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Saeri Shojima

Saeri Shojima

Los Angeles, CA, US

 
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About 

Saeri is a highly accomplished architecture designer passionate about the social environment and architecture design. With about ten years of diverse architecture practice in international firms in Asia, Saeri has extensive experience designing and documenting various types of buildings such as educational institutions, commercial, mix-use, and senior care facilities. In 2019, Saeri showcased her innovative approach to architectural design by winning a competition for a kindergarten project. She completed her Master of Science in Architecture Technologies at the Southern California Institute of Architecture(SCI-Arc) in Los Angeles, the US, and also holds a Bachelor of Architecture from TungHai University in Taichung City, Taiwan.

Saeri is currently engaged in research to create new typologies for social infrastructure by transforming 2D images from Neural Networks into 3D architecture projects. She designed solar data-oriented future cemetery and affordable housing projects to rethink the cemetery and housing crisis in the cities in her thesis in SCI-Arc. Her work experience includes positions at Patterns, MIIM Office for Architecture, Oravi Design Studio, Touben Architect, Stt Architects, and Da-ju Architects & Associates. In addition to her architectural expertise, Saeri is an experienced interpreter and translator in Japanese, Mandarin, and English.

Saeri is interested in Architecture design, Architecture technologies design, and Urban design. She has extensive skills in project Management, architecture design, and client relations, which she has developed through her diverse architectural industry experience.

#Curreently Saeri is based in Los Angles, but she is willing to relocate anywhere in the States.

Employment 

Patterns, Los Angeles, CA, US, Architectural Designer

■Pioneered preliminary morphology and program designs for diverse urban-scale projects including government, hotel, and headquarter.
■Formulated interior design ideas in harmony with architectural schemes.
■Created diagrams, and animation to enhance design.
■Artistically assessed and addressed client needs by providing optimal, effective spatial and functional solutions, successfully persuading the client to extend the original site threefold in size.

Dec 2022 - current
 

MIIM Office for Architecture, Taipei, TW, Project Designer

■Developed and managed the architectural design for mid to large-scale projects, including resorts, educational institutions, healthcare centers, and stations.
■Produced 2-5 physical and digital models for each scheme to visualize and ensure the feasibility of the design to clients.
■Proficient in providing translation services in English and Mandarin for architects and clients.
■Generated compelling drawings, visualizations, and presentations for client marketing and decision-making on a weekly basis, successfully persuading three investors to sign contracts and increase the budget by 10%.

Puli Resort House
Chayi Health Care Building
Tenun Johorrts Link Johor Bahru/ Singaporeintro Johor

Jun 2020 - Aug 2021
 

ORAVI Design Studio, Taipei, TW, Project Designer

■Spearheaded a mid-sized team to secure first place out of 30 competitors in a K-12 competition.
■Directed and designed the implementation of design concepts and construction drawing sets for a kindergarten compound building project, achieving a cost reduction of 25% compared to competitors.
■Conducted weekly presentations to clients, stakeholders, and authorities.
■Supervised and mentored an intern who primarily communicated in English.
■Managed project timelines and budgets, and ensured full regulatory compliance

Main project:
Taoyuan Kid’s Garden, Taoyuan, Taiwan.

Jan 2018 - Mar 2020
 

Touben Architect, Taichang, TW, Project Designer

■Designed detailed working sets for commercial and residential buildings, collaborating closely with clients to ensure their needs and expectations were exceeded.
■Contributed to developing and promoting design concepts, utilizing advanced visualization techniques to showcase innovative and effective solutions.

Main project:
Vastone Office,
Vastone Commercial And Residential Complex, Tainan, Taiwan.

Jan 2017 - Jan 2018
 

Stt Architects, Taipei, TW, Architectural Designer

■Utilized physical models to visualize and ensure the feasibility of design concepts for residential spaces.
■Coordinated project timelines and budgets, fostering a collaborative environment within the team.

Main project:
Light House / Mr. Chen’s Casa House , Hsinchu, Taiwan.

Dec 2014 - Jan 2017
 

Da-ju Architects & Associates, Taipei, Taiwan, Senior Designer

■Oversaw implementation of design and detailed construction drawing sets for large-scale of office, commercial and mix-use, and residential projects, ensuring exceptional quality and timely delivery.
■Worked closely with contractors, engineers, and other stakeholders to facilitate timely and cost-effective completion of Gold-level LEED projects.
■Proficient in providing translation services in Japanese and Mandarin for architects and curtain wall consultants.

Main project:
Taipei Industrial Park Of Cooperation Headquarters, Taipei, Taiwan.
Mercuries Life Insurance, Taichung, Taiwan

Jan 2010 - Dec 2014
 

Snuper Design, Taipei, TW, Junior Designer

■Created preliminary interior design drawings for commercial and residential projects, using advanced rendering techniques to produce detailed presentation materials for clients.
■Conducted regular site visits to monitor construction progress and ensure strict adherence to design specifications, working closely with contractors and other stakeholders to resolve any issues that arose.

