charlie gao's design portfolio

Charlie Gao University of Waterloo School of ArchitectureE:charliegao@msn.com T:647628 0178 A:1561 Main Street West Hamilton, ON

CONTACT INFO

Education:Currently in 2nd year Bachelor of Architectural Studies at University of Waterloo School of Architecture

Finished 1st year Bachelor of Architectural Studies at University of Waterloo School of Architecture (2011)

Graduate from The Woodlands School (2010)

Awards:Highest honours for academic excellence in the Music Department at The Woodlands School (2010)

Five years of Honours at The Woodlands School (2005-2010)

Third Place, boy's singles Tennis at ROPSSA (2010)

Volunteer and Work Experience:Worked at Bubbletease (family tea shop and restaurant) between July and September 2010

Volunteered as Tennis Team manager between 2007-2010 of The Woodlands High School

Volunteered as Badminton Team manager between 2009-2010 of The Woodlands High School

CURRICULUM VITAE

Skills:Has been using autocad since grade 9 in high school (5 years in total)Has been using 3ds Max since grade 10 in high school (4 years in total)Can draft and model by hand (although if possible prefers not to, it is very time consuming after all)Participated in weekly private art lessons from 2004-2010Can use Softimage XSI and Rhino 4.0 with relative proficiencyUnderstands and can import/export/work on files through a multitude of mediums both 3D and 2D Has basic proficiency with Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe In designHas basic proficiency with Revit Architecture (started using in september)Can model using laser cutters, and has basic knowledge on the set-up for CNC routers and 3D printers

Traits:Easy going, efficient, serious during group meetings but humourous otherwise. Prefers to work in groups for ideas, but prefers to CAD and model alone/uninterrupted. Honest and humble, unless I have something I think is rather incredible. Also, I'm eager to learn as much as I can.

Hobbies:Tennis, experimental cooking as well as general cooking, 3D modelling. Currently into 3D character de-signs (video games, short films, etc), laser cutting modelling, and 3D printing modelling. I also like to play the saxophone, enjoys Jazz nights, and other music related events.

Canadian Jazz Archive

DESIGN

Composer's Residence

Architectonices-Twist

HoneyComb Mirror-SSEF

TABLE OF CONTENTS

OTHER

WaterCave-Oasis

Sens Cathedral Model

River Hotel-Ongoing

Food and Photography

Design

The final project for our 1B studio, this building is meant to house important documents and artifacts of Canadian Jazz music.The major theme here is the hexagonal pattern, with various sized windows, this allows a dancing pattern of light to perforate the space, blending and changing but based on a basic pattern, much like jazz improvisation. It also houses a per-formance space on the top floor that is open to all the floors below it so music, when performed, fills the archive.

March 2010Autocad, Rhino 4.0 Canadian Jazz Archive

This project was done completely digitally; all the drawings were done in autocad and the 3D modelling through Rhino 4.0. The physical model itself was completely laser cut, partly because it would have been incredibly difficult to cut all those hexagons. The site model was done by the class, and was also done through autocad and laser cutting, I was involved on another seperate site model (I chose to use another site for my actual project).

March 2010Autocad, Rhino 4.0 Canadian Jazz Archive

Our final project for 1A, this was done completely manually. All the drawings were by hand as well as the model. This is meant to be a small single person residence for a composer during one season's time. The main theme of this project was "the piano," the house is shaped and modualized based on a piano and its strings, and is meant to be a completely wooden struc-ture.

December 2010Hand Drawn, Hand Crafted Composer's residence

December 2010Hand Drawn, Hand Crafted Composer's residence

This is a reconstruction of our architectonics project for 1A studio (the original was destroyed in an unfortunate accident).This was originally completely done by hand. The main theme here is the rotation of a square and the twist/change in height that it creates. The solid cieling provides a space that could be accessed from the ground, and the inner space varies in light and height, creating both dark calm spaces and bright lively spaces.

Architectonics-TwistOctober 2010

Hand, 3ds Max

This project was done for the SSEF architecture competition of 2011 "Biomimicry." The structure mimiced here is the honey-comb and its incredible efficiency. Both the facade and interior structure are of a honeycomb shape to allow for lightweight mounting onto the side of a cliff. The curvature of the structure also follows the curvature of the cliff, much like a real honeycomb would.

April 2011Autocad, Rhino 4.0 HoneyComb Mirror

The top right is the entrance into the structure, an elevator shaft leads into the structure itself. This structure is meant to be a changeroom/bath/relaxation and mini-bar where beach-goers can rest and prepare to leave/join the beach.

April 2011Autocad, Rhino 4.0 HoneyComb Mirror

Other

Office RenderOctober 2010Rhino 4.0

The WaterCave-OasisApril 2011Autocad, 3ds Max

Done for our case study in Iconography, and costing hundreds of dollars (materials + laser cutting time), we constructed a 1:100 scaled model of The Sens Cathedral (the model itself is around 1 meter long and 80 cm tall at the peak of the tower).I was in charge of the north and south gates (middle of the picture). The model was cut using a laser cutter and assembled by hand.

Sens Cathedral ModelOctober 2011Autocad

Our current final project for 2A studio. This is meant to be a hotel that would be situated in our own Downtown Cambridge. My main theme is the twisting and lifelike nature of rivers (Cambridge is one of the many towns/cities off the Grand River). This is the idea as it has developed until now, but will most like end up of consisting only of these twisting structures. To help me design/work out a solution for this idea, I have employed Revit Architecture.

River HotelApril 2011Autocad, Revit

As part of my work in the family restaurant, other than cooking, I was also in charge of making the new menu. So to end my portfolio here are some pictures of the food I made/photographed.

Food and PhotographyAugust 2010Knife and Stove

Charlie Gao University of Waterloo School of ArchitectureE:charliegao@msn.com T:647628 0178 A:1561 Main Street West Hamilton, ON

THANK YOU