Architecture Portfolio E. Verstraeten

ELISABETH VERSTRAETENarchitecture portfolio

[email protected]+32 496 18 00 93

CURRICULUM VITAEElisabeth Verstraeten

Auguste Rodinlaan 14, 1050 Elsene , [email protected]

+32 496 18 00 93

EDUCATION

2015 KULeuven Leuven, Belgium 2nd year Master in Civil Engineering: Architecture - Cum Laude Master thesis: From care vision to architecture: Dementiafriendliness in residential care facility Sint-Bernardus

2014 NTNU Trondheim, Norway 1st year Master in Civil Engineering: Architecture 2011 KULeuven Leuven, Belgium Bachelor in Civil Engineering: Architecture

EXPERIENCE

Summer 2015 Porto Academy 2015 FAUP, Porto - Architecture summerschool - Studio of Adrien Verschuere, Baukunst

Fall 2013 Urban Design Project Lima, Peru - Redevelopment of a factory site into a multifunctional city quarter - Research on site - Collaboration with local students and architects

Summer 2012/13/14 Sailing Teacher at Bloso, Spaarbekken Nieuwpoort, Belgium - Teaching children from level 0 to higher levels - Responsibility - Commitment needed to become a teacher

Summer 2012 Guide on horseback Iceland - Responsibility - Often need for quick thinking and action - Control and handling of stressful situations

LANGUAGES & IT SKILLS

Revit: Basic Sketch up: Proficient Autocad: ProficientPhotoshop: Proficient Illustrator: Basic InDesign: Advanced

Dutch: Native speaker French: Advanced English: ProficientGerman: Basic

INTERESTS & EXTRA-CURRICULAR

- Lots of sports since early age (swimming, tennis, running, hockey)- Interested in architecture, innovation and economics- Travelling

PROJECT 1: THE CUBE

CONCEPT

For this project we had no imposed program nor function and no restrictions except for the boundary volume. This level of freedom posed a challenge which we translated into a design that challenges its surroundings, its visitors and physics.

The layers, created by incised massive plates put behind each other, result in interesting spaces in which the tectonics of the design are sensible everywhere. The building does not give up its secrets easily, urging its visitors on to explore what could be behind the next corner.

The most important outdoor spaces that have been formed by cutting out the plates are the ‘cave’ underneath the building and the rooftop terrace. There is one major staircase leading there and providing entrance to the spaces inside, where the light plays between the cracks and holes, giving the design an extra dimension.

As there is no program, there is no location. However this cube will challenge its surroundings, be it a city or a desert, and give cultural and visual value to its environment.

Volumetric exercise: design a 50x50x50m cube2nd year of bachelor

Group project with Emmanuel Van Oost, Amelie Jageneau & Arno Maes

PROJECT 2: ASRO REVISITED

CONCEPT

I saw the task to design a new campus for my own faculty as a chance to critically evaluate the concept of ‘a campus’. I wanted to restrain from the narrow, institutional corridors and create a dynamic and open campus were students would like to stay. Only the spaces such as aulas, offices, etc. for which it is necessary to be a closed unit in order to function would be so.

The design following from this is a superposition of square blocks containing those functions connected by fluent layers in between. This whole composition is then protected from the elements by a glass facade. The layers have multiple functions, they are not only the walkways in between the blocks but also provide spaces for relaxing, for studying and for open design ateliers. Temporary constructions or exhibitions can be set up there by the students or teachers, etc.

New department for the architecture faculty in Leuven2nd year of bachelor

Studio led by Francis Catteeuw, Compagnie-O

PROJECT 3: CARA DE LIMA

CONCEPT

The urban design studio in Lima consisted of on location research and the development of a master plan for an industrial site that was to be redeveloped into a mixed use neighbourhood. Analysis of Lima shows that the city has a unique structure. The buildings are usually low although Lima contains over 8 million inhabitants, causing the city to be very widespread and often unsafe and disorientating. As a result people tend to lock themselves into communities, the so called barriadas. To counter this evolution the redevelopment should become a point of identity for Lima and the surrounding neighbourhoods to open up the city and attract different people. This is realised by connecting the site to Lima on several levels. A technology and science centre connect to the city on industrial level, a cultural and educational centre connect to the surrounding neighbourhoods and several minor centres such as leisure, commerce and resisdences are created in between.

The result is a mixed use master plan that blends in with the surrounding neighbourhood and that opens up to the rest of the city, inviting people in on different levels and creating a new subcentre in Lima.

Urban design project in Lima, Peru1st year of master

Studio led by Kerstin Höger and Hünerwadel Partnership/Arquitectos

Partial group project with Lene Westeng and Taru Lindberg

PROJECT 4: FUTURE (POST)EXCAVATION

CONCEPT

This 4-week project in the area of Rumst demanded for intuitive and quick design. We were given a 2 km2 zone without fixed program or location and a mission to reconnect the urban layers along the Rupel. The project we developed is a long term project, to be seen as a critique on the handling of the clay excavations nowadays.

Today the future clay pits are to be repurposed as nature reserves. We want to keep that ecological aspect but at the same time show that there can be done much more than that. Our project shows that if Wienerberger performs the excavations according to a pre-designed plan more value can be created by the development of an ecological site afterwards.

As the scale of this project does not allow it to be executed at once we propose a staging of the different phases of construction. During the whole process we will keep some ‘islands’ and the existing road infrastructure as backbones for the excavation, creating three large zones. The fertile soil on the site will be scraped and stacked next to the excavation during the process, so it can be reused afterwards for the forest and the agriculture.

As the first pit grows larger we start repurposing the already dug out area, be it sand, forest or agriculture. This way the pit crawls through the landscape, so to speak. When it will have passed the first island, building construction can already begin there, ditto for the second island. This methodology shows an innovative future (post) excavation, opening various posibilities for the use of the land afterwards.

The design focus here is on the proces rather than on the result. Because of that individual images hardly explain the concept. On the next page the A1 poster is shown on A4 to give an idea, I’ll be more than happy to explain the project more thoroughly myself.

“Uit de Klei: strategische ontwikkeling in de Rupelstreek”

Urban design project at the claypits in Rumst, Belgium2nd year of master

Studio led by Ward Verbakel and Wim Wambecq

Group project with Simona Nikova