ZAIN KARSAN

Selected Work 2009-2010

ZAIN KARSAN
Candidate for Bachelor of Architectural Studies Honors Co-op Program Faculty of Engineering, Waterloo 15 Snow Leopard Crt Brampton, ON L6R 1J4 Canada Mobile: +1 647 261 8675 Home: +1 905 458 8675 Email: zainkarsan7@gmail.com

CONTENTS
RESUME POETS RESIDENCE BITS AND PIECES HAITI HOUSING DEVELOPMENT LAND ART GENERATOR COMPETITION JCI ARCHITECTS
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RESUME
EDUCATION
Candidate for University of Waterloo, Faculty of Engineering, Bachelor of Architectural Studies Honors, Co-op Program Cambridge, Ontario, Canada Turner Fenton Secondary School, International Baccalaureate Program Honors, Brampton, Ontario, Canada September 2009 - Current

VOLUNTEERING AND LEADERSHIP

Private Tutoring -Assistant Teacher, grades 5-11 Brampton Folk Club -Setup and Teardown Crew Member September 2005 - June 2009 Ismaili Volunteer Corps -Youth Counsellor February - June 2009

February 2009

September 2007 - August 2008

WORK EXPERIENCE
JCI Architects (Architecture Intern) Peterborough Housing Glengarry House Prince Charles House -Design Development -Digital Modelling -Schematic Design -Design Research -Presentation Drawings Blinds International (Web Designer) Web Site Redesign July - August 2010

AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Featured in LAGI Competition Publication and at the DIFC Public Exhibit in Dubai for Infinity Ayn Rand Essay Competition -Semi Finalist Duke of Edinburgh Young Adult Challenge -Gold Award University of Waterloo Entrance Scholarship July - November 2007 I-Star Award for Academic Excellence June 2010

November 2009

Summer 2009

Fall 2009 Fall 2007

TECHNICAL SKILLS
-Revit Architecture 2011, Autocad 2011, Rhinoceros 5, T-Splines, Sketchup, V-ray -Adobe Photoshop CS5, Adobe Illustrator CS5, Adobe InDesign CS5 -Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 -Microsoft Office -iWorks -Windows XP, Vista -Mac OS X

TRADITIONAL SKILLS
-Freehand sketching -Hand Drafting -Model Making -Visual and Oral Presentation

POETS RESIDENCE
The Lake Isle of Innisfree WB Yeats
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee, And live alone in the bee-loud glade. And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings; There midnights all a-glimmer, and noon a purple glow, And evening full of the linnets wings. I will arise and go now, for always night and day I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore; While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray, I hear it in the deep hearts core.

The design focuses primarily on the nature of separation that exists between the poet and his surroundings. This separation is achieved in the design through the position of the house in relation to its surroundings and the organization of the plan. The forest serves to separate the residence from surrounding houses. The plan confines communal spaces to views looking toward the forest, safegaurding a magnificent view of the lake for the poet. The house extends out over lake, resting on piles.

PLAN

Top Left: The path toward the house Bottom Left: Interior rendering Above: The threshold connecting communal and private space Next Page: Panoramic View from the study

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BITS AND PIECES

MODULAR BOAT HOUSE
The premise of the project was to design a prefabricated dwelling in a dynamic site. The site was in a flood plain, thus a floating dwelling was a necessity. The house is constructed from a series of structurally insulated panels attached to a hull typically used for catamarans. The furniture was also under consideration. The idea of transcience and movement inspired a moving floor plan. The furniture and interior partitions are locked into a track at the ceiling. Thus every component of a typical floor plan, except plumbing fixtures and exterior walls, can move and swivel about the house. The floor plan would eventually reflect the day to day lifestyle of the inhabitants.

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SOFA UNITS

QUEEN SIZED BED UNIT

SHELVING UNIT

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KITCHEN UNIT

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HAITI HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

The premise for this project was to develop sustainable housing solutions for Haiti after the earthquake. The site was the side of a hill that was a slum area. The design allows for a level of interaction between inhabitants on two levels of the hill. The construction begins with emergency relief in the form of a series of shipping containers. The containers are constructed from four thickened container walls that slide out of a frame, and fold into preliminary shelters. Additionally the container segments act as a retaining wall. As soon as a piece of land is excavated, the house can be placed, unfolded and made inhabitable. The next phase includes the growth and harvest of bamboo that is used in the construction of the second floor. The rooftops become cash crop garden space. The houses that comprise the community can shelter approximately 200 displaced people.

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FOLDED CONTAINER WALL

UNFOLDING CONTAINER WALLS

EXPLODED SHIPPING CONTAINER

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UNFOLDED CONTAINER WALLS

UNFOLDED CONTAINER WALL WITH BAMBOO ROOF

SECOND STOREY CONSTRUCTED FROM BAMBOO

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INFINITY
LAND ART GENERATOR COMPETITION 2010
Infinity relies on the movement of water through a system of turbine rotors to generate electricity. The form is created from an array of curved hollow structural steel members in the shape of an ellipse, inscribed in which is the frame for the turbine rotors. The steel members are arrayed along a path that travels along the site in three dimensions. Half the structure is sunk into a concrete foundation deep in the ground. The installation is primarily clad in glass and a series of fresnel lenses that focus light in specific places within the structure. The intent of Infinity is to question ideas about perception, the prescence of light and its reflection off various surfaces that comprise the installation, water, steel members, is therefore integral to the aesthetic. The idea of transparency is another important feature of the project. Infinity attempts to challenge this concept through its shear size and expansive footprint. The site is almost completely inhabited by the structure, yet the motif of transparency remains through the installations materiality. In another sense, the design attempts to be an alien object for in some way it is disconnected from its surroundings by its form. The installation essentially recreates its environment through its highly reflective skin, yet the world within the chamber created by the cladding is entirely different.

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CONCRETE FOUNDATION AXONOMETRIC

STEEL SUPPORT AXONOMETRIC

TURBINE ROTOR AXONOMETRIC

GLASS CLAD AXONOMETRIC

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21 PRINCE CHARLES
JCI ARCHITECTS
JCI Architects is an architecture firm with 3 partners, Jaegap Chung, Richard Shaw, and Sue Jean Chung. While at JCI Architects, my task was to work on three projects: Prince Charles House, Glengarry House, and Peterborough Housing and Retail Complex. The Prince Charles house was a modern house with classical korean proportions. The massing of the house attempts to create a floating volume above the lower level. The plan revolves around a central atrium which forms the circulation from level to level. When I began work on the house, the projects plans had been established and needed to be expressed in a digital model. My task was, with one of the partners, to construct the model, as well as assign to the massing the materiality. Once the preliminary design and model had been established, the drawings were shown to the client who made revisions. My task then became to help the partner redesign the house as per the clients new requests and prepare the new presentation drawings.

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Top: Front Elevation Bottom: Back Elevation

Above: Basement Plan Center: Ground Plan Right: Second floor Plan

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ZAIN KARSAN
Candidate for Bachelor of Architectural Studies Honors Co-op Program Faculty of Engineering, Waterloo 15 Snow Leopard Crt Brampton, ON L6R 1J4 Canada Mobile: +1 647 261 8675 Home: +1 905 458 8675 Email: zainkarsan7@gmail.com

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