Building the Chair

KUNAALMOHAN

ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO

I DANCE

I DRUM

I COOK I BUILD

I CAMP

I DESIGN

“Kuni proved to be a flexible and valued member of the office able to work calmly to tight and demanding deadlines with minimum supervision. Kuni showed considerable development during his coop term. With Kuni's development and work ethic he quickly gained the respect of his coworkers. He proved to be both talented and thorough. For his level of experience Kuni was one of the best students we have had in the office and a pleasure to work alongside.” Regards Alar Kongats

REFERENCE

- Revit - AutoCAD - Sketchup - Photoshop

KUNAALMOHAN

1.5 YEARS

0.5 YEAR

- Rhino - Illustrator - Indesign - Models

4 YEARS

SKILLS - Mature work ethic - Integrate well within a team - Spirited and communicative team member

QUALIFICATIONS

University of Waterloo | H. Bachelor of Architectural Studies | 2008 - 2013

Kongats Architects | Student Intern | Toronto, ON | Jan. - May 2013

Architecture for Humanity | Student Volunteer | New York, NY | May - July 2011 Mad Fun Farm Design Build

WORK EXPERIENCE

VOLUNTEER

EDUCATION

- Worked on construction drawings for a renovation project of a student residence in a team of five - Learned the value of clear communication and supportive collaboration within a team - Significantly exceeded the expectations of my employer and team through initiative, spirit, and teamwork - Worked in AutoCAD for drawings, Rhino for 3D renders, and Photoshop for rendering

- Worked on construction drawings for a design-build project for a mail processing plant in a team of fifteen - Completed necessary details to move the drawing set from 60% through to IFC in seven months - Developed strong work relationships and gained the respect of my project captains and team members - Worked solely in Revit on design, drafting, 3D renders, and a walkthrough movie render

- Produced RFIs, SIs, Revit massing studies, physical charette models, 2D renderings, and presentations - Worked in Photoshop, Illustrator, AutoCAD, Revit, and Powerpoint

Farrow Architects | Student Intern | Toronto, ON | May - Sept. 2010

Kasian Architecture | Student Designer | Vancouver, BC | Jan. - Sept. 2012

- Through hard work and excellent mentorship I obtained a valuable learning experiences and projects that I proudly stand beside

- Developed strong architectural values, such as going beyond the merely curious and expressing the truly beautiful, a sense of responsibility towards those who came before us and towards those who come after us

- Studied true architecture, which does not mimic style but expresses the spirit and values

- Participated in the design development of a stage and rainwater collection system for local after school gardening program in a team of seven

- Lead the construction of a site and structural model with another student volunteer which was used to present the design to the client for the first time

- Was selected for a public space installation & to exhibition a chair design - Designed, proposed, and built a truss structure with detachable epoxy panels to fit within existing alcove

space and frame the view of an infinity mirrored projection of the event in a team of 10 - Designed, completed structural analysis, and built a chair with a partner and was among the 4/40 chairs

selected for exhibition at the event

Come Up To My Room | Featured Designer | Toronto, ON | Dec. - Feb. 2012 VOID installation & log chair exhibited

TYPE PROJECT THEME

THE ARCHITECTURAL BODYExtending the body and elevating one’s sense of self

through the healing rhythms of dynamic contrast

X

NEW GENERATION OF BLACK WALNUT TREES

RAMMED EARTH CONSTRUCTION1000mm WALLS400mm DOMED AND ARCHED ROOF

NEW FRUIT BEARING PLANTS FOR PUBLIC FORAGING

SAWN TIMBER POST AND BEAM STRUCTURE300mm*200mm*5.5m COLUMNS @ 3m O.C.300mm*200mm BEAMS span 5m & 7m

50% OF EXCAVATED EARTH REUSED IN CONSTRUCTION OF RAMMED EARTH STRUCTURE

CONCRETE STRIP FOUNDATIONS FOR RAMMED EARTH AND TIMBER STRUCTURE

ISOLATED CONCRETE PIER FOUNDATIONS FOR VERTICAL LOUVRE SHADES

SELF SUPPORTING VERTICAL LOUVRE SHADING DEVICES

SCHOOL 4B DAY SPA DESIGN SENSUALITY

A great bath awakens you to your intrinsically earthy and reverential nature. Your perspective is expanded and you are aware of a greater body of energy than your own. Thinking of the body as being able to be extended established the relationship between people and architecture. The structure is inhabitable. You touch it and it touches you back. You relax your body armor and become one with your surroundings. Unable to express this ineffable connection, you express gratitude for the spiritual revitalization.

