Architecture Portfolio Alexandra Peña Matheus
ALEXANDRA PEÑA MATHEUS EDUCATION 2015-2020 Virginia Tech / Blacksburg, VA Bachelor of Architecture Magna Cum Laude Study Abroad Europe / Fall 2018
CONTACT 26319 W Rolling Silver Ln Katy, TX 77494 t: 954.798.8868 e: alexandra.pena@vt.edu w: issuu.com/alexandrapm
May 2015 ORGANIZATIONS Seven Lakes H.S / Katy, TX 2019 - Present EXPERIENCES NCARB MG2 Currently pursuing AXP hours. Oct 2020 - Present Washington DC 2016 - 2020 Associate I Studio Collective Worked on various projects during the phases of Head of Marketing design development and construction documents 2015 - 2020 for clients in the areas of retail and industrial. American Institute of Architecture Students Merge Architects Summer 2019 / Dec 2019 - Jan 2020 / July 2020 - Sept 2020 Houston, TX Architectural Intern Assisted in various projects by drawing plans, creating renderings, and designing interiors. Luis Pons Design Lab Summer 2016 & 2018 Miami, FL Architectural Intern Assisted in a hospitality project by drawing plans, creating renderings, designing interiors and making presentations for clients.
SKILLS Languages: English | Fluent Spanish | Native Software: AutoCAD Revit Photoshop SketchUp V-ray Indesign Rhino Illustrator Twinmotion
Bemo Boards 2017 - Present Blacksburg, VA Interests: Co-Founder Photography | Digital and Film Design and handcrafted balanced boards. Screen Printing AWARDS TRAVEL Dean’s List at Virginia Tech, Fall & Spring 2015-2020 Honors College 2016-2020 Published in Silhoutte Magazine Fall 2018, Fall 2019
Venezuela (Born and Lived) United States Czech Republic Spain France Germany
Netherlands Italy Switzerland Austria Greece Mexico
Table of Contents Campus Ministry.................................................5 Artist’s Studio ...................................................11 Music School ....................................................17 Arts Perfromance School...................................23 Thesis................................................................29 Others Wood Dome......................................................35 Study Abroad.....................................................36
Campus Ministry Center
Community Center, Spring 2017 Blacksburg, Virginia
The Campus Minsitry Center Project focuses on creating a multi-purpose space in order to accomodate for the “To Our House” program, as well as space for the Ministry Center needs. The main purpose to accomplish with the site was to open up the space at the back of both buildings to create a connection to outdoor activities and events. By moving the parking lot to the east side of the community center, a retaining wall had to be designed to bound the parking lot because of the variability of the site. The building then was sunk into the ground with the first floor at level with the parking lot. In order to connect the main entrance of the building to the parking lot, a bridge was placed bringing them together.
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Ministry Center Church Common Area
Close Beds Floor Layout
Open Beds Floor Layout
Terrace
Ground Floor
Office
Laundry Office
Terrace
First Floor Ground Floor
Conference Room Office
Laundry Office
Living Room Kitchen
Office
Bathroom
Living Room Kitchen
Multi-use room
Office
Bathroom
First Floor
Office
Break Room
Multi-use room
Bathroom Bathroom
Bathroom Mechanical Room
Terrace
Ground Floor
Conference Room Office
Office
Office
Laundry Office
Break Room
Bathroom Bathroom
Bathroom Mechanical Room
Community Center
Office
Office
Laundry Office
Living Room Kitchen
Office
First Floor Ground Floor
Conference Room
Multi-use room Office
Break Room
L Kitchen
Office
Bathroom Bathroom
Bathroom Mechanical Room
Multi-use Structure The purpose of the main room was to be able to accommodate any function. From the two week “To Our House” program, to recreational uses like parties, or even having the space rented out to other organizations. With this idea, the beds will be placed in the wall and with the ability of being hidden when they are not in use.
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Light and Sections A big part of this project is the use of light inside the building. Taking a cue from one of the design elements of the church, the glass dalles wall, a connection was created between the church and the community center. The section below shows how light affects each space, and how the clerestory windows and the colored glass dalles wall in the staircase and entrance affects the clarity of the space. Each picture shows a specific moment affected by light and then refers back to its location. Community Center
Bell Tower Incorporating a plaza at the bell tower allows for people to gather around the tower before and after worship, as well as when there is no service. The tower sits in one corner of the wooden steps allowing it to draw your attention, while allowing the interaction of the people to be the main focus. To create a connection between the church, the community center and the bell tower; the glass dalles mural is used to show continuity. Instead of the color glass dalles on the sides of the tower, there are only rectangular openings without the glass. At night the inside of the cross lights up, while during the day the openings lets the light in. 10
The Artist’s Studio
Glass Artist, Spring 2018 Blacksburg, Virginia
The Artist’s Studio Project was designed for a glass artist that wanted a small studio adjacent to his house. To create shade for the larger windows as well as create a sense of privacy, a screen was designed to be placed in front. The site consists of outside space with a small covered porch at the entrance, a covered space for the client’s car, and a covered back porch for the summer time. Inside, the flexibility of the space allows for an individual work desk and an additional work table if needed for students in a small classroom setting. There is also a bookcase where the client can display his work.
