architecture & design portfolio

Rebecca Carle

R
carle

architecture & design portfolio Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University College of Architecture and Urban Studies

Rebecca Carle

Bachelor of Architecture Minor in Public and Urban Affairs

Contact rebcar73@vt.edu 908.868.6919

experience

WASA/Studio A | Architecture & Engineering Firm in New York, NY Marketing Intern | Summer 2013 Prepared and assisted the marketing team with brochures, presentation materials, RFIs, and proposals. Designed marketing publications showcasing completed projects. The Bern Companies, Inc. | General Contractors in New York, NY Intern | Interim 2011 - 2013 Assisted estimator, construction manager, accounting department and assistant project manager in daily tasks. Processed purchase orders, change orders, invoices, insurance certificates, and distributed plans to subcontractors. Head-Start Playground Design Course 2013 | Floyd, VA Met with community members to determine community needs and objectives. Collaborated within groups to present playground plans and landscapes to the Head-Start staff. Specifically designed and budgeted a four-sided dramatic play structure.

skills

Architectural Graphics | Autocad, Revit, Sketchup Adobe Creative Suite | Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator Media | Model-Making, Photography, Drafting Other | Planning Metrics using Excel, Quickbooks

accolades

Golden Key International Honor Society 2013 | Top 15% of the class Commonwealth Architects Scholarship 2012 | Awarded for outstanding performance, design excellence, professional promise, & good academic standing Top Ten in Naef Toy Design Competition 2010 | Placed 9th out of over 150 design entries National Society of Collegiate Scholars 2010

activities

AIAS 2013 - Present Alpha Rho Chi Fraternity 2010 - Present | Held positions in the national co-ed professional-social fraternity for architecture & the allied arts Relay For Life 2010 - Present | Raised over $3,500 with team as team captain The Big Event at Virginia Tech Annually | Participated in community service jobs around Blacksburg, VA

resume

the last journey urban multiplex monte carasso restaurant urban lab observatory water room watershed observatory seaside pavillion tanzania

2 4 8 10 14 16 20 22

playground design lightness the bamboozler typography

26 28 30 32

table of contents

the last journey

Memories remain as impressions of time within our minds. They are not based upon fact, but are derived from our perception of an experience and the surrounding environment. We absorb memories like the plasticity of a concrete wall and its formwork. The formwork provides the support for the wall, like the environment of the space creates the base for a memory. After the wall is poured, the absent formwork leaves an impression in the concrete, creating a presence even when it is no longer there.

2 | fifth year 2013

With a vertical stature, the body is unbounded; however, in a horizontal state, experience is subjective of ones surroundings. Perspective becomes limited and physical experiences become static. The eyes and mind are left to wander as the body lies in waiting. An opportunity arises for the architecture to incite qualities of ease in the consequential atmosphere. The resulting spatial qualities begin to allude to something more.

the last journey | 3

urban multiplex
The movies are without a place in Old Town Alexandria. To bring this vital art form of our time back to King Street, an urban multiplex offers people a place to visit for a casual snack or linger after the movies.
Co
Fayette Street King Street Section A

m m S ce er tre et

4 | fourth year 2013

The urban multi-plex uses the concept of complete immersion to provide an inclusive movie-viewing experience. The stepped ceiling of the lobby prepares the viewer for the theaters by implementing the iconic theater form. Almost all of the theaters also have stepped ceilings to amplify the theater experience. Entering and exiting the theaters forces movement through the atrium of stairs. Within this space viewers get a sense of the whole building, adding suspense or excitement when traveling to theaters.

Section B

urban multiplex | 5

The atrium becomes a large lantern within the community to mark a place of excitement and activity for all to enjoy. The lobby and exterior theater provide Old Town with a gathering place for both organized and unplanned events to occur. Even when the movies are not playing, the development functions as a main community attraction.

6 | fourth year 2013

Level 3

Level 5

Level 2 Level 4

Level 1

urban multiplex | 7

monte carasso restaurant

Monte Carasso is a small town on the edge of the Swiss Alps where Luigi Snozzis architecture defines the town center. A new restaurant is proposed to complete the final bounding side of the main plaza. The new structure allows the area to maintain its open feel, but also provides a boundary to refine the central square. The exterior of the restaurant uses straight edges and smooth concrete to provide a visual relationship with the current buildings on the site. The interior consists of many tubular elements that extend from the ceiling structure and define the movement throughout the restaurant. They extend in length to provide pockets of private dining, while becoming shorter to allow paths for servers and diners to move through the space.

8 | fourth year 2013

monte carasso resturant | 9

urban lab observatory

The Urban Lab Observatory, located in the middle of downtown Cincinnati, strives to be the public cultural center of the area. In addition to living, working, and displaying, the building must remain familiar to the public in order to incite exploration. The main egress for the building becomes visible to the community in order to allow a relationship to form with the occupants over time. This egress provides the only access to each tower, forcing the residents to interact with the public when traveling to their studios.

10 | third year 2012

urban lab observatory |11

Lifting the structure off the ground creates a threshold for the public to walk, creating the feeling of entering a different space. This move divides the area without creatinga physical barrier against the public. The span above houses the exhibition center of the observatory and continues a less formal exhibit space beneath. This vertical programmatic element allows the public to feel they are a part of the culture within the observatory.

Third Level and up

Second Level

Ground Level

Lower Level

12 | third year 2012

The truss supporting the span does not completely disappear once inside, but leaves a trace where it runs through the building. The upper beams of the truss continue through the gallery space to extend the visual path of the truss. Opaque glass panels extend from this line to create smaller gallery spaces within the large gallery space.

urban lab observatory | 13

water room
In this two week project, the Water Room explores water relative to time, materiality, and situation. Located on the Tuckasegee River in North Carolina, the structure allows people to contemplate the nature of water and architecture. Each level of the structure provides a different interaction with water and creates a distinct experience for the senses.

