Emphatic Designer that Combines Evidence and Intuition for Well-Performing Environments
I am an architectural professional with emphatic design approach. I am able to set and implement strategies for architectural projects to support clients’ goals and advance their business. I do this by using insights from research on human experience and physical environment relations. My goal is to find opportunities with design consultancy, architectural and urban design firms where I can bring value by maximizing design outcomes.
I resolve complex design problems by thinking of spatial relations that impact human behavior with choices of movement and encounters. I explored through research that availability of these choices in various degrees motivate certain patterns of collaboration, socialization, vibrancy and productivity in learning-performing, while shaping people’s daily experiences. Drawing from these insights and research experience, I can develop strategies for design around clients’ organizational and business goals. For program development of complex environments, I can orchestrate spatial adjacency patterns to adjust people’s use patterns and experiences to be conducive for clients’ organizational goals. Notable for my advanced understanding of space and human experience relations is my thesis that explored how design can support institutional goals for museums, from which I provided planning recommendations. Using the field work of visitor behavior research, space and exhibition assessment techniques comparatively in a select group of museums, I demonstrated that design allowing vistas in multiple directions inside museum can enable holistic experience with art and architecture while reducing wayfinding and orientation problems; on the other hand, directed circulation with confined visual information encourage focused interactions with art.
My previous professional roles have brought me skills to operate collaboratively within small team dynamics as well as succeeding as a self-starter. While working on my personal projects, I have led a small team to design and build an exhibit kiosk for a project with limited-cost, utilized diverse skill set in the team and managing different schedules of team members. Additionally, as a consultant I have a history of success in meeting project goals, budget and deadlines while working with diverse, geographically distributed clients and consultant teams. My previous experiences also include preparing proposal documents, presenting design work as well as reporting key findings for client and project teams. Given my diverse experiences as both in a team and in a self-directed work, I am capable of managing multiple projects and work streams with good work ethic, collaborative approach and effective communication.
Feel free to contact me at 734-239-5866 or kaynar.ipek@gmail.com, if you have an opportunity we could discuss.
Studio1200, Short Hills, NJ, US, Job Captain / Project Architect
Corporate Interiors Renovation and Design:
Assisted in space programming, feasibility studies and test fits for corporate interiors.
Layout planning with brand design and organizational goals with growth plans.
Schematic design drawings and client presentations.
Construction documents, and construction administration.
Fitness Center Interiors Design and Building Renovation:
Surveyed existing space
Developed schematic design with custom cabinetry.
UCL Space Syntax Ltd. (London, UK), South Hadley, MA; West Orange, NJ, US, Design Consultant / Affiliate
• Providing coordination for projects in the U.S to adapt methods to specific project requirements.
• Identifying project needs and consultancy phases for urban redevelopment projects.
Mount Holyoke College and Hampshire College, South Hadley and Amherst, MA, Research Fellow in Architectural Studies
• Made assessments of redevelopment plans for declined mill towns (Lowell, Maynard and Holyoke, MA), based on spatial analysis of urban form and land-use forecasting modeling.
• Collaborated with Landscape Architecture department on evaluating and supervising studio work on urban redevelopment projects in the Western Massachusetts towns.
• Developed and taught Urban Sustainability seminars using recent case studies and local redevelopment projects.
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, US, Analyst (User Behavior, Narratives + Space Relations),
• Developed a design assessment project by running pilot studies on occupancy patterns and display placement at two local museums.
• Implemented space assessment projects for three architecturally acclaimed art museums to identify design properties that support institutional goals (MoMA NY, Yale Center for British Art and High Museum of Art).
• Conducted occupant data analysis (tracking movement of 200+ people in galleries) in the select museums.
• Led a research team (of 5) for occupant data analysis in the Museum of Modern Art-New York.
• Advanced computer based spatial analysis with new application (Syntax2D) for quantitative expressions of visual cues unfolding at navigation choice points.
• Provided recommendations for the three museums to improve navigation and learning experiences of visitors.
NSF/Engineering Research Center, University of Michigan College of Engineering, Ann Arbor, MI, US, Design/Build Team Leader
• Managed design and installation phases of an interactive exhibit kiosk in a hands-on children’s museum.
• Developed and organized content in the form of an interactive game for K-12 grade children’s informal learning.
• Evaluated exhibit usability based on project objectives such as engagement and informal learning.
Prokon Engineering & Consultancy + METU Department of Architecture, Ankara, Turkey, Architect
• Revised and finalized construction drawings of 430,550 sf government bank, training and hospitality facilities;
• Coordinated project revisions and construction details between engineers, consultants and architects.
MESA Housing Industries Incorporation, Ankara, Turkey, Architect
• Researched and identified alternative construction techniques to improve occupant experiences
• Published pamphlets within the company to educate site architects in newest techniques.
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, US, PhD, Doctoral Program in Architecture
Dissertation: “Museum Gallery Layouts and Their Interactions with Exhibition Narratives and
Space–use Patterns: An Investigation of the YCBA, the MoMA (NY) and the HMA”
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, US, Masters, College of Architecture and Urban Planning
Middle East Technical University METU, Ankara, Turkey, MArch, Graduate School of Natural Sciences
Middle East Technical University METU, Ankara, Turkey, BArch, Department of Architecture
Fellowship for Doctoral Research on Museums, Scholarship
Museum Studies Certificate Program, Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Team of the Year Award, Museum Exhibit Project, Honorable Mention
NSF Engineering Research Center Outreach Projects, College of Engineering, University of Michigan
