merchants to stop by. This environment takes inspiration from coastal villages along a body of water. This location will be the mid-way point between the other two playable areas. The base for this harbour will be Jobson’s Cove in Bermuda. The cove’s landscape is compelling, a beach area by the water that is semi-enclosed by a series of large cliff rocks. This made for a compelling query about how architecture could be retrofitted into the cove instead of having the cove altered to fit the architecture. The structure will be based on different fishing villages from south and southeast Asia. Lining the sides of the cove, the makeshift structures, deck and docks will branch out, fanning over the water.
Some video games have some sort of area themed around nature and have a spiritual relationship to the Earth (or whatever planet). The theme of treetop communities/ settlements specifically was taken from several television shows and movies such as the Freedom Fighters treetop hideout and Bayan grove tree from Avatar: The Last Airbender. The notion of having a community of people live amongst the trees, similar to that of some species of animals, was intriguing—an element of fantasy that could be explored unconventionally, the only limitations being of the imaginary world. Depending on the sort of history and culture, this settlement will influence the space’s architecture. I imagine it to be comparable to a “nest,” similar to birds. The structures would be made up of found objects and materials directly from the tree. How would the people of this place travel around? Ladders, makeshift elevators, stairs? Would vehicles or animals be a mode of transport supported by this elevated structure? Many questions are to be explored
Fall 2020
Finalists
Sunny Kang
Tahsin Khan
Jasmin Maaghop
Maya Perez
Wendy Yuan
This project, a transformation of the Hastings Urban Farm Flea Market in Vancouver British Columbia, Canada, aims to build a community that works to balance the extreme conditions that the world faces today. The design itself interlocks three scales: climate, poverty, and the global pandemic. Due to the increasing homeless population in the area of Downtown Eastside, there has been a large number of makeshift encampments that line the nearby streets and public parks. This has led to a steady incline of environmental and economic degradation of the surrounding site and community. To combat this, Hastings Locality is formulated to mesh the ideas of social housing and regenerative neighbourhood development. While adhering to the guidelines of the pandemic, the landscape of the site allocates public from private space through a large, celebrated pedestrian walkway occupied by street vendors and lined with greenery. The public realm is loosely fenced off by vertical planter pods. These pods act as a component of the greenspace while doubling as a residential seating area. Combining both hardscaping and softscaping, two perpendicular walkways act as a boundary between greenspace and housing. Made up of recycled shipping containers, these semi permanent and adaptable housing structures can be rapidly fabricated or redistributed to meet the demands of the site and the surrounding area. While continuing to preserve the original program of the site, the flea market was relocated to a larger space with added points of entry, allowing for an easier flow of pedestrian traffic. It consists of a bundle of “pavilions” that are weaved throughout the site and work directly with the community garden. Imagined as being operated by the residents of the site, both areas lend themselves to the surrounding community as spaces to create new opportunities. The main goal of this design project is to revamp an existing area within the community and transform it into a lively social and cultural hub, while facing the current global challenges of climate change, poverty, and a global pandemic. It focuses on creating a sustainable social housing environment that includes celebrated ephemeral structures, and community gardens that not only serve its inhabitants, but also the surrounding community of the Hastings Urban Farm Flea Market in British Columbia.
A collection of my various art works from my time in university
Assorted
Thank you for your time !
tahsinkhan@cmail.carleton.ca
613 400 0810
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tahsin-khan-1365051a1/ https://issuu.com/tahsinkhann/docs/tahsinkhan_architectureportfolio_2020_issue