Architecture Portfolio
Street For The People
Spring 2021 || Iowa State University
Nature is an Architect
Fall 2021 || Iowa State University
Riverside Theater Festival Stage
July 2023 - June 2024 || Neumann Monson Architects
Oral-B Care Remodel
May - July 2024 || Neumann Monson Architects
Iowa City Animal Care & Adoption Center Addition
March - September 2024 || Neumann Monson Architects
515.318.0549 || angierespinozav@gmail.com || linkedin.com/in/angierespinozav
Experience
Neumann Monson Architects Architectural Designer Des Moines, Iowa
June 2022 - Present
Professional Involvement
National Organization of Minority Architects, Member & Communications Volunteer July 2022 - Present
Arquitina - Cohort 5 Mentee March 2023 - May 2023
American Institute of Architects, National & Iowa, Member June 2022 - Present
Professional Interests
Community Engagement
Architecture After Natural Disasters
New Building Technologies and Materials
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Architecture
References
Parker Dobberstein, Architect 319.359.2672 || pdobberstein@rdgusa.com
Joel Avery, Chief Information Officer 610.247.8705 || joel.avery@NOMA.net
Michelle Newcome, Architect 417.699.0359 || mnewcome@nspjarch.com
Natalie Ramirez, Architect 319.318.2112 || natalier@ramirezcollaborative.com
Education
Bachelor of Architecture, Professional Degree Second Major in Spanish Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa Graduation May 2022
Skills
Bilingual: Spanish
English
Softwares: Adobe Creative Suite AutoCAD Bluebeam Lumion
Microsoft Office Procore Revit
Rhinoceros SketchUp
Awards
Iowa State University’s Dean’s List Spring 2020 - Spring 2022
AIA Iowa / AIA National Diversity Scholarship Fall 2021 - Spring 2022
Cyclone Strong Grant Spring 2021
Foutch Family Scholarship Spring 2021
DACA / Latinx Student Leadership Council Scholarship Fall 2018
Jack Trice Character Award Fall 2017 - Spring 2018
Airports are not essentially healthy with the noise, fumes, stress, and overcrowding. Travelers spend enough time tirelessly navigating the built environment, yet there is no place to take time away from it. Openair leisure and natural greenspace are strikingly scarce, especially at the Los Angeles International Airport.
As the Theme Building, a historic site, lies in LAX’s heart, there is an opportunity to revive the airport’s natural landscape starting at its core. The site is surrounded by parking lots and parking garages that are losing their purpose at airports due to ride-share services like Uber and Lyft and the plans of the people mover that will connect people from the city to the airport.
The LAX Playground consists of two buildings offering an extensive greenspace (approximately 150,000 square feet) to reconnect passengers with the natural world before or after spending hours in a sealed jet. The west building is the Architcture Learning Center which allows passengers to explore a collection of drawings and models of famous architecture. At the same time, the east building offers spaces for entertainment and food. Both the green space and the building’s programs become a relief from the chaos of the airport.
Professor: Mikesch Muecke
Teamed with Cameron Nayman
Role: Designed, Prepared diagrams/drawings/details
Tools: AutoCad, Rhino 3D, Grasshopper, Vray, Enscape, Illustrator & Photoshop
Original Site
Parking lots with buildings
Building Footprint
Building is two halves under one roof
Building Extruded
Building extruded to 30’
Egress
Building’s roof becomes accessible to visitors. It becomes an outdoor space for rest.
Scale: 3” = 1’ - 0”
What If...The self-driving capabilities of cars have significantly improved to where vehicle accident death rates have gone down over 1000% since 2000. Now in 2100, non-self-driving cars have been made illegal on public roads. Fleets of publicly-owned electric vehicles can autonomously pick up and drop off people anywhere, free of charge, because nobody will own a personal car, leading to a car infrastructure change. Parking lots can be removed or repurposed, and roads can be smaller and safer. The technology within autonomous vehicles allows them to coexist with pedestrians on the street. Streets can be defined less by a space for passing through and more about becoming a destination in themselves, optimized for pedestrians.
