Elizabeth Irene Designs

E L I Z A B E T H I R E N E

As a recent graduate with a Bachelors of Architecture from NJIT, my interests in Architec-ture have been strongly focused in design as it relates to material innovations and construction methods, context, social aspects and inspired environments based in how we live. Throughout my work samples, there can be seen a strong sense of traditions with the clarity of structural solutions, implied tectonics, and importance of light and transpar-ency, yet there is no restriction to the banal and superficial use of ‘light’ materials. The choice of materials stems not so much from an intention to guide the design of the forms, but to conform to the existing surroundings from a desire to compare similar materials, yet show the technical advances that have made possible new uses. My attempts have been to attain a sense of spatial immateriality as a consequence of the ‘particulate nature’ of the light, putting the attention focuses on the connection spaces; on the segments between inside and outside, and one room to the next.

By choosing materials which intimately relate itself to the preexisting natural or manmade environments, such as brick in old NYC, an unexpected challenge on materials emerges into providing the same sense of lightness and softness as glass or wood. Exterior brick work can be made light and airy by cutting each brick into thin slices and bracing each slice as a pivoting panel. In this way, the heavy quality of brick is diluted and provides the eye with an illusion of lightness, allowing light and air directly into the space within. With this choice of material and construction, a new kind of transparency emerges; one that not only frames the local environment the way a glass curtain wall would, but also deeply relates itself to the context. The material begins to display a different character from the preexisting buildings of solid, heavy, traditional masonry construction. Instead the work surprises the eye by slimming down and dissolving the walls in an effort to express a certain “lightness” and immateriality, suggesting an illusion of ambiguity and weakness not common to the solidity of brick construction.

Through my work experience and time spent learning abroad in Rome, my design skills and capacities have truly begun to reach a more mature and sophisticated conceptual approach toward design and presentation. Currently I am seeking a full time position and am eager to join an energetic firm with an appetite for material innovation so that I may acquire comprehensive experience in all the various specialized areas of practice and refine my professional judgment as an Architect.

Elizabeth Irene Benson

Pe r s o n a l S t a t e m e n t + R e s u m e ’HELLO+ WELCOME

ElizabethIreneDESIGNS.com

732.275.5049

[email protected]

Young Eager Willing and would love the chance to buy you coffee and have a chat

ACTIVITIES

LANGUAGES

PADI Scuba Certified - Dive Master Plainfield Curling Club, NJ Furniture Design, Photography, Travel + Adventure

EXPERIENCE5.11 - Sea Dance Craftsman Inc., Leonardo, NJ Assistant Designer + Contractor Residential custom restorations, expansion, renovation + landscaping Consept Design + Construction Drawing preperation Physical Laybor in the shop and on location 2.09 - 2.13 NJ Driftwood Players, Cranford, NJ Assistant Designer Graphic design in posters, fliers + web, prop, set + lighting design9.02 - 8.09 Dosil’s Scuba Skate and Surf Shop, Middletown, NJ Trainer + Sales Associate Swim trainer of all levels, display + floor designer, manager + cashier

AWARDS + HONORS5.11 NJIT Capstone Student Showcase “Dream Without Limit” First Place all-round4.09 NJIT Masonry Design/Build Competition First Place all-round design/build/presentation First Place mockup design First Place presenttionFall.07-Spring.12 NIJT Dean’s List

SPECIALIZATION

B E N S O N

Rhinoceros 3DAutoCAD ArchitectureArchiCAD3ds MaxRevitEcotectCNC Milling + Laser Cutting

Adobe PhotoshopAdobe IllustratorAdobe In DesignAdobe DreamweaverMicrosoft WordMicrosoft PowerPoint

Physical ModelingFreehand sketch + drawing+ paintingDigital ModelingDigital FabricationDigital RenderingGraphic Design

Architecture DesignUrban Planning + DevelopmentFurniture DesignPhotography

Norwegian - basic skills of reading, writing + verbal com-munication

SKILLS

OBJECTIVE

E L I Z A B E T H

Obtain a full-time position with an energetic architecture firm an appetite for innovation so that I may acquire comprehensive experience in the various specialized areas of practice and refine my professional judgment and career goals as an Architect.