Main project:
KuRa Japanese Restaurant, Taipei, Taiwan./Mr. Wu’s Casa House, Taipei, Taiwan.

Oct 2008 - Jan 2010
 

Education 

Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), Los Angeles, CA, US, Masters, Architecture Technologies

Saeri's work in architecture and design at Sciarc demonstrates a passion for using advanced technologies to tackle complex societal and environmental issues. In her thesis project, Food Forest, Saeri has developed a design formula that addresses issues of food shortage and housing inefficiencies in cities by integrating living spaces with markets and vertical farming. By using 3D and 2D Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) with voxel and component-based procedural algorithms, Food Forest translates solar radiation simulations and economic/energy calculations into the formal qualities of the space.

In addition to Food Forest, Saeri's work in cemetery design, After Life, provides a cutting-edge solution that optimizes proposals for local climate and economic conditions while addressing the growing shortage of cemetery space in cities. Utilizing advanced techniques such as Houdini, Zbrush, Rhino, Python, Grasshopper, CycleGan, and Unreal Engine 5, After Life combines death spaces with innovative vertical farming technologies to create functional and aesthetically pleasing spaces that meet the diverse needs of the community.

Another notable project, Landscape NN, explores the embedding of technology into occupied spaces to address the rapidly deteriorating global climate. By using techniques such as drone-surveyed scans and neural networks, Landscape NN creates an open-to-public research facility featuring freshwater collection and laboratories, integrated into an inhabitable landscape intervention meant for human visitors.

Saeri's work showcases a commitment to exploring new relationships between the built environment and environments driven by the needs of other agencies, while utilizing cutting-edge technologies to develop innovative solutions for complex problems.

Sep 2021 - Sep 2022
 

Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), Los Angeles, CA, US, Masters, Design of Cities

Saeri's projects in Design of Cities at Sciarc include a range of innovative and eco-friendly designs, such as the Ecologically Supercharging Park prototype which aims to combat climate change and make Madrid a role model for sustainable cities in Europe, as well as the Calving the Edge project in Glenwood, Oregon, which reshapes the site to allow for diverse water activities programming within a flexible framework of architecture and landscape.

*While simultaneously working and pursuing a Master's degree in Design of Cities at SCI-Arc, unforeseen circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a pause in my studies. I decided to leave this office for a better salary and an English environment to return to the United States and continue my academic journey.

Sep 2019 - May 2020
 

Tunghai University, Taichung, TW, BArch, Architecture

Saeri has completed several projects that explore how construction is evolving under current consumerism and shaping future architectural typologies. In her thesis project, Pet and The City examines the relationship between pets and modern people, and how this relationship can inform the creation of luxury housing known as "Housing 3.0". By classifying the desires that people capture from their pets, Saeri has developed a new typology of residential architecture that offers objects and spaces on different scales, allowing residents to fulfill diverse kinds of requests that they may not typically obtain from everyday life.

Another project, Art Farm, focuses on the multifaceted nature of architecture in both residential and commercial areas. Saeri's aim is to redefine the traditional street layout and urban fabric of Taichung by creating a maze-like Art Farm that represents the locality and transforms the cultural landscape. The project program is divided into a private residential area and a public museum, with a park for artists and their families raised off the ground to provide space for the museum underneath. The circulation patterns within the Art Farm are less conventional and aim to foster unexpected encounters and improvised moments while still maintaining the necessary privacy for both groups of users.

Finally, Sheri's Fitness Center project is located in a mixed area that is both traditional and developing. She proposes an alternative approach to the typical layout of public and private spaces, reversing the convention to accommodate unconventional layouts for healthy living. The private area can face the main street when it is wide enough, while the public area can be placed at the back, near neighboring buildings. The goal of the Fitness Center is to provide a physically and mentally healthy lifestyle while accommodating different levels of privacy to meet the needs of individuals in a complex urban setting.

Sep 2004 - Jun 2008
 

Awards 

National Construction Excellence Award for Best Planning and Design, 1st Place

Office and Factory Architecture Category : Office

2023
 

The merit scholarship, Scholarship

Admission Scholarship

2022
 

Tao’s garden, 1st Place

First prize at a non-profit organization/kindergarten/daycare center compound building in Taoyuan.
As a project design leader at Oravis design studio. I was in charge of developing the design concept and the architectural design

2018
 

World Silver Winners 2017, 2nd Place

Office Category at FIABCI World Prix D’excellence Awards 2017 : Office

2017
 
2008
 
2006
 

Areas of Specialization 

Skills