JOSE A. ABREU Undergraduate Exercises in Architecture
M.Arch Applicant 2014
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CULINARY INSTITUTE FLORIDA LANDSCAPE GAINESVILLE ART HOUSE MUSEUM STOP ATRIUM_MASS TRIBECA HOTEL NEW YORK CITY BLOCK BEIJING’S SOCIO-CULTURAL SPACES SHIPAMPO
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It’s what drives me… Pushes my boundaries to unknown limits… It frees my mind to a world I’ve only seen in my dreams… A state of mind that I can only accept with open arms and move on… Living the present and always looking forward to the future…. 3
Charleston Fast Growing Urban Context, Defined By Green Open Spaces, Historic Architecture And Walkable Distances Creates A Unique Architectural Scenario. Charleston Row Houses, Found All Over The City’s Urban Fabric, Create A Series Of Programmatic Breaks; Open Courtyards In Between Houses. This SocioCultural Moment That Promotes Interaction Between Residents Was The Driving Force Behind The Development Of The Project.
CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA
DESIGN 6, FALL 2012 CRITIC: MICK RICHMOND
CULINARY INSTITUTE 24,500 sq/ft
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An open plaza that links different programmatic spaces‌it neglects the idea of an enclosed corridor by taking advantage of Charleston’s climate. Hallways are open to the environment, allowing a direct connection between outside and inside. Situated in the center, a main stair acts as a meeting place for students and visitors.
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Concept Diagram
Program Diagram
First Floor
1-Administrative Office 2-Bake Shop 3-Classrooms 4-Demonstration Lab 5-Lecture Hall 6-Library 7-Pastry Kitchen
8-Public Restrooms 9-Receiving Area 10-Restaurant 11-Student Lounge 12-Teaching Kitchen 13-Trash Area 14-Wine Room
Second Floor
Third Floor
Roof Plan
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Envelope
Program
Skin
Floor Plates
Structure
Plaza
EXPLODED AXONOMETRIC OF INTERVENTION
Section Cut through Plaza and Main Stair.
CLASSROOM’S CORRIDOR
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The Cross Florida Green Way Rural Ecology Research Center, located in Ocala, Florida, deals with a site that has been heavily damaged by the nearby, abandoned construction of the Cross Florida barge canal. The site’s unique conditions and steep slopes offers the opportunity for local researchers to study the returning ecology of the area. What was once abandoned of life, now it’s retaking its position in nature. The project deals with a series of satellites buildings that react to movement and program. These buildings are positioned around two central, communal green plazas; and connected via an elevated path.
ECOLOGY CENTER OCALA, FL
DESIGN 5, FALL 2011 CRITIC: STEPHEN BENDER
RESEARCH CENTER
MASTERPLAN
SKETCH OF GREEN PLAZAS
PROGRAM PLACEMENT
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Terraces were used to reduce the site’s steep slopes; reducing the surface runoff by storing the rain water and reducing the effects of erosion. The building’s masses mimics the breaking of the ground caused by erosion. The way people move around or inside them, creates a series of voids that are used to extend the program to the exterior. These carved voids are later on covered with a series of horizontal louvers.
SECTION THROUGH RESIDENCES
BUNK HOUSE’S PLAN
VISITOR CENTER
VISITOR CENTER-RESTAURANT
BUNK HOUSE’S PLAN
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ART HOUSE GAINESVILLE, FL
DESIGN 6, SPRING 2012 CRITIC: MICK RICHMOND
CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM
The Gainesville Contemporary Art museum, Located in downtown Gainesville, an area where artists, restaurants and bars are widely popular, tries to creates an idea of belonging while being completely different at the same time. The outside skin, made of metal panels tries to mimic the appearance of the existing brick buildings. By treating the metal panels to look rusted; it gives the building an aging character. The program consists of retail spaces at the ground level, and gallery space at the upper level; providing the area of downtown Gainesville a much needed retreat for art enthusiasts.
