academic portfolio [beau frail]

[beau frail]

the architect is

continuously constructing the connections from

dreams

to

reality

when one finds the connection

from

dreams

to

reality

the

power

to

transform

is limitless

[hand + heart + mind]

1

[urban joint]

2

[a house in the pines]

3

[SKY energy institute]

4

[plenum + vessel]

5

[door + window + stair]

6

[cultural prism]

BACHELOR OF DESIGN UNIVERISITY OF FLORIDA DESIGN 2_SPRING 2006 PROFESSOR ADELINE HOFER DESIGN 3_FALL 2006 PROFESSOR ROBERT MACLEOD

7

[historic cityscape]

DESIGN 4_SPRING 2007 PROFESSOR WILLIAM TILSON DESIGN 5_FALL 2007 PROFESSOR CHARLIE HAILEY

8

DESIGN 7_FALL 2008 PROF. FRANCESO CAPPELLARI PROFESSOR ALBERTUS WANG

[the urban metropolis]

DESIGN 8_SPRING 2009 PROF. MARTIN GUNDERSEN

MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE UNIVERISITY OF TEXAS

9

VERTICAL STUDIO_SPRING 2010 PROFESSOR KIM FURLONG

[cabinet of curiosity]

10

[drawing explorations]

11

[air craft museum]

ADVANCED DRAWING_2010 PROFESSOR JOHN BLOOD ADVANCED DESIGN_FALL 2010 PROFESSOR VINCENT SNYDER

12

[centro de salud]

13

[sketches]

ADVANCED DESIGN_FALL 2011 PROFESSOR WILFRIED WANG

[top view]

DALE CHIHULY: GLASS ARTIST The rich history of artisan glass blowing within the city of Venice, Italy has filtered through the minds and hands of countless artists—virtually influencing all glass artists today. The cultural palimpsest of this tradition is explored through the reconstruction of a promenade of Venice.

The realigned axis forms an urban joint anchored around a main public space. The edges of the canal and porous thresholds into the built environment of the city are transformed to channel the occupant’s exposure to the process of glass making. The occupant’s dislocation from the main public plane along the itinerary frames the experience of sensual perception through the promenade. Cultural artifacts and their associated memories generate the program’s structure. .

RECONSTRUCTED TIMEPIECE: REALIGNING THE LANGUAGE OF A CITY Where history ends, memory begins. The spatial institution unfolds into the public platform; enhancing its physical connection with the process of glass making. As the occupant is displaced from this physical presence through the ascension within the promenade, visual perception shifts and new meanings are formed between the public space, the glass artist’s process, and the occupant. As the promenade explores different edges and reveals new perspectives between the public and private fields, the horizons of the city are expanded. The memories of the city are merged into the promenade. The layers of history and experiences develop a sense of place through the reconstructed timepiece of Venice, Italy and the culture of its artesian guilds. .

[Dale Chihuly: River of Glass Exhibition in Venice]

[urban joint] the public platform anchored to the circulatory paths of the city

HYBRID PERSPECTIVE folding the subjective viewer with the objective plane

LAYERED TRANSPARENT PERSPECTIVES: AN INVESTIGATION IN DISLOCATION AND DURATION Transparency occurs through multiple layers of space and time. Connections construct corridors linking spaces and ideas that define the society and art form of glass blowing throughout the city’s historical evolution.

A narrative is translated through the definition of spaces traditionally used throughout the glass blowing process: the furnace for firing the materials that will form the malleable glass becomes a central component to a public place along the lagoon while the process of shaping this formless material into creative designs is viewed from multiple public paths. Ultimately, the city becomes a promenade that captures the energies of this artistic process and reveals opportunities to experience the transformation and display of the glass art. . . .

measure contour topography ground tectonics envelope

[a house in the pines] high art and new nature merge to enclose the dancer

AUSTIN CARY MEMORIAL FOREST: CONNECTING WITH THE FLORIDA LANDSCAPE

The physical context of the Florida landscape and its bearing on the act of making architecture is the main focus of this project. The design process addresses the increasing complexities of multiple levels of occupation and the pragmatism of program and spatial tectonic definition.