TEAM INSPIRATION

Y

N

Y

X X

INDIVIDUAL THERMAL MASS, DIURNAL CYCLE

TYPE PROJECT THEME

Section XTreatment Rooms

w\ Accessible PorchCommunal Bath Yoga Studio

Steam RoomLounge

SCHOOL 4B DAY SPA DESIGN SENSUALITY

TEAM INSPIRATION

South Elevation

Section Y

West Elevation

Communal Bath Change Room Reception

INDIVIDUAL THERMAL MASS, DIURNAL CYCLE

TYPE PROJECT THEME

Detail Section - Yoga Studio

Yoga Studio Communal Bath

SCHOOL 4B DAY SPA DESIGN SENSUALITYSCHOOL 4B DAY SPA DESIGN SENSUALITY

TEAM INSPIRATION

39.52 m²

Workshop Room

SCALE: 1 : 5

PLAN DETAIL - CURTAIN WALL & VERTICAL FIN

RAMMED EARTH FLOOR(BEYOND)

FREESTANDING HSS COLUMNON CONCRETE PILEFOUNDATION

25mm GLUELAM VENEERADHERED TO I-JOIST WEB

SEMI-CIRCULAR GLUELAMENDCAP

PILOT HOLES SLOPED TO DRAIN

ALUMINUM CAP

200mm x 300mm GLUELAM POST

TRIPLE GLAZED INSULATED UNIT

ALUMINUM PLATE FASTENED TOGLUELAM POST

STEEL FIN WELDED TO HSS

Plan Detail - Vertical Louvre

Steam RoomTreatment Room Porch

INDIVIDUAL THERMAL MASS, DIURNAL CYCLEINDIVIDUAL THERMAL MASS, DIURNAL CYCLE

TYPE PROJECT THEMEWORK RENOVATION STUDENT RESIDENCE

KONGATS ARCHITECTSEXPERIENCING CONTEXT, TONE, SCALE AND

EXISTING PATTERNS OF ACTIVITY

Working in a team of five was an invigorating collaboarive experience. We worked hard to complete the drawing set for a renovation project of a student residence with a tight deadline. I learned the value of clear communication and supportive collaboration within a team. Through strong initiative, spirit, and teamwork, I exceeded all expectations and gained valuable drafting experience in demolition and construction drawings.

TEAM INSPIRATIONFIVE ACCESSIBILITY, SELF-EXPRESSION

TYPE PROJECT THEME

SKETCHINGSTUDYING THE WORLD AROUND US

SCHOOL 4A SKETCHBOOK MEMORY

Venice, IT

TEAM INSPIRATIONINDIVIDUAL VERNACULAR, PROPORTION, DETAIL

Venice, IT Therme Vals, CH

Florence, IT

TYPE PROJECT THEMESCHOOL 4A SKETCHBOOK MEMORY

Castelvecchio, Verona, IT

TEAM INSPIRATIONINDIVIDUAL VERNACULAR, PROPORTION, DETAIL

Florence, IT

Olivetti Showroom, Venice, IT

TYPE PROJECT THEME

KASIAN ARCHITECTUREIDENTIFYING, UNDERSTANDING, AND ADDRESSING

NEEDS THROUGH DESIGN

At Kasian, I worked with a team for eight months on a large scale design build project. I joined the project at 60% and stayed through IFC. My main responsibilities were designing and detailing a stand alone guardhouse, and detailing the building’s expansion joint. During site visits, I was able to see what we had drafted just two weeks prior, already being built. As a student, this was a great opportunity to be exposed to all facets of architectural design within an eight month time frame. The project was done entirely in Revit 2012.

WORK INDUSTRIAL DESIGN & BUILD

I worked with a team for eight months on a large scale design build project. What we drafted in the office was being built on site at a steady pace. My main responsibilities were to design and detail a canopy and guardhouse, and detail the building’s expansion joint. During site visits, I was able to see what we had drafted in built form. As a student, this was a great opportunity to experience all facets of architectural design.

