Architectural Undergrad Student Portfolio

ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO

N E G A R

Z A N D I

NEGAR ZANDI About Me I am a first year Graduate Student at University of Pennsylvania, and I am passionate to become a great architect who designs for the people and creates a space that is meaningful for them.

Education

Software Proficiency

University Of Pennsylvania

Master Of Architecture- In Progress

University Of Texas At Arlington

Bachelor Of Science/Architecture

Plano West Senior High School

Diploma

2D Drawing:

AutoCad

Beginner

Intermediate

Advance

Revit 3D Drawing:

SketchUp Rhino

Work Experiences

Rendering:

Lumion Enscape

Corgan

Architecture Internships

May 2025-Augus 2025

EJES Inc.

3D Modeling and Rendering Intern (Unpaid)

August 2024

Starbucks

Barista

December 2021-Present

Gideon

Tutor

February 2020-January 2021

Kumon

Tutor

September 2019-March 2020

V-ray Production:

Photoshop Illustrator InDesign Preimer-Pro

CONTACT: Phone: +1 469-901-0312 Email: gzandinegar@gmail.com

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SELECTED PROJECTS

AOTEAROA PAVILION THIRD YEAR SPRING UNDERGRAD

HELD IN SUSPENSION FIRST FALL GRAD SCHOOL

RELEASE IN SUSPENSION FIRST FALL GRAD SCHOOL

MARINA FLORA THIRD YEAR FALL UNDERGRAD

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AOTEAROA PAVILION NEW ZEALAND Studio: A R C H 3 5 5 4 Collaborative project

Professor: Castaneda, Alba, Wheeler YEAR: 2024 Inspired by the Maori concept of “Kaitiakitanga,” the New Zealand Pavilion at World Expo 2025 in Osaka embodies guardianship of land, sea, and sky. The Expo, a global event celebrating human ingenuity and cultural exchange, provides the perfect platform for New Zealand to showcase its environmental stewardship and forward-thinking values.

The pavilion’s design features a plaza mirroring the sea’s fluidity, with water visualizations. Meandering paths symbolize fertile land, guiding visitors through the pavilion and reflecting New Zealand’s rich terrain and community spirit.

An overarching grid structure represents the sky, forming a protective spiritual canopy.

Interactive digital displays on the first floor highlight environmental protection and mental well-being. The second floor is a vibrant community space for cultural performances, emphasizing family connections. The airy third floor offers a spiritual, reflective space connecting visitors to the sky and future aspirations.

This pavilion creates a harmonious narrative of respect for nature and sustainable innovation, leaving a lasting impression on visitors and inspiring global guardianship of our planet.

This project was a group project with help of my partner in order to design a unique experience of New Zealand for the world expo 2025. I mainly contributed into the initial design concept which became the final design of the pavilion, as well as creating the different diagrams, renders and 3D section.

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KAITIAKITANGA CONCEPT

The concept informing the design of New Zealand’s Pavilion is the Maori term “Kaitiakitanga”, meaning guardianship of the land, sea, and sky. In essence, the term describes the practices and processes of protecting and looking after the environment. The plaza is a reflection of the sea, incorporating visual representations of water that resonate with the fluidity and essence of the ocean. The land is depicted through the pavilion’s internal circulation paths, which meander like the country’s rich, fertile earth, guiding visitors through the space and symbolizing the journey through life, emphasizing community and the sharing of experiences. Lastly, the grid structure

represents

the

overarching

sky,

a

canopy

of

protection and spiritual connection that frames the entire pavilion. Together, these elements form a cohesive narrative that embodies Kaitiakitanga, advocating for a deep, respectful relationship with our environment and signaling a commitment to its care and protection.

CONCEPT DIAGRAM

SITE

SKY

FRAMING

LAND

CIRCULATION PATHS

SEA

BASE

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SELECTED WORKS AOTEAROA PAVILION

Experience

The Aeoteroa pavilion’s three floors each highlight a dimension of Te Whare Tapa Whā, a holistic Māori health model developed by Sir Mason Durie that emphasizes the interconnectedness of mental, physical, spiritual, and familial well-being, interwoven with the theme of Kaitiakitanga. The first floor, focused on mental well-being (Taha Hinengaro), features calming water elements, indoor gardens, and interactive digital displays. The second floor, dedicated to family well-being (Taha Whānau), includes an amphitheater for cultural performances, storytelling, and workshops, fostering community and family connections. The third floor, open to the sky, emphasizes spiritual well-being (Taha Wairua) by allowing visitors to connect directly with the sky, providing a space where they can experience the vastness and openness, fostering introspection and a deep sense of connection to nature.

Formal Evolution

OVERLAPPING MASSING

FRAMING

MASSING WITHIN FRAMING

SLABS WITHIN FRAMING

FINAL FORM

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SELECTED WORKS AOTEAROA PAVILION

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FLOOR PLANS

SERVICE AND MEDIA ENTRY

LOWER TERRACE

GIFT SHOP

TAHA HINENGARO (MENTAL) EXHIBITION SPACE

ENTRY PLAZA

EXHIBIT SPACE

GROUND FLOOR

FIRST FLOOR

TAHA WHANAU (SOCIAL) EXHIBITION SPACE

WC KITCHEN

BAR

AMPHITHEATER & ACTIVITIES SPACE

CONFERENCE ROOM

TAHA WAIRUA (SPIRITUAL) EXHIBITION SPACE

VIP AND MEDIA LOUNGE

RESTAURANT

SKY TERRACE RESTAURANT TERRACE

SECOND FLOOR

THIRD FLOOR

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SELECTED WORKS AOTEAROA PAVILION

SECTION & MATERIALITY

MESH FRAMING

TIMBER

FRITTED GLASS

STEEL FRAMING WHITE 11

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PARAMETRIC WORKFLOW

CONSTRUCT BOX

EXTRACT SURFACE CENTER POINTS

CONSTRUCT LINES

ARRAY BOXES

MORPH

EXTRACT SHAPE

FINAL STRUCTURE

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HELD IN SUSPENSION Studio: A R C H 5 0 1 - G r a d u a t e S c h o o l Individual project

Professor: Taylor Dover YEAR: 2025 This project translates the suspended logic of the wassily chair into architecture. Using the frame as a structural and spatial generator. A sequence of rotated bands hover above the ground, carving inhabitable rooms that are read through shifting alignments and layered perspectives.

