ZOE PARIS
california polytechnic state university san luis obispo b. arch ‘24
ZOE PARIS
zparis19@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/zoe-paris
EXPERIENCE
Perkins Eastman
Architectural Intern (Winter 2023), New York City
■ Modeled and analyzed sites for 2 healthcare projects in HK
■ Created diagrams for interview presentations
■ Developed facade schemes for healthcare expansion in DD
■ Produced 10+ visualizations during DD for client review
EDUCATION
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Bachelor of Architecture (June 2024)
Sustainable Environments Minor
■ GPA: 3.9
■ President’s Honor List (2019-24)
■ Dean’s List (2019-24)
■ Rome Study Abroad Program in Architecture (2022)
■ South Korea Study Abroad Program in Architecture (2023)
Syracuse University (2018)
Summer College Architecture Program
■ Best in Show Award
University of Pennsylvania (2017)
Architecture Pre-College Program
SKILLS
Rhinoceros
AutoCAD
Revit
Grasshopper
Ladybug
INTERESTS
Photography
Video Editing
Reading
Adobe CC
Enscape
Bluebeam
Fabrication
Microsoft Suite
Illustration
Tennis
Volunteering
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Global Shadowship (Winter 2023), New York City
■ Gained a holistic perspective on architectural practices, focusing on advancing DEI
■ Engaged in lecture series, site visits, and project meetings hosted by multiple cities, departments, and disciplines
Lenart Architecture
Architectural Intern (Summer 2022), New York City
■ Computer modeled an adaptable office project
■ Produced visualizations for 2 projects during DD
■ Shadowed 2 site visits in early construction phase
YouTube
Content Creator (2019-Present)
■ Provide architecture application tips and answer 100+ inquiries
■ Review high schoolers’ portfolios for college admissions
■ Interact consistently with a 9,900+ subscriber-audience
■ Accumulate 1,085,000+ total views and 41,300+ watch hours
EXTRACURRICULARS
National Org. of Minority Architecture Students
Co-President (2023-2024)
■ Organized and ran 60+ club meetings and events
■ Led and delegated tasks to a 9-person board
■ Launched mentoring program to increase retention and share insight/skills between 21 underclassmen and 22 upperclassmen
Design Team Lead (2021-2022), Member (2020)
■ Led a team of 30 members in 5 design competitions, including 2 BGL Student Design Competitions
Multiracial Students’ Association
Co-Founder, Co-President (2020-2024)
■ Planned and executed 40+ events and meetings
■ Grew to 40+ members and 400 Instagram followers
■ Created, shared, and managed 35 social media posts
■ Collaborated with 6 international clubs with pen pal program
CONTENTS
Welcome to my architecture portfolio. Thank you for taking the time to view my work, I appreciate your interest! I aim to bring a playful, thoughtful component to the built environment, emphasizing diversity and sustainability.
Arts Collective (pg.4)
Time Dissonance (pg.14)
Ground + Sky (pg.22)
Impermanence (pg.28)
Home Futura (pg.32)
Internship Work (pg.34)
YouTube (pg.36)
ARTS COLLECTIVE
Immersive Computing Research Center San Francisco, CA
Focus: fostering creativity and collaboration through spontaneous interactions
Winter + Spring 2022 | Prof. Umut Toker
Comprehensive Building Studio (2 quarters)
We are experiencing a world in between virtual and reality. The Multidisciplinary Arts Collective views virtual reality as a new, exciting medium and specializes in the intersection between science and art. The building seeks to utilize this interstitial space by engaging in an active atrium with dynamic circulation connections. These winding paths support diffuse thinking and spontaneous, informal meetings. These two strategies help catalyze collaboration and creativity. In a world apprehensive of the isolating qualities of virtual reality, we must emphasize the importance of social connection within the community.
CONCEPT
Combatting the isolating qualities and associations of virtual reality, the architecture aspires to create a collaborative environment.
These sketches explore ideas of connection, collaboration, introspection, and harmonious relationships with coworkers and technology.
Generated with Grasshopper , the darker shade shows what is visible from the first floor. The lightest shade reveals a much more expansive view as the user ascends the building, looking over rooftops. These views inform program organization and glazing placement.
program distribution
The lower floors are intended for public exploration of various VR/AR exhibits and merchandise. An outside patio connects people to the neighboring park. The middle floors are used by company employees. Private offices, shared balconies, and collaborative spaces are located here. Upper floors take advantage of the views overlooking the surrounding buildings and house open studios for the artists.
dispersion + connection
Spaces indicated for scientists and creatives are shuffled and distributed throughout the building while a dynamic atrium fosters spontaneous, informal meetings between all the building’s occupants. Spacious landings with flexible programs allow for moments to pause and connect with peers. isovists + sight lines
large-scale collaboration
By dispersing the programs, scientists and artists are bound to cross paths through the playful atrium that connects every floor. Innovation is fostered through these informal interactions. Spaces with higher ceilings leads to more social, collaborative interactions while spaces with lower ceilings leads to introspection.
progression of building section
small-scale collaboration
For more focused work, small-scale collaboration is accounted for via shared balconies between offices. These balconies take advantage of solar exposure and open space from the neighboring plaza and park.
1/16” = 1’ - 0” physical model highlighting sectional qualities, relationships between formal & informal meeting spaces, and the offices’ shared balconies.
