design portfolio

Devki Wright

Iron-Working Studio

House America

Con/Temporary Temple

NC Sustainable Design Competition

Flip-A-Strip

design + build

study abroad studio

contemporary landscape

sustainability + affordability

comprehensive studio

introduction

resume

As a designer, my personal approach to architecture strives to demon-strate a clear articulation of a subtle and sensitivly integrated physical form rather than the creation of an isolated object. Both my professional and personal interest lie in the utilization of architecture as a medium with which to address the existing and future social and environmental issues within our contemporary landscape.

The following collection includes samples of work completed during both my undergraduate architectural education at NC State Unviversity and my graduate education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The projects were selected with the purpose of demonstrating an accumulation of a diverse set of experiences including traditional studio design projects as well as projects completed through design/build, study abroad, and competition entries.

con/temporary temple

levine museum of the new south[Charlotte, North Carolina]

de

sign

+ b

uild

The Con/Temporary Temple was designed and built by a team of 8 architecture students from the UNCC College of Arts + Architecture. The design was inspired by the architectural and cultural aesthetic of traditional African American worship services in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Designed to be nomadic, the temple was then reconstructed by the designers as a performance art piece at an event at a local museum.

With the flexibility of a steel pipe structure, the temple was then clad with white ripstop fabric and perforated wooden panels designed to engage the viewer in an architecture of both meditation and mediation.

de

sign

+ b

uild

iron-working studio

The master plan for the site and the building for the iron-working studio spaces was designed for the American College of the Building Arts. The site, a historic plantation in Charleston, is designed to focus on the preservation of the exiting structures and natural landscape. The design concept focuses on the creation of dynamic inside/outside spaces for the students to practice their craft-making.

Located on the southeastern-most portion of the site, the iron-working studio is organized into three zones. Two zones, the classrooms and studio spaces relate through a more organic third zone containing common areas with circulation, secondary and support spaces. c

om

pre

he

nsiv

e s

tud

io

[ Charleston, South Carolina ]

Cross Section

Longitudinal Section

East Elevation

South Elevation co

mp

reh

en

sive

stu

dio

house america

ExhibitionSpace

Auditorium

CommercialSpace

Reception

House America called for the design of exhibition spaces located in Prague

with the purpose of housing American artifacts. With the concept goal to por-

tray the American dream, the urban corner provided an ideal site from which

expansion could be illustrated in physical form. The design exemplifies the

movement of horizontal energy throughout the building as corners and angles

of each floor level interact with the outer skin in multiple ways. Also, by using

height relationships and pulling lines from the existing adjacent structures, the

design continues and forms a relationship to the overall street facade.

stu

dy

ab

roa

d s

tud

io[ Praha, Czech Republic ]

flip-a-strip

Located off of Tryon Street North Point Plaza Shopping Center sits in a relatively poor area of Charlotte, North Carolina. 17.8% of the surround-ing homes are categorized as single mother households. Contrary to the common strip center layout, this building extends perpendicular to Tryon Street rather than parallel. Thus, the majority of the tenants are located away from the traffic of the main road, utilizing an advantage of a private and more protected shopping experience; at the same time however, the center is disadvantaged in terms of tenant visibility to the street.

The re-design of North Point Plaza addresses the following goals: - establish interactive way-finding device to the center - increasing visibility of tenants to Tryon Street - transform the parking lot into a plaza - foster a sense of security

[ Charlotte, North Carolina ] lan

dsc

ap

ec

on

tem

po

rary

NC sustainable design competition

Prepared for the NC Sustainable Design Competition, this project was com-pleted by a team of three students. The site for this design was situated in a modest neighborhood with small, single-story houses. We utilized influences from the local vernacular such as the public front porch, sloped roofs, and a strong focus on the facade. However, given the program and contemporary ideas of sustainable design, we decided that the most important feature of the building was flexibility. We provided a design that can be both pre-fabricated or site built. It consists of three equal modules which are 12 feet by 24 feet, and a connecting hallway that allows for circulation between the pieces and a path for natural ventilation. The wide concrete masonry wall, shown in the longitudinal section below, is utilized as both a thermal mass and a threshold between public and private.