The circulation is intentionally unsettled: the stair is not a neutral connector, but a device or reorientation that interrupts equilibrium and makes the act of moving through space feel momentarily unstable. Like the floating seat of the chair held lightly within its tubular frame, these suspended volumes choreograph how the body negotiates balance, pause, and transition. Motion when slowed or redirected becomes visible as trajectory, turning passage into a spatial performance. Rather than treating display as backdrop, the gallery becomes both container and subject, allowing visitors to inhabit the thresholds between structure and void. In this way, suspension is not merely visual, it is embodied, experienced through shifting weight, hesitation, and the subtle instability of ascent.

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Floor Plan

UP UP

UP

UP

UP

Lower Level Floor Plan

Scale: 1/4”=1’

TO THE UPPER LEVEL

UP

UP

UP

UP

Ground Floor

Scale: 1/4”=1’ 16

SELECTED WORKS HELD IN SUSPENSION

Axon

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Section

Section

Scale: 1/4”=1’

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SELECTED WORKS HELD IN SUSPENSION

Physical Model

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RELEASE

IN

SUSPENSION

Studio: A R C H 5 0 1 - G r a d u a t e S c h o o l Individual project

Professor: Taylor Dover YEAR: 2025 This project explores how architecture as a system in motion, where circulation, structure, and exhibition space are treated as active spatial elements rather than fixed floors. Through rotated and displaced volumes, the building challenges conventional ideas of stability and orthogonality. Creating a sequence of suspended platforms, shifting gallerias, and communal voids. The project builds upon earlier suspension and fixed rotations, evolving into a spatial framework where movement is fully realized through structure, light, and program.

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FLOOR PLANS

UP

DN

UP

DN EXHIBITION

STORAGE

MEETING ROOMS

DOWN

UP

EXHIBITION

UP

EXHIBITION

EXHIBITION

UP EXHIBITION

EXHIBITION

MEETING ROOMS

UP

DN

UP

DN

MEETING ROOMS

PLAN: LEVEL 05

SCALE: 1’=1/8”

PLAN: LEVEL 04

SCALE: 1’=1/8”

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SELECTED WORKS RELEASE IN SUSPENSION

SECTION

ADDITION

LEVEL 07

LEVEL 06

LEVEL 05

LEVEL 04

EXISTING

LEVEL 03

LEVEL 02

LEVEL 01

SCALE: 1’=1/8” 23

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ROLLED ELEVATION

AXON

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PHYSICAL MODEL

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MARINA-FLORA

SINGAPORE

Studio: A R C H 3 5 5 3 Collaborative project

Professor: Castaneda, Alba YEAR: 2023 Marina Flora is Universal tower located in Singapore near iconic landmarks like Marine Bay Sands Hotel and Gardens of they Bay. This Universal Tower takes it shape from a flower following it’s petals shape and rotating around the tower to the rooftop garden. With only three petals shapes being designed as module instead of the four, the fourth one becomes the extension of the spaces inside, like terraces and public gathering spaces for users. The rotation of the tower allows for each module to have it’s own individual view to different landmarks around the site. This tower is both for the public, office and residential users.

The podium being designed as multi-level podium that is welcome to both public and private users. The tower provides flexibility for the users and buyers for a more flexible design that can be used in multiple ways, both the residential and office. As the tower is getting wider in the middle each module is moving away from the core, forming bridges to connect to each petal which then becomes this open space in between that allows for ventilation and lighting and a better engaging community for the residential users. The Art Gallery being located across the promenade as iconic landmark, and also a way of inviting the users from the waterfront to the site. The Marina Flora provides a flexible and unique design for Singapore, as well as a relaxing and calming spaces for it’s users.

This project was a group project with each member contributing to important design process of the overall project, As part of the group I contributed into the overall design and shape of the tower, floor plans of the tower only, Site diagrams, and multiple renders.

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Flower Concept The tower is mainly using the flower as its concept. Not only do the individual floors resemble flowers but the tower itself is in the form of a bud. As well as imitating the physical forms, the tower also takes inspiration from the flower in more subtle ways. By using rotation and radial patterns as another key design component, the tower and podium create complex ad intricate spaces that serve to excite visitors. As vernacular Architecture being common in Singapore, the tower uses stilts throughout the podium and within the tower to create more ventilation and lighting. Both spaces have a strong relationship with each other while still providing unique experiences.

Tower Concept development

Module development

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SELECTED WORKS MARINA FLORA

Rooftop Restaurant/Garden Office Refuge Floors Residential Retail/Restaurant Tower Lobby Art Gallery

Program

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Ground Floor Plan

Urban Connections Circulation Crossing Site Circulation Within Site Destination/Starting 1- Subway Station 2- Office Lobby 3- Podium Lobby 4- Red Dot Museum 5- Art Gallery 6- Convention/Shopping Center

Internal Pathways Ramps Bridges

Pedestrian Access

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SELECTED WORKS MARINA FLORA

Rooftop

Office

Residential

Section

Art Gallery

Exploded Module

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SELECTED WORKS MARINA FLORA

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THANK YOU NEGAR ZANDI 36