Exploring new ideas related to the context as the generating system—the perceptual and physiological characteristics of the natural site engage the thinking and making of the design.

Transitionality and operationality provide the dynamic drive for the residence designed for a dancer. Performance and the daily rhythm of the artist are juxtaposed with the natural processes and systems of the forest setting within this spatial experiment. .

THE CONDITION BETWEEN EDGES: TO DANCE WITH NATURE This temporary residence for a dancer is compact and allows for interaction with the natural and planted pine forest. The approach pulls off a narrow path carved through natural pine forest and descends the dancer into a submerged burrow of a room. As the space narrows, the dancer is led into a new path that is situated along the main horizontal axis. Layered platforms confine the dancer to an elementally exposed zone for outdoor practice. As the dancer circulates up through the program of the building, the structure provides shade and aligns with the planted pines to take advantage of winds and the narrow perspectives for reflection. .

The dwelling develops from the landscape of edges created between the natural and planted pine forests.

Just as the width of a burrow accommodates its animal inhabitant, the scale of the dancer’s house reacts to the movement and shape of the dancer. The entry develops from points of departure and extension into the landscape—connecting the dancer with the natural elements of the forest. .

As the dancer circulates further within the residence, moments fold out to create performance spaces. Spaces also contact and produce areas for containment and protection of the artist—allowing for meditation and reflection. Approaching the threshold between forests, a shift in orientation and elevation lifts the dancer into a transparent yet enclosed space to experience multiple perspectives—augmenting inspiration. .

[SKY energy institute]

The partnership of the University with the developers of Sky gave students the unique opportunity to explore the strategies and tectonics that would form a complex demonstrating the best energy practices and developing a distinct vernacular based on program and historic precedent. .

BUILDINGS AS AN INTERSECTION BETWEEN THE LANDSCAPE AND SKYSCAPE Shifts in scale are juxtaposed between the main public building and the more intimate spaces of the labs and visitor rooms on the periphery of the institute. The main building is carved and blurs the distinction between the interior and exterior. The visitor’s rooms are elevated to accept the public datum and private circulation paths wind throughout the site and into the didactic landscape. .

[roofscape]

CULTIVATING GROUND The main public platform is anchored by the control and release of views into the surrounding landscape. The sense of enclosure develops through the various hierarchies of circulation. The floating plates of the public arena converge into a main open space that extends from a secluded, more intimate area adjoining the smaller scaled visitor rooms surround by planted pine forest and extends into the vast open planes of didactic gardens and fields. .

GESTURES INTO THE GROUND—EMBRACING THE SKY The main public building elevates the lecture and seminar rooms to expand horizons and expose perspectives of the land. The labs for the study of wind, water, and solar energy hover over public burrows within the ground and embrace the notion of extending the landscape into the public arena. The landscape is carved and treated to react to the program of the Institute. The energy of the ground is unearthed as the itinerary of the traveler encounters the soil in a multitude of paths. .

PHENOMENOLOGY OF LIGHT The interaction of light within the Energy Institute dictates the program of spaces. The interaction of water within the Energy Institute dominates the connections within the plenum space. Parallax is achieved through the many levels and scales of circulation. The landscape is carved and treated to react to the program of the building. The type of light apparent and the visual connection to the sky, the landscape, and public spaces organizes the series of spaces within the Institute. .

exploring spatial ambiguity

The plenum is space filled up—the antithesis and the presence of the void.

Carved by the energies of light, circulation, and scale; the interaction between the planes of ground, surface, and overhead condition begin to produce a sense of space. Occupation is explored through sectional qualities and materiality is experimented. The plenum becomes the matrix for future design processes. .