TEAM INSPIRATION

I worked with a team for eight months on a large scale design build project. What we drafted in the office was being built on site at a steady pace. My main responsibilities were to design and detail a canopy and guardhouse, and detail the building’s expansion joint. During site visits, I was able to see what we had drafted in built form. As a student, this was a great opportunity to experience all facets of architectural design.

I worked with a team for eight months on a large scale design build project. What we drafted in the office was being built on site at a steady pace. My main responsibilities were to design and detail a canopy and guardhouse, and detail the building’s expansion joint. During site visits, I was able to see what we had drafted in built form. As a student, this was a great opportunity to experience all facets of architectural design.

FIFTEEN WEST COAST ARCHITECTURE

TYPE PROJECT THEMEWORK INDUSTRIAL DESIGN & BUILD

TEAM INSPIRATIONFIFTEEN WEST COAST ARCHITECTURE

TYPE PROJECT THEME

reCELLGRAFTING COASTLINES

reCELL is an infrastructural land remediation proposal for the northern Canadian town of Tuktoyaktuk. The design calls for a surgical remediation of the coastline through the placement of large, structured “cells” lined with permeable or impermeable geotextiles. These structures would serve to calm the water current, promote fish and wildlife habitats, and provide the structure for community spaces such as a boardwalk and greenhouse.

SCHOOL 3B INFRASTRUCTURE EDUCATION

TEAM INSPIRATION

TUKTOYAKTUK

PAIRED MACKENZIE DELTA WATER COMPOSITION

TYPE PROJECT THEMESCHOOL 3B INFRASTRUCTURE EDUCATION

TEAM INSPIRATIONPAIRED MACKENZIE DELTA WATER COMPOSITION

TYPE PROJECT THEMESCHOOL 3B INFRASTRUCTURE EDUCATION

TEAM INSPIRATIONPAIRED MACKENZIE DELTA WATER COMPOSITION

TYPE PROJECT THEMESCHOOL 3B INFRASTRUCTURE EDUCATION

TEAM INSPIRATIONPAIRED MACKENZIE DELTA WATER COMPOSITION

TYPE PROJECT THEMESCHOOL 3B INFRASTRUCTURE EDUCATION

TEAM INSPIRATIONPAIRED MACKENZIE DELTA WATER COMPOSITION

TYPE PROJECT THEME

VOIDTRANSFORMING SPACE

VOID was an interactive architectural installation in the alcove space of the gladstone hotel for the 2012 Come Up To My Room design exhibition. The structure was divided into four sections, each with a unique structural design in order to avoid existing fixtures. Mounted to the structure were black panels coated in epoxy, giving depth to the solid surface. As guests entered the quieted camera obscura and looked through the picture windows, their image was recorded, projected, and recorded again, creating a perspective into infinity where the movements of the present retreat into the past.

SCHOOL 3B INSTALLATION TEMPORALITY

PROJECTION SCREEN

TYP 2x2 TRUSS STRUCTURE

EXISTING RAD

EXISTING OPENING

CAMERAS

PROJECTOR

BLACK EPOXY PANELS

TEAM INSPIRATIONTEN HUMAN MEMORY, REFLECTIONS

TYPE PROJECT THEME

Building the ChairScale 1:5

Design Process

CHAIR FOR ROBERT SERVICEEXPRESSING THE NATURAL PROPERTIES OF

MATERIAL

Through structural simplicity and design integrity, the chair expresses an organic state and a designed state. The joint functions through friction alone, allowing the seat to be a movable piece. The chair closes, at rest as a log, and opens, as a welcoming seat. The construction is minimal, a basswood log and cut only in five planes, and designed to give the appearance of a found object, a leaning log with a large axe cut.

SCHOOL 3B CHAIR DESIGN & BUILD

TEAM INSPIRATION

Building the Chair

Open

Movement of Chair

Building the Chair

Wooden wedges were used to hold the log in place while the cuts were made. A total of five cuts were made to make the chair.

Making the CutsBuilding the Chair

A method of nails and string was used to map the precise angles onto the cylindrical surfaces of the

log for chainsawing.

