Headshot of Dana Chermesh

MS Class of 2018

Biography

An Architect specialized in urban renewal, currently focusing in big-data analytics and urban science skills in order to form smarter and more just cities, and to improve people’s quality of life.

Gaining an ample experience within the atmosphere of Tel-Aviv’s aggressive urban renewal processes has made me all the more eager to pursue my goal of developing viable, dynamic, data-driven tools and/or methods that could tackle the huge urban data set regarding property values, development rights distribution, house ownership and rentals, and spatial justice, and to suit these tools also to non-professionals, empowering residents to better deal with real-estate free market forces.

I believe in the considerable power of an excellent, intelligent design in improving people’s day-to-day lives, and that planners must acquire the skills to collect and manipulate large-scale datasets for assessing the financial, social and environmental consequences of our work.

Most Recent Professional Experience

ARCHITECT, BAR-ORIAN ARCHITECTS

Tel-Aviv, Israel, 2011-2017

Leading Israeli architectural firm, specializing in urban renewal

  • Planned and designed about 30 projects in various scales, designations and planning phases, including: residential buildings and towers, urban planning schemes, hotel, Sports Center & public outdoor space.
  • Established and led the office’s Urban Building Scheme Division, saving 60K-120K NIS per scheme
  • Analyzed the urban development rights situation of hundreds of lots in the Tel-Aviv region

Undergraduate Education

  • B-Arch, Tel-Aviv University, David Azrieli School of Architecture
  • Tel-Aviv, Israel, 2008-2013

Other Degrees & Certifications

  • Participated in AA Architecture School summer workshop: “Digital Planning and Production” (2010)
  • Participate in “Shape Grammar and Computational Design” workshop, led by Prof. Arch. Terry Knight (MIT), visiting professor (June 2012)

Awards & Recognition

  • Best studio project out of 20-24, 3 years in a row: 2010 (General), 2011 (Residence), 2012 (Digital)
  • Shachar-Ziv Award candidacy (2011), Rhizome Residence project, Residence Studio
  • Presenting Architect at the Jerusalem poetry festival (July 2012)
  • Commissioned by the Poetry Festival to design the only artistic display for the festival, which was installed at the entrance of the Jerusalem Botanic Gardens
  • The display,‘Hebrew Alphabet Mashrabiya’ was based on a project completed as part of B.Arch studies and featured in a popular architectural blog

Current Interests

  • Internships
  • Part-time employment
  • Full-time employment
  • Research
  • Networking