The main planning goal is to design the city’s streets with pedestrians as the focus. The communication between each autonomous vehicle and the onboard sensors allows them to safely integrate into the pedestrian streets. Car infrastructure is minimized while pedestrian infrastructure is emphasized. Self-driving cars will not need turning lanes, permanent parking spaces, or multi-lane roads. The depreciation of the vehicles could also free up more areas for green space within the city to create a more pleasant pedestrian experience.
This leads us to the title of our project, Street for the People.
The ward system starts as a base of 16 blocks within a 1000’ x 1000’ area as a guide and lets the streets become programmed. Each ward can develop its individuality and support various focuses and spaces. For expansive space to be made within this dense ward, it’s imagined an area being removed from the blocks and given back to the street. As seen by several examples in the figure grounds, any configuration can be done. It’s not imagined that these spaces are arbitrary. Each indentation and road expansion is arranged to fit any specific need, like widening a road in front of a business to allow more foot traffic to the area or even more direct, like building a public park or plaza when these unique wards of different configurations are combined.
Professors: Andrew Gleeson & Kimberly Zarecor
Teamed with Samantha Rohlfsen & Nathan Nall
Role: Designed, Prepared diagrams/graphics
Tools: AutoCad, Rhino 3D, Illustrator & Photoshop
16’ Street
Thin roads can be completely occupied by people and bikes on a shared path. No self-driving cars use these spaces.
32’ Street
Self-driving car roads can be single lane and parking spaces can double as sidewalks.
40’ Street
Larger, busier roads allow for more movement and promote busier programs.
Streets combine with each other within the ward to form a dynamic and integrated street system.
The selected path demonstrates the different programs that can be encountered on different road types.
You feel the warm summer sun on your skin as you walk, observing this area’s signature trendy shops and restaurants.
You are attracted to a part of the city you’ve never been to before following the sounds of music and the people.
After emerging from a small street, you enter a hidden plaza and are greeted with the delicious smells of a small coffee shop.
Anywhere
A narration of the past, present, and future conditions of the world we live in through the lens of humans’ relationship with nature.
Nature encompasses everything untouched by humans. Yet, this statement, in itself, is ambiguous. What else can nature entail? What position do we have within nature? We like to think that we know all the answers, but that is not the case. Nature has revealed what it wants to reveal, yet we, in our preferred state of negligence, tend to believe in our assumptions of what nature is and what nature can be. And, this state of mind only restricts us from escaping survival mode. It prevents us from diving deep into a mode of survivance.
Our interpretation of survivance revolves around the idea of immersion. Humans have been living on earth intending to escape ambiguity, yet it turned out to be a vicious cycle of knowing and not knowing.
The act of immersion allows one’s whole being to be fully integrated into a particular situation or condition. The result of an act of immersion is discovering new perceptions and knowledge about the matter in which they are immersed. Allowing the body to be immersed in a vulnerable position of ambiguity brings it to a humbling position towards accepting the truth.
The current discipline of architecture is centralized around human architects and clientele. Suppose the problem revolving around the built environment is the progressive depletion of nature caused by human actions, then why is nature not a part of the equation towards finding the answer? Understanding this, the agency of our imaginary, fictive architecture should accept a wider scope of participatory elements, including human and nonhuman actors, where nature performs the role of an architect and human performs the role of a client.
An act of survivance is immersing one’s whole being into the state of ambiguity to make way for future clarities; it is about losing the freedom to gain freedom.
Professor: Mitchell Squire
Team: Ruth Kuswara, Megan Van Dalen & Ruodi Zhang
Role: Designed, Prepared Graphics & Built Wood Frame for Graphic Book
Tools: Rhino 3D, Illustrator, Photoshop
City, IA
Riverside Theater is a professional theatre company in Iowa City, Iowa. The theater was founded by Ron Clark, Jody Hovland, and Bruce Wheaton in 1981. In June and July, Riverside Theater produces a summer season focused on the classics and total production of Shakespeare at the Riverside Theater Festival stage, free for the community. Riverside Theater Festival Stage is located at City Park in Iowa City.