Mesuring

Building the Chair

Details

Building the Chair

Details

PAIRED NORTHERN CANADIAN VERNACULAR

TYPE PROJECT THEMEContinuous Elevation

1:200

URBAN ELEVATIONSINVESTIGATING GENTRIFICATION

To study the architecture around College and Spadina accurately, we drew and rendered the surrounding buildings. In order to understand the values that the demographic of the area hold, we focused on rendering the accretion and occupation of the existing buildings. Understanding community values like this, through architecture, helped in the design of new architecture that would have value.

SCHOOL 3A SITE RESEARCH GENTRIFICATION

TEAM INSPIRATIONContinuous Elevation

1:200

College Steet South Elevation

College Steet North Elevation

C O L LE G E

SPADINA

“Back of House” Continuous Elevation

FOUR ACCRETION OF EXISTING CONDITIONS

TYPE PROJECT THEME

MAD FUNFARMHelp this project get built.Donations can be made at:www.concretesafaris.org

Architecture For Humanity YOU CAN HELP A COMMUNITY GROW

In its few short years of operation, Concrete Safaris has made significant impacts on New York City’s youth and their urban environments. Its programs for children reflect founder and executive director Sharon, or “Mac,” Levine’s passion for public health and the outdoors.

Architecture for Humanity is a nonprofit organization compiled of professionals that use design and construction to promote sustainable development on a global scale. Architecture for Humanity has a network of more than 4,650 volunteers contributing their expertise.

MAD FUNSTAGEAdding a performing arts stage and rainwater collection system to the Mad Fun Farm is Concrete Safaris’ latest initia-tive, in collaboration with Architecture for Humanity. Over the stage, and reaching out towards the perimeter of the farm, shelters a rooflike structure. This roof is part of the rainwater collection system, with two low points on opposite corners. The watter is collected by two large 350gal. vats at these points, providing free, recycled rainwater for the vegeta-tion. The roof sutrcture, surface, and stage are all designed to be built by the Architecture for Humanity team, using all recycled materials.This project will help this community garden growto be more involved and inspiring.

AFH NEW YORKENRICHING THE LIVES OF OUR NEIGHBOURS

I joined the Mad Fun Farm design-build team to help design, draw, and model a rain water collection canopy for an after school gardening program located between two low-income development projects in north Manhattan. The model I built cost the team nothing, made entirely of found and donated materials, and was used to present the design to the client. A hyperbolic canopy with two water cisterns at either end would provide the garden with a subsistance system and a focal point for education on sustainable living.

VOLUNTEER WATER COLLECTION DESIGN & BUILD

TEAM INSPIRATION

MAD FUNFARMHelp this project get built.Donations can be made at:www.concretesafaris.org

Architecture For Humanity YOU CAN HELP A COMMUNITY GROW

In its few short years of operation, Concrete Safaris has made significant impacts on New York City’s youth and their urban environments. Its programs for children reflect founder and executive director Sharon, or “Mac,” Levine’s passion for public health and the outdoors.

Architecture for Humanity is a nonprofit organization compiled of professionals that use design and construction to promote sustainable development on a global scale. Architecture for Humanity has a network of more than 4,650 volunteers contributing their expertise.

MAD FUNSTAGEAdding a performing arts stage and rainwater collection system to the Mad Fun Farm is Concrete Safaris’ latest initia-tive, in collaboration with Architecture for Humanity. Over the stage, and reaching out towards the perimeter of the farm, shelters a rooflike structure. This roof is part of the rainwater collection system, with two low points on opposite corners. The watter is collected by two large 350gal. vats at these points, providing free, recycled rainwater for the vegeta-tion. The roof sutrcture, surface, and stage are all designed to be built by the Architecture for Humanity team, using all recycled materials.This project will help this community garden growto be more involved and inspiring.

EIGHT RECYCLABLE MATERIALS

TYPE PROJECT THEME

1F 1 R S T is a very interesting phenomena that has come to define our experiences. Things are more important, simply because they are first, even if that flavor of ice cream, merry go round ride in Montreal at 6: 35 A.M., teddy bear, word, sexual experience no matter how minute, is inconsequential to the company we share stories with. The simple notion that it was the first time you’d ever experienced it, makes it memorable. It becomes significant, regardless of whether we intended it to be or not.