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MuseumSTOP GAINESVILLE, FL
ADAVANCED DIGITAL, SPRING 2012 CRITIC: LEE-SU HUANG
BUS STOP
A PLACE TO MEET AND GATHER Museum Stop serves as a mediator between the typical bus stop and the covered bench. The sidewalk is transformed and rotated inwards to maximize space. It offers a cantilevered bench in which the students of the University of Florida can gather and meet. 21
A SPACE TO RETREAT... The atrium intervention deals with the introduction of an alien object into a highly active zone. The object’s mass is carved and shaped by how people move around and inside it. The process of carving creates unique spaces in its interior, allowing for exhibitions, critiques, and events to happen within its fluid spaces. On the exterior, the object is protected by a Diagrid system that surrounds the object and attaches itself to the atrium’s columns.
ATRIUM_Mass GAINESVILLE, FL
ADAVANCED DIGITAL, SPRING 2012 CRITIC: LEE-SU HUANG
MIXED-USE
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Located in Tribeca, the project consists of a 25 storey tower that deals with a mixed-use podium at its base and a hotel in its upper levels. Program was positioned according to its occupancy. The podium accepts the neighborhood’s history of cinema and art, two auditoriums for special showings are located in the upper levels of the podium. The transition from the street level to the auditorium it’s made through a series of stairs in which art is displayed according to the theme of the movies being presented. The intent of the tower was to take pedestrians from the street and seamlessly guide them inside its podium.
TRIBECA HOTEL NEW YORK, NY
DESIGN 7 FALL 2012 CRITIC: TOM SMITH
MIXED-USE HOTEL PARTNER: JOSE G. MARICHAL
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STAITS TO AUDITORIUM
Skin Diagram
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SLOPE DIAGRAM
NEW YORK CITY NEW YORK, NY
DESIGN 7 FALL 2012 CRITIC: TOM SMITH
Located in Hell’s Kitchen Neighborhood. The Project Explores The Idea Of A City Block That Breaks The Horizontal Human Perspective That An Individual Experiences While Walking On The Street. The Experience Of The City Is Characterized By Horizontality, Whether At A Human Or Urban Scale; Unless You Look Up. The Project Mirrors An Already Existing Thirteen Feet Slope On The Site, And Together With The New York City Building Code, A Series Of Horizontal Connections Between Private And Public Program Create An Expressive Articulation Of The Building Mass.
MIXED -USE RESIDENTIAL BLOCK 1,450,800 sq/ft Partner: Jose G. Marichal
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SUN’S PATH DIAGRAM
Interior Courtyard
Residential Two Bedroom Units. Residential Three Bedroom Units. Residential Two Bedroom Units. Residential Studio Units. Residential One Bedroom Units. Elementary School. Office.
Mercantile. Parking Garage.
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AERIAL VIEW
Interior Courtyard
Triangular modules of skin system, Vegetated skin of podium
Sketch of slope condition at ground level
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Studio
1 Bedroom 2 Bedroom 2 Bedroom Suites
3 Bedroom School Of Music Elementary School
Retail Restaurant/Lounge Parking
The ground level consists of retail space around the perimeter wall to attract pedestrians to the inside courtyards. The courtyards create an urban oasis in such a chaotic city. The music school is located between the two courtyards; together with small shops and restaurants it creates an active space that both residents and visitors can enjoy.
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Socio-Cultural Spaces Beijing’s Courtyards
The simple thought of a space that could define the cultural history and tradition of a country so effortlessly seemed vague to me before visiting China’s capital city, Beijing. A simple, rectangular area, found all over the urban fabric of Beijing, creates a spatial moment so powerful that it is possible to experience it in the intimate and urban scale. Such space that makes you wonder about life at its deepest, the passing of time seems irrelevant at the moment; suddenly an awareness of self-consciousness and environment is aroused. You become an observer of time, a witness of movement and sound. The typical Chinese courtyards or “Siheyuan” commonly found all over China, especially in Beijing; consists of a quadrant of buildings with a courtyard in the center. This venerable space would be used at the time by the family living in the quadrant, as a gathering space; it was a sign of wealth and prosperity. But from its original design intentions to modern day, this space has been through a series of metaphysical transformations that evokes the thought of whether if it still remains a private space. Has it evolved into a socio-cultural environment that can be experienced not only at a personal scale but also at the urban scale of Beijing? Siheyuan is a type of traditional Chinese architectural style; it dates back to the Western Zhou period, and has a history of over 2,000 years. They exist all across China and are the template for most Chinese architectural styles . Siheyuan also serves as a cultural symbol of Beijing and a window into its old ways of life . Encountering a Siheyuan is an experience of its own. Walking along the rings of the Forbidden City it’s a great example. The sense of orientation its lost for a moment. Wondering along, following the vertical walls of the city until a small opening, a circle; cedes your way into another mysterious path. But, without noticing, the introduction of an open square comes as