[ reconstructed vessel ]

[plenum]

[vessel]

engaging the full scale within a plenum space

[plenum + vessel] The vessel acted as a transition in thinking and making to the physical intervention of the plenum into a site on campus. The site was analyzed through investigations in the external forces that would interact with the internal conditions of the plenum. Sections integrate the plenum at the scale of the site; color and tones reveal the interaction of light and the axis of approach. .

conception

analysis

integration

[plenum + campus]

intervention

The vessel acted as a transition in thinking and making to the physical intervention of the plenum into a site on campus. The site was analyzed through investigations in the external forces that would interact with the internal conditions of the plenum. Sections integrate the plenum at the scale of the site; color and tones reveal the interaction of light and the axis of approach. .

campus investigation [group analysis]

[door] passage threshold gate expansion tension hinge shear transition sepration joint

[window] wind+eye aperture opening slit slot gap opacity frame puncture reveal fissure

[stair] shift landing itinerary transient destination hoerarchy flight series rhythm datum

TRANSFORMING SYNTAX Weaving architectural components to form systems of interaction.

Intersections of systems create nodes of occupation.

[door + window + stair]

Door + window + stair initiated the investigation of architectural thinking and making.

Modeling wove together linear scaffold and tectonic components to construct thresholds for occupation—visually, physically, and perceptually. The semantics of architectural language are assembled through materiality, scale and concept. .

SPATIAL SYSTEMIC FUSION: DYNAMIC OF TACTILE FORCES The interaction of the elements within the assemblage carries the forces if the ideas that constructed them. A tectonic construction is supported by linear elements to create scaffolding. This system of raised frameworks is interweaving and interacting with elevated platforms, which are textured and layered. A skin, which acts as a conceptual membrane, envelopes and encases the linear structure; the skin covers surfaces and separates and connects structural elements to create moments. The moments consist of ideas representing doors and windows, as well as joints for the construction of stairs. .

occupiable roof prism viewing threshold

[Production Plenum]

elevated theatre path

presentation theatre

prism circulation threshold

production plenum + historical links

public ground/ waterscape

divergent public/ private bridge

[Ground/ waterscape]

[Presentation Plenum]

[cultural prism]

urban stage in Venice

Citizens, travelers, air, water and light circulate through the cultural prism. The prism acts as an anchor for interaction and experience of the craft of glass production through a system of layered spaces. The procession of pedestrians is woven through a carved waterscape at the ground level. Arrival into the building occurs along a divergent bridge separated into a private and public path. The open ground plane carves a path for water and circulation—acting as a gathering and transitory space. . . .

AN EXCHANGE OF FLOWS This building is a junction between Murano and the mainland island of Venice. Folding new forms of contact with glass production into the fabric of the city—allowing a reconnection with Venice’s historical identity. The theatre facilitates cultural exchange between the craftsmen sustaining the glass making tradition and the travelers circulating throughout the processes.

CULTURAL PRISM an iconic circulatory prism acts as a threshold between water and land; exposed and enclose; history and experience. .

vertical observation

connective space

[historic cityscape] interventions within St. Augustine Weaving new space into the historic texture of the city. The palimpsest of historic layers is filtered and exposed through the spatial systems connecting the photography gallery with the observation tower. The interventions anchor along the public edges of King and Cathedral Street—providing points of access for the public to fold into and out from the gallery and tower. . .

TEXTURAL MAPPING layers of history, time and textures—the overlapping of these perceived systems construct the experience of the city dweller .

HISTORICAL VERTICAL OBSERVATION TOWER The ascension above the horizontal plane of the public promenade opens views to observe and interact with elements of the city through new perspectives. Transparency and openness enhance the views of the city as light filters through the translucency of the tower and illuminates new possibilities to be discovered. Inhabiting between surfaces of the city and between layers of history that evolved over time untangles the experiential complexity of the city into phenomenological clarity. .

TWINE PHOTOGRAPHY GALLERY MUSEUM The gallery acts as a vessel of display for the photographic work of Richard Twine— a local historical figure. The interior shifting section of layered planes is enclosed by a folding skin that creates an inwardly focused space. The city folds into the gallery through the exhibits of work and from its proximity and connection to the public promenades along the movement corridors of the city. .