Most of our firsts come all at once, in the first 3 or 4 years of life. These years are what I like to call the “new years”. These are the years before names. Everything is what it is, meaning the salt shaker from your house is different from the salt shaker at the restaurant. If today we saw those two things, and for arguments sake let’s say they were identical, they would hold no significance. When your in your new years however, the two would be completely different, not because you forgot what the one at home looked liked, but because this one is in this completely new place, and for all we know is completely different because of that. These years are like an endless chain of firsts. The merry go round ride at 6:37 is just as exciting, if not more exciting than the one at 6:35. Life is good, everything is significant and fascinating, the mind is constantly captivated. Ketchup becomes the greatest thing in the world, who cares about the fries. Then you get older, and things stop becoming new. As this happens you stop thinking about them, and the most significant of all experiences smacks you in the face, boredom. When you’re bored, nothing is new. Even the news isn’t new.

As firsts die out, pure experiences come from escape, and we find comfort in rules. Let’s say you are born 21 the doctor sits you down in an interview. What do you do first? Ask where the hell you are, what’s going on, who is this person’s and why is the air so wintry? If you your raised up to 21, you would do the following: Hello *handshake* Nice to meet you, I’m Me. How are you today? Thanks for meeting with me. It’s a rule, why would you do anything different, who does something different? Rules are good, sometimes. It seems like as soon as everyone agrees on a rules, people immediately try ways of differing themselves from a follower of rules, to a innovator of rules, a rule innovator, who within their confines can still be unique and out there. Someone who says “hey, how’s life treating you” instead of “hello, how are you doing.” A slap on the back man instead of a handshake man. Personally I like the hair scruff but they have to be sitting for that. In this way, rules become vehicle for firsts. If everyone gave a handshakes, high fives would suddenly be special, new, and intriguing. If someone asks “How are you?” you respond “good.” If their a friend this gains new layers and you can say “bad” because they’ll care. Strangers won’t care, and will think you’re depressing for responding “bad.” Or you could not care if the other person understands you and say “I feel like the rising sun after the cold of the night.”

What is really significant about first isn’t the superficial fact that it happened, its the feeling that you get and have no categorical framework for. Firsts need to be taken out of the photo album. We should decide for ourselves what “first” means. Maybe it’s not the first arbitrary kiss, but the first time you actually gave a damn or the first time her lips seemed to suck every thought out of your mind, and when it’s over they all rush back at once.

PERSONAL WRITING SOCIAL/CULTURAL

WRITINGCLEARING THE MIND

TEAM INSPIRATION

The truth is a period. A cosmic

sort of finish line like all the planets racing towards the red ribbon of the milky way.

It ends things abruptly. Need to end an argument? Hit them with some truth. It's beautiful really, how undeniable truth

is, the knowledge it promises, and not temporal knowledge like how the exchange of money works. Truth is as applicable to life as eating and

breathing. And how we wish we knew it, how we yearn for others to see it. If only they knew the truth they would stop doing what they're doing, they would stop wasting all that time. The strange thing about truth though, is that the only creatures

on this planet who need it are humans. There is no truth in the "wild," there's no need for it, no use. What would animals do with truth? They would say to themselves, "Oh, I guess I was right to not live in the north. It is true that I wouldn't stand man's chance in Eden of surviving." This is simply because animals aren't arguing, they're not fighting anything. It's a circle, plain and simple exchange of life. But humans have been lost in the same argument for 12,000 years, or since Cain and Abel. We are still fighting the same fight, the 12,000 year argument between man and mother, but if only we knew the truth, the ever elusive truth.

Why is man the first to say "I am?" What were we meant to do with the idea of self? It seems that the answer can only come with time, and when it does it will be to late because it will be the end of what we've been trying to do. It's as if we saw self-consciousness as the key

to start the world, as if the animals weren't doing anything; they were just surviving. Killing and being killed, living to survive, so unsure about death and unshaken by it. They just go around in their circle of life without direction. We had to start the

world and drive it forward because no one else could. That was how we started this argument, but how will we end it? We believe we're giving wings to

that which could only walk. That the world, and the universe was waiting for us. The world was the vehicle that only need a key

to start it, and it's only recently that we've realized that after a 12,000 year ride, the world is quite

literally running out of gas.

T R U T H I S A P E R I O D .

INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIONS ON EMOTION

KUNAALMOHAN

kunaalmohan@gmail.com