Contents Architecture
Industrial Design
Extras
Contents Universal House Research Pilot Plant Housing Specialized Gymnastics Center Lena Dunham Office Klumb Park
2016 2015 2014 2015 2016
06 - 11 12 - 17 18 - 21 22 - 25 26 - 29
Sundial Watch Hydrochromic Tile Mycellium Block Trifurniture Flipt Memory Stone Brise Soleil Block
2016 2017 2017 2016 2017 2015 2017
30 - 33 34 - 37 38 - 41 42 - 45 46 - 49 50 - 53 54 - 57
Interpolated Spaces Park[ing] Day Recyclable Fashion Show
2013 2014 2017
58 - 61 62 - 65 66 - 69
Resumè
University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras Campus: School of Architecture 2013 - Present
Liceo Aguadillano in Aguadilla 2009 - 2013
Languages Spanish English Personal Organized Perseverant Adaptable Self-motivated
Hobbies Photography Graphic Design Languages History Crochet
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Technical
Education
Skills
Microsoft Word Microsoft Power Point Rhinoceros Adobe Illustrator AutoCad Adobe Photoshop Adobe Indesign SketchUp Professional Product Design Urban Planning Materialogy Model Making Furniture Design
Interests
Academic Experience
Work Experience
President of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS): UPR Chapter 2017 - Present Negotiating and coordinating with professionals, product suppliers and service providers Overseeing the chapter’s board of directors and their responsibilities Meeting with student leaders from around the world Organizing fundraising events Secretary of Acts of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS): UPR Chapter 2016 - 2017 Prepared and distributed the meeting acts Negotiating and coordinating with professionals, product suppliers and service providers
Member of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS): UPR Chapter 2016 - present Participated in leadership conferences, professional improvement lessons and academic progress lectures Secretary of Acts of the National Honor Society: Olympus Chapter (NHS) 2012 - 2013 Organized “Relay for Life” pavillion within the school Supervised fundraisers Co-founder and Secretary of Acts of the Leo Club: Ramey Chapter 2012 - 2013 Organized community development activities Participated in leadership and fraternizing activities
Assistant Technician at the University of Puerto Rico’s FabLab in the School of Architecture 2016 - Present Maintaining the laser cutter balanced and clean Managing the laser cutter, 3D Printing and CNC Router proyects Organizing all the FabLab’s appointments Cleaning and organizing the FabLab at closing
Post-hurricane Building Inspector 2017 - Present Drawing “as builts” of buildings Documenting structural damages caused by the hurricanes Explaining to homeowners the results of the inspections Offering solutions to prevent further damage and future catastrophes
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Universal House Prof. Esteban Sennyey Third Year Studio 2016
Group: Hector Berdecia, Edwin D. Diaz, Elaine Lopez, Krizia Medero, Carlos Padron, Illian K. Perez, Paul Ramos, Jacqueline S. Rosario, Alexandra Z. Santana, Jean C. Vega
The Puerto Rico Assistive Technology Program (PRATP) is dedicated to helping the Puerto Rican population that struggles with disabilities such as hearing loss, sight loss, paraplegia, severe arthritis and more. The PRAPT approached the professor expressing the need for a model house where they would be able to demonstrate to the public their multiple solutions for solving everyday problems. The studio design led by said professor worked together as a group to design the house throughout a three month period. My responsibilities consisted of designing the bathrooms, the kitchen and drawing all main technical drawings: floor plan, sections, elevations, and flooring plan. The design included all Universal Design Principles and a hoister railing to facilitate
movement through the main areas of the house for a person suffering from motor impairments. These areas are defined as the master bedroom, the master bathroom, the dining room, the laundry and the kitchen. Per request, the aesthetic value of the design must be contemporary and clean while avoiding white. Every space and every decision made corresponded to the Universal Design Principles and the mental health research studied by the class.
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Master Bathroom Floor Plan
Master Bathroom Section Cm
Master Bathroom Section B
Second Bathroom Floor Plan
Second Bathroom Section C
Second Bathroom Section A
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Recovery Pilot Plant Housing Dr. Anna Georas Third Year Studio 2015
Group: Carlos T. Acosta, Maria S. Davila, Weslie R. Negron
Located behind the historic Rum Pilot Plant in the Rio Piedras Botanical Gardens, the RPP Housing gives the live-in scientists a place to stay. The rehabilitation of the Rum Pilot Plant includes an annex building where scientist hold investigations to continue with the original purpose of the plant, helping Puerto Rico’s economy. The housing complex consists of nine row houses located behind the new annex building. Each house includes two rooms, two bathrooms, a family room, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, a small front yard, and a terrace. The house is designed for the scientist and their immediate family. Due to the orientation of the site, the design covers the south façade where the sun is strongest with a series of wood panels forming a
screen; and in the north façade, where the sun is always in shade, the house opens up to a reflecting pond in which the terrace hovers on top of. Each house includes its own wind vent along with louvers and ceiling fans to guarantee cross ventilation throughout the house and minimize the cost and environmental impact of a cooling system.