RICHARD TWINE: TEXTURAL COLLAGE

ST. AUGUSTINE layers of history, time and textures—the overlapping of these perceived systems construct the experience of the city dweller

URBAN CONDITIONS PERCEPTION PHASES PALIMPSEST EXPERIENCE MATERIALITY THRESHOLD OCCUPATION BOUNDARY MOVEMENT TRANSITIONS CONFLICT CIRCULATION PULSE LAYERS TRANSPARENCY LIGHT OPACITY PARALLAX FORCES GRADIENTS WATER ENERGY NEW OLD

[the urban metropolis] The New York City project developed from individually designing a hotel and commercial site into a class project that constructed a map of NYC to navigate the city during our visit. The design proposal involved working in a team to develop a concept for the Hudson Rail Yards site. I worked with Ailen Garcia; we both contributed to the design scheme throughout the process.

She worked exclusively on the final model. While I built the physical context, completed the drawings and rendered the model through photo montage. . [dynamic extension] of thresholds between the water and the field of the city [redefining the sense of park] into the meeting of a historical, open edge [seasonal gardens] displaced along the shifting public plane

NEW YORK CITY gradients of parallax and phases of palimpsest

[PROJECT DEVELOPED WITH AILEN GARCIA]

LONGITUDINAL HIGHLINE & VERTICAL DISPLACEMENTS highline constructions function as a public filter and axial garden throughout the site .

SEASONAL GARDENS The proposal for the Hudson railyards is a series of seasonal gardens that provide and extension of the public parks of New York City and the organic itinerary of the highline an access point to the edge of the Hudson River.

Merging the shifting paradigm of public park to the water’s edge is the main concept charging the proposal.

The concept of seasonal gardens was developed from the design process involving the translations of ideas through construction and drawing, which became the anchoring idea within the proposal for the site. The ideas of repose and open field are paralleled to the river’s edge to explore new territory. .

[the urban metropolis] The proposal for the New York City railyards continues to develop the concept of energy in transition and shifting perspectives. The Hudson railyards site offers a unique opportunity to develop new paradigms through the construction of spatial assemblies that produce various gradients of parallax and phases of palimpsest. .

INFRASTRUCTURAL ANOMALIES: DISLOCATING THE HIGHLINE The highline is an element of the city that transports through the site as a transitory vein within a larger system of a body as the city. The horizontal movement of the highline carves an itinerary through the site that captures the ordered edges of the context with an organic presence. The proposal integrates the highline by activating it as a cultural monument and redistributes its idea of public circulation at multiple elevations. This allows for a parallax of perspectives to overlap and distinguishes the program of each construction that is integrated with the elevated highline. Revaluing the highline as an axial garden with opportunities to fold out and into the site develops it as a significant component within the seasonal garden system. .

The concept of museums as measures of human collection is historically linked to “cabinets of curiosity� which were vessels for foreign objects. Cabinets acted as context for the artifacts and were constructed as servant spaces that allowed for exploration and the expansion of knowledge. Analysis of a Joseph Cornell box revealed how objects can generate formal and theoretical compositions. .

INTERSECTION OF ARTIFACTS

[cabinet of curiosity]

SPIRITUAL INTERSECTION

The cabinet was composed as the aggregation of found objects in a spatial narrative. Three axes interlock these objects to display the tension of humanity’s perception of “natural” and how it transforms into the “man-made.” This is revealed through a system of layered planes. .

MECHANICAL SHIFT

NATURAL DATUM

TALLEST BUILDING

MICROSCALE STUDY

The task to design the tallest building in the world became an expression of transparent verticality juxtaposed against a range of nature’s tallest structures: mountains. .

A small object was examined and drawn at a zoomed in scale— representing contours of the inflections of the surface of a nickel. .

[drawing explorations] This advanced drawing course activated creative intention through rigorously producing and making architectural and graphic projects. Exercises explored various media [pencil/ pastel/ watercolor/ hybrid drawing] and techniques [super saturation/ constructed perspective/ theory generated drawing] .

THELKA: VENICE The city of Thelka was reconstructed through the lens of Italio Calvino’s Invisible Cities. This drawing examines the concept of city with its blueprints embedded in the constellations of the night sky. ..

DODECAHEDRON The platonic solid geometry of the dodecahedron [structure of 12 pentagons joined at the vertices] was the starting point for designing and rendering an observatory. Constructed perspective and watercolor wash were used to build this moon lander. .