a surprise. It takes time to understand its scale. Four buildings greet you with open porches and a courtyard. The relationship between building and vegetation seems in par. If as the canopy of the trees continue to form the curved Chinese roofs, so delicate to look at. The space serves as a transitional area between the outside and inside. The outside, with the radiant sun, stone floor, and planted vegetation in the center, prepares the individual for the transition to a less harsh environment. The wood constructions are elevated a couple of steps up. Stating a fine line between outside and inside ground. Protected by the shade of the roof, you now look back at the space recently experienced. As if a rectangular volume has been carved and left with a void at its mid-point; you start to grasp the shape of the complex, and the relationship of the courtyard with
STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM EAST ASIA
the surrounding buildings. Modern day activities range from meditating, gatherings, Tai Chi, and others. This kind of spaces promotes the interaction of its users, proving to be a social incubator within a series of elements that promotes it; such as light, and occurring events. The wood constructions around the courtyard provide privacy for the interior. Their scale can be considered residential. For a person standing in the middle of the courtyard, the relationship between the building and vegetation breaks the intimidate scale of the roof; instead of feeling small and vulnerable, it gives a sense of protection, self-security. This space of architecture, always elusive and mysterious, is the space in which we may perceive ourselves . The space as a whole serves as a harmonious moment between architecture and human activity. Throughout the urban fabric of Beijing, a series of pockets of spaces are found. It’s like the small scale idea of the courtyards found in the Forbidden City in Beijing, multiplied around the city in a various types of scales. From green open spaces to inner courtyards in modern housing complexes. The idea of the void has been spreading worldwide into contemporary architecture. One great example of this is the recently completed building by Steven Holl Architects, the Linked Hybrid in Beijing, China. This project takes the idea of urban space as a collaborative, inter-social area where individuals can interact and coexist with each other through a series of programs that boosts interactive relations within each other. This is created by a series of elevated bridges that connect the residential towers. Taking the horizontal movement happening below at the ground plaza, and elevating it into open air. The plaza is surrounded by the towers, giving a sense of privacy for the users while keeping a direct connection to the street. The plaza serves as a monumental courtyard where individuals circulate to get to their destinations, sort of the same idea as the Siheyuan. Public interaction is motivated with a series of commercial programs inserted at the foot of the towers. The relationship between hardscape and landscape flows continuously, providing an artificial pond in the center, and vegetation on its surroundings; evoking consciousness of themselves and the space they inhabit. The cases mentioned before use the idea of the Siheyuan as social spaces for the personal scale, but how, this space works at the urban scale? I do believe green areas, or temples such as the Temple of Heaven, the Lama Temple, and others; work as socio-cultural areas where social interaction occurs at a much bigger scale. The temple of heaven greets its visitor with open grounds where one can wonder around for hours. A series of paths guide you through out the landscape, cutting through a series of gardens that prepare our inner selves, both mentally and physically, towards a spiritual experience. A series of small scale courtyards are present throughout the area for the palaces, and open spaces such as gardens and thickets provide areas for social interaction to happen at a bigger scale, such as Tai Chi and meditation. The palaces are located in different areas of the gardens; giving it distance for the users to experience the landscape. The distance thus not only makes it possible to take in a vaster landscape but also renders it more accessible to contemplation, for distance, as it were, rids the landscape off all weight of inessentials and restores it to the simple movement that gives it form and existence. This makes the experience of walking from one point to another quite enjoyable. Overall, I believe the Siheyuan is a clear understanding of social interaction in China’s history. Spaces like this are often spreading into modern architecture, bringing back the interaction between people that sadly is being lost in today’s society.
DESIGN 8, SUMMER 2012 CRITIC: ALBERTUS WANG HUI ZOU 39
SHI BAN PO CHONGQING, CHINA
DESIGN 8, SUMMER 2012 CRITICS: ALBERTUS WANG ZOU HOU
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Chongqing, with a population of 28,846,170 is one of the fastest growing cities of china. Such high density creates a series of spaces throughout the urban fabric of Chongqing that evokes the cultural rounded lifestyle of the Chinese society. Unfortunately, high density population, lack of space, and growing economy are only a few of the factors that are making the city abandon they’re old traditions and moving into a commercialized society in which historic districts are being destroyed, as a result malls and high rise towers are taking their place. Amenities only for a higher class, while the others are slowly being pushed away from the city.