1

2 3

4

5 6 7

8

9 10

11

A B C

D

[ Durham, North Carolina ]

sust

ain

ab

ility

+ a

ffo

rda

bili

ty

Academia and Awards:

•Masters of Architecture - University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2008 – 10) o Cumulative GPA – 3.74 with a concentration in urbanism o Thesis title - Occupation as Spatial Performance •Bachelors of Environmental Design in Architecture - NC State Univ. (2004 - 08) o Deans List/Total GPA – 3.64/Major GPA – 3.6 (2004 - 08) •NorthCarolinaStateUniversityHonors Program (2004 - 08) •Alpha Rho Chi Award for Leadership, Service, and Professional Merit (2008) •ParticipantintheNorthCarolinaSustainable Design Competition (Spring 2007) •HighSchoolGraduatefromthe NC School of Science and Math (2002 - 04) •RecipientofScholarships from NC School of Science and Math, NC State UniversityHonorsProgram,andNCStateArchitectureDepartment

Academically Funded Research

•UNCCDesign+SocietyResearchCenterAssistantship (2008 – 2010) o Organizing a community workshop on rain gardens for the residents of GrierHeightsneighborhoodinCharlotte o Preparing a proposal for the sensitive integration of a new development within a historic neighborhood in Salisbury, NC oDiagramingsocio-economictrendsfortheCharlotte-MecklenburgCounty Quality of Life Study •New UrbanismResearchProject(summer2007)inEdenton,NC o Studying the implications of a large-scale new urbanism development with a multi-disciplinary team o Conducting resident interviews oPresentingtotownofficialsandresidentsatTownHallmeeting •Anthropological Research (summer 2006) in Florence, Italy o Mapping and diagramming the historic Central Market o Selected as one of four invited to present research at the Atlantic Coastal Conference (UVA, April 2007) oPresentationattheNCStateResearchSymposium(Nov.2006)

Devki Gharpure WriGht

resu

me

Work Experience:

•Odell Associates Architect Intern (Jan. 2012 – present) o CA – processing RFCs, Change Orders, Pay Applications o Preparing AIA Contract Documents o Design Development for healthcare projects •LS3P Architect Intern (summer 2008) o Site visits, assessing existing conditions, schematic design o Developing Revit model for school building renovation •OceanicoKitchensDesigner&SalesAssociate(Aug.2010–Dec.2011) o Designing, drawing, rendering, and pricing for clients o Marketing, sales, and customer service experience •Self-HelpCreditUnionRealEstateIntern(summer2009) o Researching methods of increasing building efficiency for thecommercialportfolioofthisnon-profitorganization •ContemporaryTempleDesign/Build Project(fall2009) o Installation displayed at Levine Museum of the New South •UNCC Teaching Assistant (summer 2008) for graduate level studio •Historic Charlotte Intern(spring2009) o Creating and delivering historic tour of uptown Charlotte

Computer Skills:

•DrawingPrograms–Revit,AutoCAD,GoogleSketch-Up •ConstructionPrograms-Newforma,AIAContractDocuments •AdobeCreativeSuite-In-Design,Illustrator,Photoshop,Acrobat •Microsoft–Word,Excel,PowerPoint,Outlook •Excellentvisualandoralpresentationskills

Extra Curricular Activities:

•U.S. Green Building Council (2012 – 2013) oEmergingProfessionalsRegionalRecruitmentChair oWorkingtorecruitandtrainleadersinNC,SC,andVirginia •NCSUAIAS Chapter President (Fall2006-Spring2007) •Leadingtwoself-initiatedspringbreakservicetripsfor12participants (spring2006)and10participants(spring2007)forGulf Coast Relief Efforts with Architecture for HumanityandHands-OnGulfCoast

460 Ardmore RoadCharlotte, NC 28209

[e-mail] devkigharpure@gmail.com[cell] 919.523.2454