EDUCATION8.07 - 5.12 New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ Bachlelor of Architecture 2012with studies in NJIT Physics Department NJIT Mechanical Engineering Department NJIT Mathmatics Department

Available Upon RequestREFERENCES

Rhino + Photoshop

E L I Z A B E T H I R E N E B e n s o nE L I Z A B E T H I R E N E B e n s o n

LOCA

TIO

NPR

OJE

CT

Villa

ge in

the

Sky

- Hou

sing

G

reni

sh V

illag

e, N

ew Y

ork

City

Fall ‘11

The gestures incorporated in the building play with the area, famous for its 19th century low-rise brick townhouses with tree lined avenues which hosts local pedestrian traffic and semi-private parks on every corner. The idea is to bring the essence of Greenwish Village up into and through the building in an effort to push upon its inherent sense of place. By taking the idea of small semi-private park, and extending it through the core of the building, the apartment corridors become ‘pedestrian streets’. Each apartment is a duplex which incorporates views down into the corri-dors and out towards the streets and Hudson River to provide the apartment with a direct connectivity to the neighborhood and its location within NYC. The brick facade is used as ‘light’ shading device rather than the heavy cumbersome quality it typically bares as a baring wall. This lends itself to connecting back to the context of the community while maintaining a sense of lightness and control over the space within.

Vi l l a g e i n t h e S k y

Site

Shoping and Dinning

Housing

Vehicular TrafficPedestrian TrafficRecreational Path

Gallery

Shoping

Fitness Center

Vehicular

Pedestrian

Recreation

Hud

son

Riv

er

Hud

son

Riv

er

South Elevation

Roof Level

Second Level

10987

6

5

E L I Z A B E T H I R E N E B e n s o n

West Elevation

0 5’ 15’ 25’ 50’

Housing Lower Levels

Housing Entry Levels


Rhino + Photoshop



A BSmall Loft Section ASmall Loft Entry Level

Up

Small Loft Section B

Up

Small Loft Lower Level

A B

Studio Entry LevelA

Studio Section A

0 5’ 10’ 25’

A

Typi

cal S

mal

l Lof

t + S

tudi

o Sp

ace


Rhino + Photoshop

A

A

A

Large Loft Entry Level

Up

Up

Large Loft Section B

Large Loft Section A

05’

10’

25’

B

B



Typi

cal L

arge

Lof

t Spa

ce

air-vapor barrier

4” rigid insulation

1 1/2” metal decking

Iso board

ballast

sheet metel copingcontinuous metal cleat

cant strip

self adhearing rubberized aspalt underlayment as protection against water penetrationpreservative-treated wood nailer

roof membranesteel beam w12 x 8

vapor retarder

3” concrete2” metal deckinggympsum board

2” wood stepsmetal

2” metal handrail

1” glass rail

piston

guiding rail

swtich/nobcontrols shading device

support column

beam

girter

filter fabric

1 1/2” wood flooring

subfloor

flexible vapor retarder serves as insulation retainer

swtich controls shading device

electrical chord

1/2 slice of a norman brick (12” x 4” x 1 1/4”)

countersunk screw

SUS flat bar


Rhino + Photoshop


Archi CAD + Photoshop

LOCA

TIO

NPR

OJE

CT

Art

ist I

n Re

side

nce

Stor

m K

ing,

NY

Fall ‘08

Wes

t Ele

vatio

nN

orth

Ele

vatio

nEa

st E

leva

tion



work shop

model space

suppliesstudio / modeling space

living / studio space

greeting room

bedroom

work shop

up

work shop

model space

suppliesstudio / modelingggg spacecece

ppppppppppppppaceaceacacaccccacceaceliving ///

greeting room

b db dbedroom

/ stus dioioioiiooioiiooiiioi spspspspsppsppsppppp

work shop

up

0’ 3’ 9’ 15’



work shop

model space

suppliesstudio

living space greeting room

bedroom

up

0’ 3’ 9’ 15’


