Delight often comes when the

expected is subverted to display a variation

that beforehand was unimaginable and
is thereafter amusingly obvious. In some
instances the form that a material takes can
perform this feat. In this sculpture a layered
and mechanically produced material like
Baltic birch plywood is subverted to express
an organic bulging shape that is textured by
the lines of the wooden layers. It takes on the
quality of waves, or mounds of earth frozen,
cast into a geometric Cartesian production.
The layers of the material amplify and describe
the quality of the incline of the surface.
 An organic piece,
assembling a series of
cast acrylic slices cut
on a laser cutter. The
object has qualities of
a primitive creature,
the referential points
running through
the slices form a
rudimentary spine.
When expanded into
a longer sculpture
with rope and spacers
the piece behaves as a
lifeless snake-like animal
moving and deforming
to take the shape of the
environment.
 In 2002 the Commonwealth of Virginia funded a new center for the performing arts in
downtown Richmond. The project would encompass an entire city block around an existing
historic theater. The additional spaces would create a complex with several theaters, new
support spaces as well as incubator spaces where promising performers could hone their craft.
The proposal was straightforward in its treatment of programmatic blocks in their formal
expression. The concept took the potential of the volumes and treated them as realized spacial
forces that pushed and squeezed each other creating non-traditional geometry and adjacencies.
The resultant agglomeration was cut by the property limit. The clear span of the domed public
spaces created grand airy lobbies for the theater-goer. This formal logic is similar to the hive cell,
but with cells of divergent size, function and importance instead of a multitude of identical cells.
 .
Richmond,
the capital of the
Commonwealth of
Virginia.
Founded on the banks
of the Charles river
in 1737.
Richmond served as
the capital of the
Confederate States of
America during the
American Civil War. The
estimated population of
the greater Richmond
metropolitan area is 1.2
million
 First Floor Plan Roof Plan

1. Entry/ Ticketing
2. 3. 3.
7. 2. Gift Shop
3. Lobby
8. 4. Main Theater
5. Theater Support
1. 6. Courtyard
6.
7. Cafe/ Restaurant
4. 8. Flexible Theater
9. Offices
10. Theater Support
9. 11. Incubator Spaces
12. Storage/ Support
13. Management
14. Loading Dock
5. 15. Existing Historic Theater

10.

11.

15.

12.

13.
14.
 Abstract Massing Model
produced w/CNC router
At a material scale, the main
dome displays its triangulated geometry
and fragments into variable component
faces. These faces express the assembly of the
parts to form the whole and transition into
a shattered oculus that opens the lobby to
jagged light from above.

Bellow are shown multiple alternative

layouts considered in the preliminary
arrangement of the spaces.
 Schematic Program Our thesis project for the end of our Bachelor of Architecture was a project with
certain limitations. It was to be located somewhere in downtown Richmond, VA and was
to be a non-denominational seminary. The specifics of the program and the exact location
Main Chapel 3200sf were to be determined by the individual designer.
Library 3000sf
The selected location was quite close to the dense urbanized center of the city, in a
transitional zone where the overall size and mass of the buildings began to break into
Classrooms 1650sf smaller units into a more porous and residential fabric. The site was a block away from
Offices 1400sf Broad Street, the main wide thoroughfare of downtown Richmond. The lot is located
Outdoor (min.) 2000sf at an anomaly in the street grid, a point where a tributary street branches off at 45
Student Housing 3000sf degrees. This created a strange gap in the facades of Broad street as well as a lot that was
Faculty Housing 1200sf “naturally” divided into two zones roughly the sizes of two blocks in the program. The
Dining + Support 3400sf triangular shaped zone would be the location of the iconic, public object which would
Support +Circ 6500sf stand apart from the remaining environment. The remaining lot would be the location for
the living spaces, classrooms and other support spaces surrounding a generous courtyard.
The green space adjacent the main chapel was to be in contrast to the cloister, being open
directly on two sides to the public to become an outdoor pulpit, the point of outreach into
the surrounding community.
Richmond Zoning Plan Context

Preliminary Diagrammatic Model

 7.
6. 6. 8.
7.

7.
8.
7.

7. 2.

7. 1.
7.

6.

Level 1

1. Library
2. Office
3. Sanctuary
4. Classroom
5. Cafeteria 6.
6. Toilets/ Restrooms 8.
7. Student Rooms 5. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4.
8. Support/Office 3.
6.
9. Faculty Rooms
10. Main Sanctuary
11. Sacristy
12. Seminar Spaces
 S2

A E
F

7. 9. 9. 9. 6.
7.

7. 9. 9. 9.
9.
7.

7. 11.
10.
7.

7.

6.

B
D
Level 2

1. Library
2. Office
3. Sanctuary
4. Classroom
8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 12. 12. 5. Cafeteria
8. 6. Toilets/ Restrooms
7. Student Rooms
8. Support/Office
8. 8. 8. 9. Faculty Rooms
8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8. 12. 12. 10. Main Sanctuary
11. Sacristy
12. Seminar Spaces
 A The forms express the adaptive
quality of components of a building as they
come together. We begin to understand
the temporal nature of the geometry as
there is a progression from low to high
in deliberate, quantitative steps. We
begin to understand the nature of each
surface as being relative and informed by
the next. Metaphorically, the triangular
prisms around the courtyard activate the
common outdoor area, unifying them
as public circulation corridors as well as
forming a transition between the truly
organic tree canopy in the courtyard and
the orthogonal, regularized habitable
spaces. They are an abstracted canopy, a
matrix that grows and branches above as
one walks the grounds.