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Site Plan
Floor Plan
South-East Facade
Closed screen
Artist’s Studio
Open screen
Louvers where design with the purpose of providing shade and privacy for the big windows when closed, while also allowing a beutiful grand view when they are open. With an easy system to open and close, they can also be custom to have one half open and the other not.
North-East Facade
Closed screen
Open screen
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Screen System Wall Detail 1
2 3 4
Track Roller bearing Metal plate
Wood Screen
5 6
1. Roof Tiles 2. Stucco 3. Fixed Wood Screen 4. Stucco 5. Wood Frame 6. Movable Wood Screen 7. Track 8. Fixed Wood Screen
7 8
Artist’s Studio
A track system would be in placed with roller bearings to allow the smooth movement. Attached to those, two plates that rotate on its axis, allowing the in and out movement of the screen.
When closed, the louvers allow for a sense of privacy, but leave enough space for a natural light to come in. If the artist wants to feel inspired, he can open up the screen to let more light in and feel as if he were actually working outside.
In the walls, built-in shelves are placed to offer storage for the artist.
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Music School
Jazz and Pop Music School, Spring 2018 Helsinki, Finland
A music school should be about collaboration between students and music through the use of common spaces in the building. Voids were inserted throughout the school in order to create spaces to gather and to let more light in the building. The site is located in Helsinki, Finland. The Music School is part of the Alto University and it is surrounded by two buildings on the west and south side.
Site Plan
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Glass Skylights
2nd and 3rd floor 4th and 5th floor 6th and 7th floor 8th and 9th floor
Instrument Class Small UP
UP
UP
Band Room PJK
Quiet Spaces
Office
Office
Office Office
Office
Office Office
Office
UP
UP
Band Room PJK
Band Room Big
Quiet Spaces
Instrument Class Small
UP
Instrument Class Small
Band Room Big
Instrument Class Small
Instrument Instrument Class Class Small Small
Instrument Instrument Class Small Class Small
Instrument Class Small
Instrument Class Small
Instrument Class Small
Instrument Class Small
UP Instrument Class Small
Instrument Class Small
Drum Classroom Band Band Room Room Small PJK
Band Room PJK
Instrument Classroom Big
Instrument Classroom Big
Drum Classroom
Band Room Small
Percussion Classroom Instrument Class Small
Percussion Classroom
Instrument Class Small
Instrument Classroom Big
Instrument Classroom Big School Nurse Office
School Nurse Drum Classroom Instrument Class Small
Instrument Class Small
Small Meeting Room Counceling
Band Room Small Band Room PJK
Band Room PJK
Counceling
Drum Classroom
Band Room Small Percussion Classroom
Percussion Classroom Instrument Classroom Big
Instrument Classroom Big Drum Classroom
Drum Classroom Drum Classroom
Equipment Storage
Class Class Instrument Class Class Instrument Instrument Instrument Small Small Small Small
Drum Classroom
Equipment Storage
Faculty
Band BandRoom RoomSmall PJK
Band Room PJK Big Meeting Room
Band Room Small
Percussion Classroom
Big Meeting Room
Drum Classroom
Band Room PJK
1st Floor
Instrument Class Small
Band Room PJK UP
UP
UP
2nd Floor
1st Floor
Drum Classroom Drum Classroom
Percussion Classroom Instrument Classroom Big
Instrument Class Small Instrument Class Small
Instrument Class Small
Instrument Class Small
2nd Floor
3rd Floor
Music School Practice Classroom Small UP
Practice Classroom Small
Maintance Room
Instrument Class Small
Instrument Class Small
UP
3rd Floor
Every floor there are double hight spaces that allows for a bigger and more open public space, letting more light in. The skylights pierce through the entire building bringing light to the public spaces.
UP
Instrument Classroom Big
Drum Classroom
Maintance Room
4th Floor
Instrument Class Small
Instrume Small
Wall assembly Detail using concrete for the structure and copper as cladding.
The use of materials for the facade alternate between rustic copper and glass for the windows. The top floor facade, where the rehearsal halls are located, is glazed all around, allowing more light into the building as well as making a statement from the outside.
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Section Model
Music School
The double height spaces allow for a larger, and more open public space area with optimal daylighting
The undulating form of the facade creates multiple private seating areas for students.