Urban Developemnt Partners: Wu Haoqi, Xin Yun, Christine Phillips
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EXISITING SITE SECTIONS
public space
corridor
interstitial space
interstitial space
social status
diverse
production unit
income based
intensity
low (100)
middle (400)
high (1600)
close
familiar
stranger
public space
corridor
interstitial space
interstitial space
social status
STUDY MODEL
PROGRAM PLACEMENT
BUILDING TYPOLOGIES
social relationship
Throughout the site, three buildings typologies are found. The familiar, small scale dwellings, the post modernism mid-rise buildings, which remains familiar but the essence of community starts to disappear; and the high rise, high density living, which is possibly the only option in which neighbors are as close as they can get, but the sense of community is almost non existing. The project studies this three options and tries to find a connection between them. diverse
production unit
income based
SMALL SCALE DWELLINGS
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PROPOSED MASTERPLAN
VEGETATION/LANDSCAPE DIAGRAM
COMMUNITY GARDEN
The master plan is composed of a series of ramps and stairs that connect the different areas of the site. Ramp as a link between ages, we wanted to bring together the different age groups around a central program; the community garden. Chinese culture is based around family, outside activities and gastronomy. Different programmatic features are positioned around the site to promote interaction between residents.
ramp typologies how the ramp accommodates passage beRamp typologies tween historic dwellings
How the ramp accomodates passage between historic dwellings.
URBAN.RAMP
celebrating accessability for all how accomidation for the old can become fun for the young program can be placed along the ramp landings to provide resting points and unity
experience.shibanpo acrobatics
opera house
community garden
chinese medicine institute
water tower
botanical garden
ANCHOR PROGRAM
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GROUND LEVEL PLAN
RESIDENTIAL COMPLEX Shi Ban Po residential complex, located in the north side of the proposed master plan, deals with the three building typologies previously discussed; the small scale residential, mid-rise and high rise buildings, to compose a unified structure. The podium consists of an underground retail center that forms a link between the two most transited streets of the site, allowing residents and visitors to enter from one side of the street and exit from the other. The upper level are residential apartments that share a main communal space, the sky balconies. The sky balconies bridges the gap of existing highrise buildings by providing an outdoor space in which residents can share and participate in day to day activities like tai-chi and mahjongg.
AERIAL VIEW
SKY BALCONIES
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At the ground level, the towers neglect the typical ground condition, it opens up to allow a seamless transition from the street to the retail spaces. A series of stairs and ramps then would guide the users to their destination. The idea of openness and equality is maintained through-out.
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JOSE A. ABREU
186 SE 12th Terr Apt.1903 Miami, Florida 33131 (786) 355 – 3733 jose.abreu04@gmail.com
EDUCATION University of Florida – Bachelor of Design in Architecture Fall 2011 – Spring 2013
Certified Computer Aided Design Operator Fall 2010
Miami Dade College – Associate in Arts – Architecture Spring 2009 – Fall 2011
Colegio Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 08/23/2004 – 06/08-2008
ACCOMPLISHMENTS Recipient of the International Studies Award at the University of Florida, Spring 2013 Teaching Assistant at the University of Florida, Spring 2013 Design work exhibited at the East Asia Study Abroad Program at the University of Florida, Fall 2012 Member of the Golden Key Honors Society at the University of Florida, Spring 2012 Achieved the Dean’s list at the University of Florida, Fall 2011 Achieved the Dean’s list in Summer 2010 and Fall 2010 at Miami Dade College Design work exhibited at the Annual Miami Dade College Architectural Showcase 2010 Design work exhibited at the “Atelier: An education of an Architect” exhibition at the Coral Gables Museum in 2011
WORK EXPERIENCE MODIS Architects – Miami Studio Project Assistant Miami, Florida July 2013 – Present Architecture for Humanity – Miami Chapter 2013
SKILLS Rhinoceros (Grasshopper + Paneling tools + vRay) Autodesk (Revit, Autocad, 3DSMax, Ecotect) ArcGIS Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator) Hand Drafting Photography Proficient in Spanish
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