Rhino + Photoshop

LOCA

TIO

NPR

OJE

CT

Tech

nolo

gy In

form

atio

n Ce

nter

Map

uto,

Moz

ambi

que,

Afr

ica

SPRING ‘12

Site

Con

ditio

ns

20m VISIBILITY

10m VISIBILITY

50m VISIBILITY

IMPROVISED STALLS

BUILT STALLS

POND

FLOWER MARKET

PERGOLA

ENTERANCES

FOOD KIOSKS

OPEN AIR STALLS

SERVICE ENTRANCE

MOST

LEAST

MANY

MINIMAL

FOLIAGE DENSITYVISIBLITY


Use

r Clu

ster

s +

Mov

emen

t

Site

Pla

nCi

rcul

atio

n

Conc

ept o

f Con

nect

ivity

Sun

Prot

ectio

n +

Vent

ilatio

n

Stru

ctur

al L

ayou

t

Org

aniz

atio

n



Rhino + Photoshop


1st Place - all round design, masonry mockup, and presentation

1st Place - best mockup design

1st Place - best presentation

Each spring semester, NJIT second year architecture students are assigned a studio project to design a masonry building with a specific program. In 2009, nine competing studios were asked for a refined design of a public library in Hoboken, NJ and a fragment projected as a full-scale built mockup. The objective was to learn to work with skilled masons, develop construction details, select and estimate materials, and plan the actual construction of the mock-up. Upon completion, verbal and graphic presentations was held for the student body, critics, and 6 noteworthy judges. Of the five possible awards won, our studio, Team Black, one the following:

LOCA

TIO

NPR

OJE

CT

Des

ign

+ Bu

ild M

ason

ry C

ompe

titio

nPu

blic

Lib

rary

for H

obok

en, N

J

Spring ‘09

Te a m B L A C K

Gar

deni

ng S

pace

Enrt

y +

Gal

lery


Each masonry wall is tailored to decided specifications of each use type as it relates to both needed the visual and lighting conditions

Mas

onry

Str

ateg

y

Recreation Circulation Reading Media Shelving

Illustrator + Photoshop

The building is designed to accompany the Hoboken Light Rail Station which lies at the bottom of a particularly steep slope. As such, the various spaces, circulation and structural walls throughout the building are meant to parallel the rail and side streets both visually and physically. This provides views out to the natural environments as well as portraying an overall connectivity to the context.

Moc

kup

Circ

ulat

ion

Urb

an B

uild

ing

Circ

ulat

ion


AutoCad + 3dMax +V-rayPhotoshop

Team Blacks Mockup was situated as the first of nine spaces leading up to the NJSOA building at NJIT. The mockup was designed to consider how the space was utilized by the students and how it could be made better while maintaining an identity to the overall project. With this in mind, three space types were formed: a relaxed hangout sitting space along the main circula-tion path, a pass through route, and a small gardening space to the far side.


Circ

ulat

ion

+ Re

crea

tion

Exte

rior G

arde

n Sp

ace

Sit +

Rea

d Se

gmen

t


The presentation was illustrated with the help of "Ol' blue eyes", adding the careful addition color and style to portray cohesiveness with the project to the surrounding city of Hoboken. The presentation was concluded with a short walk through video aided with song "Strangers in the Night"

Te a m B L A C K M o c k u p


Over the course of a single week-end in April 2009, our team worked with an army of masonry journey-men to build the structure which lined the walkway leading up to the NJIT Weston Building of Archi-tecture and Design.

Te a m B L A C K B u i l d


Documents

Elizabeth Irene Designs