The project’s purpose was to create a safe and accessible space for the production of all of the performances that take place there. The problem was that Riverside Theater employees/volunteers would need to use an extension ladder to install all the lighting equipment on the Crown level for their shows. They were also experiencing moisture and ventilation problems.
The scope of work for the theater’s improvement project included the addition of an enclosed stair from the backstage structure up to the Crown level, repairs to water-damaged finishes, enhancements to ventilation, and the installation of new LED house lighting. The exterior required a facelift, replacing rotting trim and a fresh coat of paint, ensuring consistency between the new and old construction. Alternates of the project were new mounting for lighting on the Crown and replacing the decking of the main stage.
After bidding, the client decided to move forward with the base bid and alternate 2, which consisted of replacing the decking of the main stage.
Client: City of Iowa City & Riverside Theater Teamed with PM/Architect
Role: Prepared documents, Attended Client/Consultant meetings & Contract Administration
Tools: Revit, Bluebeam & Procore
Phases: DD, CD, Bidding, CA
Iowa City, IA
The P&G Company has been working on designing its workplace better and removing the industrial feel that the public spaces give. The Oral-B Care team requested that we study the cafeteria, locker rooms, restrooms, HR offices, health services, and patio and propose design options where these spaces have a livelier feel but are still practical.
A few concerns were that a walkway split the cafeteria space and seemed sad, the HR offices were on a busy thoroughfare, the restrooms had too many fixture counts, and the locker rooms lacked privacy. These spaces had a common fact: the finishes needed to be updated. We studied a couple of options in an attempt to address these concerns. For the cafeteria, we aimed for access to natural light and the outdoors, which option B accomplishes: warm, nature-inspired materials, diversity in seating, and easy-to-clean surfaces. For the locker rooms, ease of cleaning and a more private feel with aesthetically pleasing lockers was important. For the restrooms, updated fixtures and increased privacy.
The patio concepts present ways to liven up the space for staff to enjoy. Option 1 maintains the existing layout with its direct path to the parking lot on one side and seating on the other. It proposes to have a canopy where seating is and pulled from the building to allow light into the cafeteria space for option B. Option 2 suggests redirecting the path and moving the seating closer to the cafeteria for option B. The canopy in option 2 covers the entire patio in a steel grid style with solid and void panels.
Client: Procter & Gamble
Teamed with PM/ Interior Designer, Architect, BIM specialist, interior design intern
Role: Designed & Review Code, Prepared drawings/graphics/presentations, Attended Client meetings
Tools: Revit & Bluebeam
Phases: Conceptual Design
Summary of Plumbing Code Exercise:
Scenario 1: Business & Industrial
Required: 35 W.C. (includes urinals) and 33 lavs
Existing fixtures: 53 W.C. and 35 lavs
Scenario 2: Assembly, Business & Industrial
Required: 40 W.C. (includes urinals) and 35 lavs
Existing fixtures: 53 W.C. and 35 lavs
Scenario 3: Combining MOC & POC Together FTEs
1st shift: 336 occs
2nd shift: 196 occs
3rd shift: 131 occs
Total Required: 10 W.C. (includes urinals) & 10 lavs
Existing fixtures: 53 W.C. and 35 lavs
Final Proposed Executive Restroom Floor Plan
Final Proposed Plant Restroom Floor Plan
Plan - Option A
A less intrusive solution, maintaining the cafeteria and offices in their current location. The cafeteria seating increased to seat 118, and there is a designated space for training. There’s a larger HR office area with an acoustically separated conference room. The existing locker room is divided into men’s and women’s, each equipped with two showers and a triple-stacked locker style. The women’s locker room includes a designated mother’s room.