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Specialized Olympic Center for Gymnastics Prof. Edgardo Arroyo Second Year Studio 2014 Group: Marellis V. Hernandez
The Specialized Olympic Sports Center for Gymnastics hosts the intense Olympic training for all Puerto Rican Olympian gymnasts. The idea behind the program is to isolate the athletes for a determined period of time before the Olympics where they have no distractions and can dedicate their full time to practicing the sport. The facilities include student dormitories, regular classrooms for the underage students to keep up with their school work, a gymnastics gymnasium, a gym, a locker room, a health clinic, faculty dormitories, a cafeteria, a library, administrative offices, faculty offices and recreational common areas. The center due to its isolated nature, is located in an inhabited island off the coast of Puerto Rico known as Icacos.
Based on the nature of the sport, the design breaks the laws of gravity by playing with the different levels on a plane. Just like in gymnastics there’s always a base level whether it is a bar, a horse or rings. The athletes move above and below this level appearing to be weightless. The design imitates this feeling by having volumes below and above nature’s base level; creating gravity defying spaces.
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Lena Dunham Office Prof. Jorge Buxeda Second Year Studio 2015
Being able to select any distinguished personality as a client for whom we had to create a workspace, I chose the writer, producer, actress Lena Dunham. She is a young talent that broke boundaries of cinema and literature with her award winning work. Based on our research of the personality we were to create a series of imaginary demands and requests made by them After studying her interviews and work, I learned that she was a very transparent, open-minded, free spirited person. As a writer, her main tools are books and a desk. As a producer, she needs a meeting place. Based on her personality, the design follows the open office concept including a couch, a kitchen and a library. In terms of aesthetics, based on her transparent personality the office has
an open floor plan and has floor to ceiling windows allowing complete visibility. Even though it’s an open floor plan, I divided the space into private/public and work/ recreational without actually structurally dividing them.
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Space Distribution Private Public Recreational Work
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Klumb Park Competion
Dr. Mariehelena Luengo Fourth Year Studio 2016
Group: Carlos T. Acosta, Javier Herce
The Klumb Park is located in the entrance of the historic Henry Klumb residence. When renowned architect Henry Klumb lived in the residence, he made an effort to join all the neighbors and create a safe space where people could feel at home. The Klumb Park’s purpose is to bring back this sense of belonging to the community by providing them with a safe space to bring their children, build an orchard and host events for the development of the community. At the moment, the space includes an abandoned container which we will rehabilitate and use as storage space for the gardening equipment as well as a multi-use space where they can have tables for workshops or to sell artisanal work. Following Klumb’s idea to blur the lines between the interior and the exterior,
we decided to structurally divide the spaces designed for human interaction and its surroundings while visually being one. The design was developed in two weeks in the form of a competition between all the other groups in the studio. The result of the competition was to design a space that included elements from all the projects. From our project, the elements that were elected were the program, the aesthetics and the floor plan.
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Floor Plan
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Vestibule Orchard facilities Gallery Space Children’s Park Open Library Parking Entrance
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Orchard Facilities
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Sundial Watch 2016
Inspired by the Sundial known to use the shadows to indicate the time of day, the aptly named Sundial Digital Watch imitates the shadows by using an LCD display that gradually lights up during the hours of the morning. During the hours of the evening it gradually turns the display off. The design combines the precision of a digital watch and the aesthetics of an analog watch, a combination of modern design and traditional design. The Sundial Digital Watch displays the hours by turning the hour block from off to on or vice versa depending on whether it’s AM or PM. The minute markers follow the analog design with lines of two sizes running along the round edge of the display but instead of having a hand like the analog watch, the Sundial Digital Watch marks the minutes
by lighting up the specific lines up to the present minute. These lines, known as the minute lines, are a part of the LCD display and light up in an accent color for variety and for easy reading.
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Top View
Side View
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Watch Elements
Watch Elements Hour Block Minute Markers LCD Display
Accent Colors
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Time Display Preview
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Hydrochromatic Tile Prof. Rafael Vargas Innovative Materials 2017
Inspired on the Puerto Rican cement tiles, the hydrochromic tile creates a pattern when used sequentially. Furthermore, the design is covered by a hydrochromic layer which allows for two patterns, as it changes when there’s a higher amount of humidity. This technology is ideal for exteriors and bathrooms for it allows the design to create two different spaces with the use of the same tile just by changing the humidity levels. The design is based on the caned pattern. This pattern is commonly seen in artisanal furniture, now seen as antiques. My concept was to bring back this iconic arrangement with a modern interpretation. The masonite board provides the design with a textured warm color that resembles the wooden artisanal furniture while the
white maintains a sense of purity as it is represented in contemporary design.