MOON LANDER

DODECAHEDRON STUDIES

RESTORATION CENTER Like the life of a lotus flower, the life of a child enslaved to the sex trade begins in the darkest parts of this world. The threshold of the restoration center symbolizes the upward journey toward light and freedom that the lotus flower takes as it blooms into a stunning display of unique and bold colors. The colors and textures of the watercolor capture this moment between bondage and freedom—the difficult process of liberation focused on hope and peace. . .

TOKYO RESTAURANT A niche building rises out of a compact site in Tokyo’s density.

The design of the restaurant tower embraces the street and filters occupants up through the multiple dining options.

The rendering strategy was super saturation—an unforgiving approach used to establish a figure and ground relationship between the elements on the page. .

VESTIGES OF THE LAST WORLD WAR

an abstraction lifting off away from the ground fluid mechanics recharged relics roam and roar

they will never be silent here although the memories and heroes may pass away these vessels of their time will continue to fly in free (fought for) air and sky

and we will keep them flying forever so we may never forget and always remember

through the sounds, smells and feelings emanating from these mechanical warriors we will keep that connection to our past and ignite the reassurance of our futures

[air craft museum]

commemorative air force

[PROJECT DEVELOPED WITH KAT CAHIR]

[site analysis]

inhabiting the in between

The site chosen for the museum is located adjacent to the city of Austin, TX. The “in between� character of the site manifested at multiple scales. The land of this private and expanding airport lies between the boundaries of adjoining cities. The conditions of the site were analyzed at a micro scale and surfaced the inhabitable zone that emerges from the intersection of site restrictions with visual and physical thresholds.

The museum inherited this energy from the site and transposed this idea into the fabric of design development. . .

[a process of creation] The design for the museum started with organizing the programmed spaces [Restoration/ Maintenance Hangar, Operational Hangar, Exhibition Space, Memorial Garden, Teaching Shop, Library/ Research Facility/ Auditorium/ Cafe] into volumes and zones of occupation and use. The volumetric patterns inspired forms of geometry that could “shelter” the ideas of the building. The program areas were organized in various arrangements which were modeled in physical form—searching for an appropriate language to house such a unique collection and organization. . .

[air craft museum]

commemorative air force

The idea of establishing a museum for the CAF in Austin, TX is to create an accessible, highly visible symbol that clearly displays their purpose and allows for its future definition through an interactive and dynamic locus of activities. The museum operates as both a maintenance and restoration hangar for the CAF air fleet and thus has a complex duality. Relics and memorabilia are also displayed in exhibits that reveal the personal narratives of those who served in the military. The folded skin concept developed as a way of wrapping the intersecting axes of programs into a unified whole. A contrasted balance of forms hovers above the undulating glass ribbon that immediately allows the visitor to experience the air craft fleet. .

[in between]

site plan

The experience within the museum offers both determinate and indeterminate paths.

A metaphorical passage along the Memory Walk is an illuminated history of personal war narratives and is anchored by linear reflecting pools on the exterior. A series of ramps allow one to navigate into the plenum space and view the air craft from different perspectives. The observation deck offers a panorama of the air strips to see and hear these historic air craft take flight. .

ground floor plan

EXHIBIT SPACE

MEMORY WALK

[interior experience] The procession into the museum brings you beneath the emotive folds that juxtapose with the smooth metal bodies of air craft—yet invoke the same gestures of flight and landing. Inside one encounters a similar experience through the folded volumes of exhibits, ramps, catwalks and the spaces for service and entertainment. Fenestration carves through the folded skin to bring dramatic wells of light into the vast spaces. The memory walk bisects the museum and is parallel to the new runway—leading one to an outdoor memorial garden where air shows can be viewed. The operating hangar and restoration hangar are cradled by a platform accessed via catwalks where one can gain new views of the historic fleet. . .