B
C

D
D7
D8
E

F
 A fanciful single person residence. The dwelling is designed to be sited in
a wooded lot. The roof shape is to most effectively shed water and collect it at
the points removing the need for gutters. The steady stream flowing down at EnP

the quarters would form an opportunity to manage water into a collection

system, a decorative stream or other water feature.
S1
P1 P1

S2

P1

S1
S2
EnP

P2

P2 P2

S1

S2
 Building Diagram

2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2.

1.
5. 5.
3.
1. Studio
2. Office
3. Classroom 1.
3.
4. Mechanical
5. Toilets 7. 6.
6. Lecture Hall 7. 3.
7. Storage 7.
8. Gallery 3.
enlarged building section
1.
4.

HVAC Diagram 1. Structural Diagram

7. 7.

1.
This project was for a studio arts building on the East Campus of Duke University,
Durham, North Carolina. The site within the campus was predetermined, with a small
existing building to be demolished. The program consisted of a series of studio spaces,
faculty offices, classrooms, a gallery and a large auditorium. The arrangement that was
settled upon was a roughly J shaped courtyard layout formed by a series of thick walls
upon which the spaces would be attached. The center area would be the public spaces,
with generously lit hallways running in a circuit. This project included an opportunity to
create an in-depth sectional model of an exemplary portion of the building.
1. Studio 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2.
2. Office
3. Classroom
4. Mechanical 1.
5. Toilets 5. 5.
6. Lecture Hall 3.
7. Storage
8. Gallery
1.
3.

7. 8.
7. 3.
7.
3.
1.
4.

1.

7. 7.
Level 2 Roof plan

1.
 Sao Paulo is a metropolis where
residential towers sprout up to feed a
seemingly unending tide of humanity.
This project is sited in a neighborhood
that has a current and growing base
of such buildings, facing Ibirapuera
Park, roughly equivalent with New
York’s Central Park. The structural
logic similar to that of bone, a lattice
of cells in a core matrix with a thick
structurally active element around the
circumference. This structural exterior
skin is a perpetually branching weave
that creates an effective and coherently
acting shell. Modest and appropriate
terraces are necessities in this building
type and these grow from the same
weaving principle.
 5.
1.
1. 7.
6.
2.

1.
3. 1.
3.

4.
4. 4.
2.
1.
3.

2. 3.

3. 5.
1. Bedroom
2. Kitchen
3. Living/Dining
4. Bathroom
5. Stairs
6. Elevator
7. Mechanical

Portfolio of Works
2001-2009
Dimitri Ginaqui-Gudgenov
Born in Sao Paulo in 1979, with Brazilian, Polish,
Portuguese and Bulgarian ancestry. Raised in
Montreal, Quebec and in Raleigh-Durham, also
known as the Research Triangle in North Carolina.
Attended North Carolina’s Governor’s School, East
Campus for Fine Art in 1997.
Graduated from North Carolina State University
in 2002 with a Bachelor of Environmental Design
in Architecture, and a Bachelor of Architecture in
2004.
Worked for Rotman Architecture PA under
apprenticeship of David Rotman, AIA from 2004
to 2007 on a mix of laboratory institutional
renovations, commercial developments, commercial
fit-ups, residential renovations, residential
additions, institutional retrofitting and permitting.
Joined the Freelon Group, Architects in 2007 known
for cultural and educational projects, most visibly
the National Museum of African American History
and Culture on the National Mall in Washington
D.C. While at Freelon Mr. Gudgenov worked on
laboratory interiors, 3D modeling and rendering.
Worked in depth on New Cherry Hospital, a
Psychiatric replacement Hospital for the eastern
region of the State of North Carolina Department
of Health and Human Services.
dimitrigudgenov@gmail.com
Sculpture Personal Statement
A. Surface As a designer, I strive to find the
B. The Worm/Amber Flea convergence of innovation with
practical solutions in the service of the
Architecture greater good. My designs aim for the
improvement and enhancement of our
C. The Virginia Center for the Performing Arts built environment.
D. Central Richmond Seminary
E. Individual Residence Emergent technologies offer the greatest
F. Studio Arts Building for Duke East Campus potential for progress in future projects.
G. Sao Paulo Residential Tower Among these we can expect efficient
materials and more effective analysis
Sculpture and other of information. We should harness this
technology and knowledge to break new
H. Jagged Movement ground in our buildings.
J. Potency
K. Partial Self-Portrait As these new technologies become
L. Slightly Above realized, a radical re-imagining of the
M. The Record - Temporary Memorial for 911 human built environment may be
N. For Sale necessary. Biomimicry and organically
P. On the White inspired structures which regenerate are
potentially powerful ideas which are in
their infancy. In our future endeavors we
will be wielding energy sources previously
left untapped and making current energy
sources more clean, responsible and
efficient so that the future is prosperous,
healthy and sustainable for all.