Plan - Option B
This option proposed to reconfigure the spaces. The cafeteria relocates along an exterior wall, creating an opportunity to add windows to allow natural light to enter the space and direct access to the outdoor patio. Seating increased significantly to seat 148. The locker rooms relocated to where the cafeteria and HR offices used to be, near the plant doors. Like Option A, the locker rooms are divided into men’s and women’s, each equipped with Z-style lockers. The women’s locker room extends into the plant to meet the fixture and locker counts. The mother’s room was relocated to be closer to health services.
Plan - Concept 1
Plan - Concept 2
Iowa City, IA
The Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center has been interested in expanding its facility for its staff and community. They were interested in continuing the study conducted in 2018, in which different expansion options were proposed. The goal was to develop a report to use for fundraising purposes.
The report documents the design options for a multi-purpose space expansion, aligning with the original request to use this space for dog training, staff meetings, and public gatherings. After exploring two options adjacent to the facility’s main entry, an additional request was made to consider a third expansion to the back of the facility for animal transfer, additional storage, and animal overflow. At the conclusion of the study, the Iowa City Animal Care & Adoption Center and the Friends of the Animal Center Foundation decided that the third option at the back of the facility, with a proposed budget of $1,200,000, addressed their greatest needs.
Client: City of Iowa City, Iowa CIty Animal Care & Adoption Center & Animall Center Foundation Teamed with PM/Architect
Role: Designed, Prepared graphics/drawings, Attended Client/ Consultants meeting, Prepared presentation & final report
Tools: Revit, Sketchup, Illustrator, Lumion & Bluebeam
Phases: Conceptual Design
MULTI-PURPOSE
ADDITION
1,083 SF
Floor Plan
Reuse existing window
Full height cabinets
Exterior windows
New door and window within existing opening
Floor sink
Counter sink
Option 1 extends a building wing to the west, continuing the existing building’s architectural massing and language. It’s adjacent to the main entry for ease of public access and programming.
Approach to Building
Perspective - Looking South
Perspective – Looking South
Exterior windows
Full height cabinets
Reuse existing window
Option 2 continues the architectural massing and language of the existing building by extending the building spine to the north. Instead of a detached building, a hallway “link” connects to the main reception area for ease of dog and public access. Allows a new main entry porch to be created.
Perspective - Looking South
Floor Plan MULTI-PURPOSE
Reuse existing window
Full height cabinets
Exterior windows
Overhead Door
Access
Access to Dog Park
New door and window within existing opening
Floor sink
Counter sink
ENTRY
Floor Plan
Counter sink
Floor sink
Exterior Windows
Option 3 continues the architectural massing and language of the existing building by extending the building spine to the south. It is located in the “back” to provide flexible space for various non-public needs (e.g., dog training, dog overflow, storage, delivery, etc.).
Perspective
The selected expansion extends the existing building’s spine to the south, continuing its architectural massing and language. It’s located in the “back” to provide flexible space for various non-public needs. The existing south driveway will be reused, and a new trash enclosure is purposed on the south side of the driveway. Both existing dog yards east and west of the expansion will be adjusted as needed for the addition.
The selected expansion extends the existing building’s spine to the south, continuing its architectural massing and language. It’s located in the ‘back’ to provide a versatile space for various non-public needs. The existing south driveway will be reused, and a new trash enclosure will be placed on the south side of the driveway. Both existing dog yards east and west of the expansion will be adjusted as needed for the addition, ensuring the space can adapt to future requirements.
Approach View – Looking north
The expansion continues the existing building's material palette galvanized corrugated metal panels and dark gray asphalt shingles and includes openings on all three sides. It provides a flexible space for various needs (e.g., dog training, animal overflow, additional storage, delivery, etc.). The expansion plans for an overhead door for ease of deliveries and animal transfer.
The expansion continues the existing building’s material palette—galvanized corrugated metal panels and dark gray asphalt shingles—and includes openings on all three sides. It provides a flexible space for various needs (e.g., dog training, animal overflow, additional storage, delivery, etc.). The expansion plans include an overhead door for ease of deliveries and animal transfer.
Angie Espinoza Vaquerano 515.318.0549
angierespinozav@gmail.com