Helen is a registered architect in New York State and holds a Bachelor of Architecture from The City College of NY. Interested in generative design, she focused on drawing with code while completing her Masters in Advanced Architectural Design at Columbia University. While working at Leeser Architecture, Helen wrote scripts for the undulating glass fin design on 60 Water Street, a tower at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge completed in 2015.
With Miran Jang, she was a 2015 Finalist in the Autodesk Edge Condition Pier 9 competition for a project proposing self-growing bamboo structures and published in Blank Space's book Dear Architecture. Helen received The AIA New York Fontainebleau Prize, The Spitzer School of Architecture History and Theory Award, The Spitzer School of Architecture Travel Grant, all in 2010, and The AIA Douglas Haskell Award for Student Journalism in 2009. She loves to garden, plants’ blooming and dying inspire her design pursuits.
D'Aquino Monaco Inc., New York, NY, US, Draftsperson and Architectural Designer
High-end, contemporary residential work on all project phases including drawings, specifications, construction administration; integration with in-house interior designers; custom millwork design.
LEESER ARCHITECTURE, Brooklyn, NY, US, Junior Architect
Design, rendering, drafting, zoning/code compliance, specification work and shop drawing review on: Moscow Polytechnic University Museum Competition, Moscow, Russia. Dock Street, Brooklyn, NY (mixed use: housing, school, retail). Novus Office Space, New York, NY. Dumbo Heights, Brooklyn, NY(adaptive reuse: commercial and retail).
SYSTEMarchitects, New York, NY, US, Intern
Design work on: 173 Franklin Street, Residence, New York, NY, 28th Street Loft Residence, New York, NY including 3D modeling, physical models, research and presentation layouts.
Andre Tchelistcheff Architects, New York, NY, US, Studio Assistant
Assistant to the principal, office management, accounting, marketing and drafting work on local high end residential and commercial projects.
AvroKO, New York, NY, US, Intern
Summer internship: administrative experience assisting 4 high profile commercial interior designers.
Columbia University, New York, NY, US, Masters, Advanced Architectural Design
Post-professional courses with Francois Roche, Mary McCleod, Kazys Varnelis, Ezio Blazetti, Roland Snooks, Enrique Walker, Fake Industries, Mark Wasiuta, Toru Hasegawa + Mark Collins, Jaoquim Moreno.
Partial Scholarship. Elected MSAAD student representative. Contributor to the Francois Roche project (n)certainties with the project “The Lonely Lover [vs] The Permanent Bachelor.” Two projects chosen for the 2011-2012 yearly GSAPP publication Abstract. Animated video titled “Manners” chosen for viewing at the GSAPP CADshow, 2012.
City College of New York (CCNY), New York, NY, US, BArch, Architecture
Thesis: Inserting World Bathing into Rural America. Spitzer School of Architecture Travel Grant, Tokyo, Japan, 2010 “Mapping The Metropolis, comparative mapmaking analysis of New York, Paris and Tokyo.” Spitzer School of Architecture History and Theory Award, 2010. Fourth Year Student of the Year, 2008-09. Spitzer School of Architecture Megan Lawrence Memorial Award, 2006. CCNY Honors Full Scholarship, 2005-10.
Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, Summer Intensive
Sustainable development in the extreme desert.
Spitzer School of Architecture History and Theory Award, 1st Place
Recognition for outstanding student work in History and Theory.
AIA Douglass Haskell Award for Student Journalism, 1st Place
AIA award for best student run architecture publication for Informality Student Journal at CCNY.
AIA NY Center for Architecture Fontainebleu Prize, 1st Place
Portfolio based full tuition scholarship to Les Ecoles Americaines de Fontainebleau.