MAIN OPERATING HANGAR

ENTRANCE SEQUENCE

VIEW UP TO OBSERVATION DECK

[exterior elevations] A contrasted balance guides the formal geometry of the museum. The folds become an emotional response to the tragedy of war and fulfill the functional wrapping of the programmatic spaces. Glass prisms puncture the folding skin to offer moments of extension into the landscape and towards the runways.

Light carves through the folded skin in a system of peeled edges that becomes inhabitable at one moment for a roof top cafe. . .

SOUTH ELEVATION

NORTH ELEVATION

WEST ELEVATION

EAST ELEVATION

[building + wall sections] Path becomes a dynamic experiential narrative of the value of these historic air craft and the stories and people associated with them. Most of the planes are being worked on and in operation, while others are for display purposes and suspend from above. A detail wall section of the observation deck shows how an air control tower for the airport is integrated with the public space. The other wall section is through the cafe and catwalk which suspends between the hangars. .

CITY DISTRICT LOTS NEIGHBORHOODS

mapping demographics [Quito, Ecuador]

[centro de salud] health center in Quito, Ecuador Quito is a high altitude capital located in the valley between two mountain ranges. These physical barriers have shaped the city’s axial growth. At the southern edge of the city is a new community of social housing, Quitumbe. The legacy of this site had engaged in agricultural production and agrarian purposes. The streams (quebradas) that network throughout Quitumbe are a conglomeration of natural edges.

The proximity to health care facilities is limited, but not impossible.

The standard of living is lower to middle class and basic needs are only partially met by most families. The presence of a health care center that operates as a cultural meeting place at the heart of Quitumbe has the ability to establish a healthy and vigorous identity for its residents. .

DISTRICT OF QUITUMBE IN QUITO, ECUADOR

CITY GROWTH

BASIC NEEDS

INCOME

LIVING CONDITIONS

HOSPITAL DISTRIBUTION

[centro de salud] defining health for Quitumbe Quitumbe is a planned community in the southern region of Quito that is composed of 60 perimeter blocks with 11,000 units. Quitumbe has an incomplete identity and lacks public service space, although land is set aside for this program. Quitumbe also has a young population with many mothers and children; 30% of children in the city live in the district of Quitumbe. Malnutrition is a pressing issue for city dwellers who do not have access to fresh food or the knowledge to prepare healthy meals. The program “Alimentate Ecuador� [Nourish Ecuador] is aimed at reducing malnutrition. They recently hosted educational campaigns in Quitumbe and found that of the 9,480 children under 5 years old in the program, over 58% suffer from anemia in some way. .

EXTERIOR PERSPECTIVE [VIEW FROM SOUTH WEST]

EXTERIOR PERSPECTIVE [VIEW FROM NORTH EAST]

SITE PLAN [INTERFACE BETWEEN CITY AND STREAM]

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

[centro de salud] redefining health for Quitumbe Rammed earth was chosen as a building material for its low embodied energy and to give the building a direct connection to the landscape. While rammed earth construction is labor intensive, construction labor is readily available and more economical in Ecuador.

Quitumbe’s residents are mainly self-displaced from rural areas. Coming to a planned community on a former agrarian site, any form of agriculture is ad-hoc and not premeditated.

The health center design reintroduces the concept of healthy eating and living by becoming an urban farm. The courtyard is a terrace of productive plants that can be grown by the residents and used in the health center’s cafeteria—for consumption and demonstrations.

INTERIOR PERSPECTIVE [EXAM ROOMS]

ELEVATION [NORTH]

ELEVATION [SOUTH]

[centro de salud] redefining health for Quitumbe Murals are embedded into the rammed earth walls throughout the health center in public spaces that display healthy living/ eating and also display an ideal interaction between patients and health care workers. These are visually didactic tools to encourage a sense of empowerment and responsibility for being in charge of one’s own health. Generous social spaces have been built into the health center responding to Ecuador’s people-oriented culture. .

ELEVATION [EAST]

ELEVATION [WEST]

SECTION [WEST EAST]

SECTION [WEST EAST]

[sketches] Every moment and every place offers a genesis—of a thought, a memory, an idea, a feeling—and we seek to grasp these with an eternal essence. It was through the mark of the line that I discovered deeper meanings and understandings of places. .