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Arts Performance School
Arts and Music School, Spring 2019 Blacksburg, Virginia
A school should be about collaboration and interaction not only inside of the classroom but outside as well. The program allows a separation of two entities: a formal space, the perfomance building, and an every day use space, the educational building. The site is located in Blacksburg, Virginia. Due to the topography on site, it allows to have the performance building’s ground floor on grade while having the educational building’s first floor on grade. Both connect throught a bridge at the first floor of the buildings.
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37 38 12
40
39
35
40
Second Floor
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Dance Roof Garden
42
Second Floor
26 27
41 12
32
31
33
28
34
30 25
29 24
41 23
First Floor Dining Administration Educational Theater Spaces
First Floor
1 9 10 11
3
4
5
6
7
41 16
Ground Floor
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12 20 13
41 15 19
2 17
14 18
Ground Floor
Arts Performance School
Theater Spaces Chorus Orchestra Ensemble Mechanical
The everyday use building
The formal building
The elevation highlights one of the most important ideas about the project. The gradual change in light through the use of transparent vs. translucent glass. Looking at the theather spaces on the left, some transparent glass allows a small peak into the more private space. Then moving into the bridge and classroom building on the right, the transparent glass gradually increases to allow a clear view of the fast pace movement and everyday interactions between the students.
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The section/elevation reveals the structure behind as well as provides insight of an interactive facade.
Arts Performance School
On top of the theaters, a garden connects both buildings through a bridge. A panoramic view of the city enlivens this public space so that it can be used by students in-between classes, as well as by those attending recitals or concerts.
A grand staircase is situated at the main the entrance of the building, and is not only for circulation, but as seating for students. The double hight spaces allows one to look into dance studios above.
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Museum of Human Rights and The Venezuelan Diaspora Thesis, Fall 2019 - Spring 2020 Caracas, Venezuela
The proposal for the museum comes from the idea of the importance of remembering history in order to not be doomed to repeat it. This place stands as a beacon of hope, a light that constantly shines and can be seen from everywhere in the city. To bring back the community and revitalized the city through the thought of intersections and connections. The site is located in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela; towards the east of the city lies an old private airport, La Carlota, that went through many decades of change. To the north is the highway Francisco Fajardo, it has become an iconic place where protesters have marched from the early 2000s to present day. Its topography is flat due to its main purpose allowing ample of space to be transform into a memorial park.
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The museum is separated in three parts: The Dark Age, The Fighting Age, and The Freedom Age.
At its core, the museum comes together at different intersecting levels: through the people walking outside, those using the plaza spaces, and those inside the museum exploring the history. The corner tower becomes a lantern of hope to the city and guide to the highway in front.
These volumes of light are the transition between the different museum spaces, bringing in clarity in a space of thought and reflection of what was learned in the previous room.
The layers of the facade of the building include the structure, a truss, the windows, using translucency and transparency for controlling the light in and visibility; lastly, the perforated screen, varying in size depending on the room of the museum, also controlling the amount of light and the visibility inside.
Museum of Human Rights and the Venezuelan Diaspora
West Elevation: Connection to the city
Floor Plan: The project consists of 4 floors, with one of them being underground. It has three museum rooms, a lobby, box office, indoor and outdoor auditoriums for multiple types of events, a library containing all the resources related to the period, back house offices, and lastly roof terraces.
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A view into the public space at the ground level where the multiple levels intersect. People above in the museum can look down into the museum plaza and people below can also peer into the movement inside the museum.
The museum’s center of intersection consist of a plaza below ground level to connect into the Araguaney’s tree path, it also serves as a open auditorium to host mutiple types of events.
The south entrance of the museum is also a place for congregation with the views of The Avila. The floor to ceiling windows is where the library is located.
Museum of Human Rights and the Venezuelan Diaspora
Another view of the different levels of interactions there are between the people inside the museum and outside in the public space.
People exploring all the public spaces and views of the museum like the terrace at the top of the museum.
The Fighting Age room is the middle part of the museum. Has the highest space for windows to line up to the present locations of where the protest took place.
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Wood Dome
Detail Project, Fall 2017 Blacksburg, Virginia
The Wood Dome Project consists of an elongated dome made of wood, metal, transparent glass and translucent glass. The repetition of material elements along curves helps to separate public and private spaces.
The wood has rhombus shapes connected by metal joints in which either wood, transparent or translucent glass fit in between.
Dome wall
Metal/Wood Joint
Floor Plan
Base Joint
The Wood Dome
Study Abroad
Sketches and Photographs Europe Fall 2018
Sketches from various cities in Europe.
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Photographs from various cities in Europe.
Study Abroad
alexandra.pena@vt.edu
