The uniquely independent masters program here at the Waterloo School of Architecture continues to grow and each term brings new graduate students accompanied by their diverse thesis objectives. Over the next few weeks we will be profiling these future masters and their work in hopes of shedding light on the breadth of research and design happening within the school.
This week features the current M2 students and their work presented at the M1 Open Studio Night.
Immersed in their research, writing and design speculation, masters students are often elusive creatures; hidden behind a fortress of books, obsessively consumed in personal projects. But don’t fear them, they’re not dragons. Approach them, ask them questions, because they’ve been in your position. Once upon a time, they too entered into the ambiguous and challenging world of the architecture undergraduate and they persevered! Talk to them, for they are wise.
Zak Fish | M2
Where can you be found?
Office 3014 and The Ping Pong Table. Drop by my office to borrow paddles and balls.
How do you prefer to procrastinate?
Reading the newspaper and playing pingpong.
Tip from an elder.
Enjoy school while you can, and go to Walshees every Thursday night.
Summarize your thesis in a sentence or two.
My thesis is investigating vacant space in the City of Cambridge and the opportunities that can arise from the absence in the historic core.
Kyle Jensen | M2
Where can you be found?
Office 202, work at home often.
How do you prefer to procrastinate?
Working on renovating my home, a barn in Clifford.
Tip from an elder.
The world doesn’t stop turning while you’re in school.
Summarize your thesis in a sentence or two.
Optimizing structure using tensile forces.
Understanding the geometry of structure to better use natural resources in the construction of structures.
Elisabeth (Lise) van Overbeeke | M2
Where can you be found? 3002.
How do you prefer to procrastinate?
Playing guitar, making things, running…
Tip from an elder.
A project is best presented in the medium or strategy that the spatial qualities of the building already speak of being presented.
Summarize your thesis in a sentence or two.
The thesis research is titled Beni Smart Atlas and explores the opportunities of the atlas and digital interface as a method of understanding the complexity of the informal city, thereby becoming a tool for social innovation and agency at the local level. The research is being applied to a local mapping initiative in partnership with a university in a city called Beni in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Melissa Shea | M2
Where can you be found?
The mountains & hills of Italy and Greece.
How do you prefer to procrastinate?
Biking in Greece; but let’s be clear. I don’t procrastinate.
Tip from an elder.
To thine own self be true.
Summarize your thesis in a sentence or two.
I’m writing a story about a goat. Who is an architect. There are also pictures, which I draw.
Scott Turner | M2
Where can you be found? 3018.
How do you prefer to procrastinate? Reading.
Tip from an elder.
Hold strong to your beliefs and feed them with research.
Summarize your thesis in a sentence or two.
My thesis investigates localized water harvesting, processing and distribution networks embedded within hybrid architectural typologies. My study site is Los Angeles and the ultimate goal involves designing a suburban infill project that leverages water infrastructure with an underperforming strip mall to create a new neighbourhood of housing, retail and office spaces with public parks and squares.
Saba Amini | M2
Where can you be found?
Office 3018 & Library.
Summarize your thesis in a sentence or two.
My Thesis aims to answer two main questions:
How could we take advantage of artificial strategies in order to give health back to an area that has got industrialized over time? How could we create an adaptive ecology in a place as a threshold between urban dense fabric and nature?
Sundus Shaikh | M2
Where can you be found? Room 3011.
How do you prefer to procrastinate?
By taking many (many) short breaks while I work.
Tip from an elder.
Time management is key!
Summarize your thesis in a sentence or two.
Changes in immigration patterns and competition with suburban ethnic businesses has led to the decline of the Gerrard Bazaar, a South Asian ethnic retail strip along Gerrard Street East. My thesis looks at how architecture and urban design can play a role in revitalizing the identity, aesthetics and economy of this ethnic enclave.
Tahoora Alimohammadi | M2
Where can you be found? 3018.
How do you prefer to procrastinate?
Movie, sleep, listen to music.
Tip from an elder.
Be honest to yourself and others, also do whatever you like!
Summarize your thesis in a sentence or two.
My thesis is about a transition place between medieval and modern part of Shiraz city in Iran.