14 | third year 2011

The top platform is open to the sky and acts as an extension of the land. Sight is enhanced through the panoramic view of the river and the land it has shaped.

The descending stairs act as the stoic element in the varying platform experiences and river levels. The moment where the river meets the stairs constantly changes, but the experience of the moment remains the same.

The center platform, covered by the first platform, provides shelter during unwanted weather. The atmosphere compares to the opening of a cave where light and air can still be experienced, but protection and sound are heightened. The falling rain will alert the sense of hearing as it echoes against the top platform.

On the bottom platform the occupant finally meets the water and embraces it with the sense of touch.

water room | 15

watershed observatory
The Watershed Observatory grows in response to the multiplicity of issues that surround the conversation of water in the Blue Ridge region and beyond. Along the Tuckasegee River in Bryson City, North Carolina sits a space for an extension of dialogue between concerned citizens and scientists, public and private interests, and local authorities. Through exploration of five primary programming elements an appropriate artifact takes presence on the site and in the community.

16 | third year 2011

Main Level

Lower Level

watershed observatory | 17

The Watershed Observatory reaches out to the river and the land below, welcoming its changing personality and embracing the impacts of those traits. Imbedded within the movement of the observatory is the path water flows to reunite with its greater whole. The rooms and gardens embrace these movements and form around them, creating the opportunity to observe the relationship between water and the nature.

18 | third year 2011

watershed observatory | 19

seaside pavillion

COMPETITION PARTNER | EMILY SAVOCA Seaside, Florida uses New Urbanism concepts to recreate an old-fashioned beach resort town in both appearance and social atmospheres. In order to provide a portion of district power to the Seaside community, a new dune crossover structure incorporates current photovoltaic technologies within the architectural design. 500 ft Structure acts as a strategy for organization as well as the essence of physical stability. It provides the foundation for New Urbanism concepts, while existing within the realm of human proportions. The dynamism of structure defines the dune crossover and creates a dialogue with the structural organization of the community.

500 ft

500 ft

100 ft

100 ft

100 ft

10 ft

10 ft

10 ft

Town Plan

Site Plan

Structure Plan

20 | third year 2011

The structure integrates the photovoltaic panels as an extension of above and below. The panels become the ground of the overlook, acting as horizontal barriers by extending the space, but simultaneously restricting it.

seaside pavillion | 21

tanzania
A mobile, modular, prefabricated laboratory must be transported to Tanzania and constructed on Rubondo Island by the locals. The structure touches the ground with helical piers, allowing it to be semipermanent and easily transported. The prefabricated lab generates an interaction between the researchers and the island. The movable louvered panels introduced into the wooden frame provide a physical sense of being immersed in the surroundings. The researchers maintain complete awareness of their location while teaching, sleeping, living, and researching.

22 | second year 2011

tanzania | 23

24 | second year 2011

With the louvers in a closed position, the connection between the researchers and the island is not lost, but changed. Privacy and protection become available and force the researchers to interact with the environment in a different, more discrete way. Because the modules are never completely closed off to the setting, the space, fully opened or completely closed, maintains a close connection with the natural surroundings for research and enjoyment.

tanzania | 25

playground design
The Head-Start Program in Floyd, Virginia requested designs for a new playground for a class of three year olds. Child development research and meetings with community members created an idea of wants, needs, and goals for the playground. Groups of four were organized to propose a design to the staff and community. After evaluation two teams of ten were divided to refine ideas and plans with stronger consideration for cost, teacher visibility, and refurbishment of old equipment.

First Plan

Revised Plan

26 | fifth year 2013

The idea for a four-sided play structure with separate faces was well received by the community and staff. The concrete pad for the structure was pre-existing and the new part of the structure would be built with timber. Each side displays a different place for the children to play. A storefront, a toolshed, a castle, and a house make up the dramatic play structure in an effort to allow the children to use their imaginations to develop narratives within each place. Careful consideration was made for safety and playground safety dimensions.

STORESTORE

THE THE SHED TOOLSHEDTOOL

SALE!!

SALE!!

APPLES $1

APPLES $1

STORE STORE

E TH THE playground design | 27 SHED OLSHED TOOL TO

lightness
A chair that explores the concept, materiality, and principles of lightness. Lightness can be a characteristic of physical weight or the way a material interacts with another. Exploring materiality and principles of lightness through the design and construction of a chair leads to a consideration of both concepts. Using the material of foam allows the chair to have a small physical weight, while the placement of the foam connects with the ground in a heavier way. Even though the mass as a whole does not read as light, the way each piece of foam meets the other allows a presence of lightness. The space between the foam pieces and the way the top piece of foam delicately lays on the others defines the chair through a concept of lightness.

28 | second year 2011

lightness | 29

the bamboozler
NAEF TOY COMPETITION Placed 9th out of more than 150 applicants. The Bamboozler encompasses the concept of a jigsaw puzzle with a three dimensional feel. A solid mass is broken down into towers of 22 pieces that fit amongst each other in one specific solution.

30 | first year 2010

12.6000

6.3000

6.3000

6.3000

6.3000

12.6000

14.3000

14.3000

0.6500

0.6500

6.3000

6.3000

12.6000

the bamboozler | 31

typography
A series of projects experimenting with text, space, and scale. Includes variations of sans serif and serif type and compositions of word interpretations.

R
carle

32 | third year 2011

typography | 33