[materials] laser-cut MDF, 3D printing, spray paint, plastic perforated paper, bristol, basswood sticks
TIME DISSONANCE
Mixed Use Space New York, NY
Focus: challenge time sensibility through the interaction between architecture & nature
Maybe time feels different here. As the concrete stains from the Hudson’s flow and as the wood weathers from curious footsteps, maybe we can become more understanding of the fluidity of time. Circulation and program relationships are determined by tide levels, which rise and fall twice daily. We have an arrogance that comes from our confidence in predicting the future, when we don’t really know the effects of our present actions. We assume things stay the same, when in reality, life is always, always changing. This thesis reconnects its architecture to be harmonious with natural time scales, thus developing our ability to understand and appreciate the passage of time.
Senior Thesis Project 2023-2024 | Prof. Doug Jackson
The programs are a 24-hour library, bakery, restaurant/nightclub, viewpoints and plazas. The variation of programs create mini time zones of activity. The users may occupy the space during different times of day and night and cross paths unexpectedly, like a baker going to work as a group of friends leave the club. Each program offers a varying experience of time.
The areas in white are untouched by the river and the filled in areas show the stepping down into the water. The grid is oriented to true north to take advantage of daylighting. The library is close to the Stuyvesant High School. The bakery shares the same main path as the nightclub. Large platforms can host host pop-up farmers markets, craft fairs, and similar events.
tide as time sensibility
high tide
As the tide rises and falls, two cycles a day, different circulation paths and program relationships are created and vanished. Parts of the paths peek out of the water and seem in accessible, but with a bit of patience they’ll reveal themselves.
low tide
As people spend hours studying here, they will feel the passage of time through the natural cycles of the tide and sun. As the floating envelope sways and bobs with the water, ever-changing views are framed as openings align and misalign.
Once down in the sunken area, two kinds of skylights create a mixed ambience of lighting. One skylight gently slopes, slowly covered by the tide as time passes, while the other skylight always pokes above the water, shaped by the solar angles. Even the lowest winter sun can enter through this skylight.
GROUND + SKY
Contemplative Meditation Space
Seoul, South Korea
Focus: introspective, experiential space connected to nature in a cityscape
Spring 2023 | Prof. Don Choi and Devin Kuhn
Located in the bustling neighborhood of Jongno, ground + sky offers a contrasting secluded place of introspection. The minimalistic form is derived from the Buddhist symbolism of squares and circles. A square represents Earth and a circle represents heaven. To reach enlightenment, one must meditate to carve away the square’s corners. In ground + sky, this process is likened to erosion. Elements of water cut through a elliptical form. As a result, three distinct spaces are created. Experiencing the ground and sky in a completely different way is the goal of the project.
meditation, geometry, and water
According to Buddhist philosophy, the circle represents heaven and the square represents the earth. Through meditation, Buddhists believe they can become closer to enlightenment. With the circle transcribed within the square, meditation “carves away” the corners, creating an octogon, a geometry in-between those two shapes.
Using water as the driver for the project, this carving is symbolized through water’s erosion. The use of water also alludes to Jongo’s history, as the current street used to be a river.
above ground level
Visitors enter the sky space through a bridge. A simple dome blocks out the context buildings, inviting them to only focus on the sky and the elements through the open cut-out.
ground level
Water separates to invite visitors on a path through the space. Water reflects the sun’s rays on the underside of the mass. Stairs are slowly revealed as one circulates through.
below ground level
After taking off one’s shoes, visitors may enter the bowl. The curved interior floors hug the visitor as they lay, looking up at a glass ceiling with water above them.
IMPERMANENCE
House Boat Mission District, San Francisco, CA
Focus: investigating concepts of stasis, mobility, and constancy
Spring 2021 | Prof. Ryan Brockett | Remote Studio
Impermanence questions the static perception of architecture. A house boat grants users freedom to leave and live wherever they want, adapting to our ever-changing lives. What stays constant is the house’s proximity to the water. The triangular form angles and shifts towards unique yet familiar views: the sky, the waves, and underwater. This sense of familiarity can be comforting to users in the home wherever they may travel.
community
In addition to designing the individual houseboat, I designed a pier investigating ways to connect this community. The triangular pier expands and lifts to align social spaces with views. This drawing incorporated my studio peers’ individual house boat 3D models.
AIA Film Challenge Submission
HOME FUTURA
Online Design Competition NOMAS group collaboration
Focus: conveying memory through rendering and representation
Spring 2021 | Remote
An exploration of the concept of a home, Home Futura argues the importance of the memories we attach to objects. These memories give life and come together to tell the story of a family’s journey within the walls of a house. The images tell the story of a family through their belongings from moving into, living in, and moving out of their home.
This project and design submission for the Home Futura competition made in collaboration with the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students members.
INTERNSHIP
Hospital Expansion
Hong Kong
Focus: site mapping, facade studies, and exterior rendering
Winter 2023 | Perkins Eastman NYC Co-Op
Sample work from my internship at Perkins Eastman. Improving the digital models of two healthcare expansion projects in Hong Kong in Schematic Phase, I used accurate topographic data and site context to expand the site. Working with my mentor, I developed the facade scheme for the entire building, using Enscape to produce compelling images to include in the client presentation.
Bullet Journaling Tutorials Undergraduate Portfolio Tips
825,000 views
25,650 likes
730 comments/inquiries
47,000 views 1,275 likes
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19,600
Architecture Student Life
19,600 views
575 likes comments/inquiries
VIDEOGRAPHY
channel name: @bujowithzozo
9,940 subscribers
1,081,694 views
115 videos
I strongly believe that the field of architecture must be diverse. One way to increase diversity within the practice is to expose more young people to the world of architecture. By providing application tips to high schoolers applying to architecture universities, I hope to remove some obstacles and barriers. YouTube is an incredible outlet for this, as it is free and accessible to everyone with the internet. On my channel, I also provide journaling tutorials that promote mental well-being, healthy productivity, and goal organization, creating a positive community.
ZOE PARIS
linkedin.com/in/zoe-paris
