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Dimitra Chantzakou

Dimitra Chantzakou

New York, NY, US

 
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About 

Website of design work

Driven young architect, licensed in Greece, with a passion for refined and groundbreaking design, working in a forward thinking design-build practice in NYC. Recently graduated from a post-professional Masters degree in Advanced Architectural Design at UC Berkeley, exploring sustainability and natural design -both in formalistic and functional ways. 

With a tendency to design unique architecture and create beautiful, but also functional spaces, I thrive in concept creation and development for all architectural scales, from that of a building to that of the city. I deeply appreciate parametric design tools and digital fabrication methods, and am still unfolding their potential, but I strongly believe in traditional design techniques and concept development tools. Combining my architecture background with a minor degree in Leadership and Management, and an experimental masters' degree, has given me the advantage of viewing the architectural design process through multiple lenses, and the confidence to tackle any design challenge.

Employment 

Tecny Group Inc., New York, NY, US, Junior Architectural Designer

Drafting of architectural drawings for residential renovation projects, preparation of DOB submittals, material research, FF+E specifications and detailing, communication with vendors about building materials' sourcing, curation of materials for client presentations.

Jul 2023 - current
 

Womentros program, Lambrakis Foundation, Athens, GR, Freelance Graphic Designer

Designed the program's logo. Created several series of Instagram posts for the social media promotion of the program. Provided templates for the Power Point presentations used in the seminars. Curated two guidebooks with content created by the program's team of experts. Mainly used Adobe Creative Suite to create graphic content.

Jul 2020 - Oct 2022
 

National Technical University of Athens, Athens, GR, Research Intern in the Systematic Analysis of Vernacular Buildings and Settlements

Mapping, photography and sketching of the traditional settlement. Surveyed and created CAD drawings for more extensive study of several typical buildings. Identified and analyzed structural elements. Designed a detailed axonometric drawing encompassing all characteristic structural elements identified. Documented all research material and uploaded in the school's designated online database. Programs used: GIS software, AutoCAD and Photoshop as well as physical media (hand-sketching).

Oct 2018 - Feb 2019
 

Education 

University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, US, Masters, Advanced Architectural Design

The program is build upon Studio One, a research oriented, 1-year studio, which focuses on sustainability, biomaterials, and designing for multiple ecologies. The theme of this year was timber construction and wood materials, and the studio was led by prof. Maria Paz Gutierrez, in collaboration with HOK - San Francisco.

In addition to the studio course, students get a free choice of courses, from any department of UC Berkeley. The classes I chose focused mostly on emerging technologies, such as robotic fabrication combined with computation, and the integration of XR technologies in architecture. I also explored sustainability and took advanced design classes which focused on spatial characteristics as well as structural design.

Courses Taken:
Form and Structure - Aligning the design of form with the structural characteristics of the proposal, analyzing and optimizing structures using the Karamba 3D plugin for Grasshopper, ultimately designing a drone vertiport in the Bay area.
Robotic Fabrication - Introduction to robotic fabrication methods and the integration of Kuka PRC plugin in Grasshopper.
Daylighting in Architecture - Designing with natural light, measuring, simulating and optimizing the amount of daylight in spaces, using the Climate Studio plugin for Rhino.
Designing XR Experiences - An extended introduction to the basic tools and methods for the creation of AR, VR and MR experiences and applications. Brief introduction to Unity.
Research Methods in Building Science - Methodology of research, tools for correctly conducting research and analyzing data, brief introduction to R and R Studio for data visualization purposes.
Sustainability Colloquium - Lecture series related to issues of sustainable and equitable design.

Aug 2022 - May 2023
 

School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, GR, BArch, Architectural Engineering

5-year integrated masters degree in Architectural Engineering, exposing me to all fundamental design challenges an architect could be faced with.

Research Dissertation: "Creating the new... Natural? Bio-Logic in Contemporary Architectural Expression: Are we becoming The Creators of a new nature?"

Diploma Project: Diploma project Phoenix | Regeneration of Mati settlement in Attica [ re-designing the wildfire-struck town of Mati, in suburban Athens, Greece ]

Significant Courses: Structural Design, Urban Design + Urban Planning, Art + Architecture History and Theory, Measured Drawings, Free-hand Drawing

Oct 2015 - Feb 2022
 

The American College of Greece, Deree, Athens, GR, Leadership and Management

Minor degree through Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Parallel Studies Scholarship
Courses: Project Management, Leadership, Corporate Entrepreneurship + Innovation, Strategic Human Resource Management, Business Ethics, Management Principles

Sep 2017 - Dec 2020
 

Areas of Specialization 

Skills