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Materials Hydrochromatic Paint
White Acrylic
Masonite Board
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Color Change Pattern Dry Wall Sample
Wet Wall Sample
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Mycelium Block
Prof. Rafael Vargas Innovative Materials 2017 Group: Kevin Rivera
The use of organic materials is growing due to its environmentally friendly nature. As an innovative material, we had to design an ornamental piece to experiment with the process of growing, molding and baking the Mycelium fungus to create a solid object. Parting from the organic nature, we wanted to design a block that could be used as a small planter and a light opening. During our process we learned that the material was highly sensitive to the environment. Even though each group followed the same instructions in growing the fungus, each sample grew differently as they were cultivated in different spaces. We also discovered that it worked similar than concrete in that its aggregate could be changed to change its properties. This experiment serves as the first step towards
studying the different variables that can be applied to the material so it can be used in the caribbean construction.
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Design Concept
Starting Shape
3D Shape
Flap
Apertures
Mycellium Growth Process Day 3
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Manufacturing
Positive Mold
Vacuum Forming Mold
Fill the mold
Cultivate
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Renders
Trifurniture
Dr. Mariahelena Luengo Fourth Year Studio Design 2016 Group Project: Carlos T. Acosta
Based on the construction of the classic folding rest mat, the Trifurniture consists of rigid foam inserts and a vinyl cover sealed by heat. As opposed to the classic folding rest mat, the Trifurniture, when folded it becomes an isosceles triangle. Due to its geometric properties, the triangle allows for a variety of patterns and because of its rigid foam the piece can be used in different ways. Not only can it be used as a resting mat but also as building blocks. When folded in certain ways the design can hold itself structurally, allowing Trifurniture to become a morphological module. The mat’s purpose is to provide children with a furniture piece that can be used to take their naps as well as create their play areas such as forts or barriers. The rigid foam allows a comfortable yet sufficiently structural form
for safety and the vinyl cover protects the foam from attracting bacteria while keeping the cleaning manageable.
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Vinyl Cover 2� Foam Vinyl Cover
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Flipt
Prof. Ricardo Acuùa Industrial Design 2017 The Flipt functions as both a stool and a small table by just rotating it. It has a removable thick cotton fabric that adjusts to the shape of the body as a seat and the incrusted bent aluminum plates as the tables. It has a thin wooden frame to give it structure and stability while maintaining a warm and light appearance. It’s shape, by rotating it, allows them to be piled up for easy storage and exhibitions. The design process took into consideration the mass production process such as the preparation of the materials and how each of them had to be shaped. The wooden frame is prepared using a router and sander and finished with a clear coat to preserve the wood whilst maintaining its natural tint. The metal plates are cut with a router and bent by the slits created to facilitate the process.
Later it is polished and painted. Finally, the cotton fabric is cut and sewn with a separating zipper allowing it to be removed for cleaning or changing.
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Side View
Table Top
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Cut 4 Pieces
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Curve Edges Make Opening
Cut Metal Sheet
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Memory Stone 2015
In the need to exchange documents with a colleague, we find ourselves with portable storage devices but without a laptop to serve as host of said exchange. Why do we need to carry such large objects when all we want is to exchange virtual documents? The Memory Stone serves as an external hard drive with the ability to exchange documents between small storage devices such as SD Cards, USBs or itself. It’s compact size allows for easy travel and its form makes it comfortable to hold. The external design consists of 3 parts; the screen, the mainboard cover and the battery cover. The LCD screen is curved allowing for a seamless display and it has touchscreen technology for easy browsing without the need of external devices. The mainboard cover includes ports for different
portable storage devices as well as a charging port. The device includes its own operating system simplified to its limited specific use of browsing and exchanging documents.
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Foto
Brise Soleil Block
Prof. Maria Flores Cement Class 2017 The purpose of the block has similarities with its precedent, the IBM building in Spain by Miguel Fisac, both blocks are designed to allow natural light without sacrificing the user’s privacy. In the Brise Soleil Block, the light enters through the 2” openings and is diffused when its interrupted by the block itself with the same elements that hinder the visibility through. Just like Fisac’s design, the block pushes the boundaries of concrete by creating svelte dimensions. As opposed to Fisac’s design, this one searches to be accessible and used in a common household, as such is the practice of the ornamental block in Puerto Rico. Designing the Brise Soleil Block required a series of experimentation and study with both the mold and the concrete
mix. Designing the mold proved to be the most challenging and had to be studied through prototypes. To achieve a costefficient ornamental block, the mold would have to be reusable so its design needed to be easy to dismantle and with the capacity to be cleaned. These requirements affected both the shape and the materials used. The final design of the mold was made out of Melamine and PVC panels and the block was made with hydraulic cement and chicken wire.
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Interpolated Spaces Prof. Ernesto Rodriguez First Year Studio 2013
As the first drawing exercise, the Interpolated Spaces’ purpose was to activate our creativity and learn how to draw with depth as well as practicing hand drawing. I used hatching to create the shadows and highlights giving it the 3 dimensional effect. The drawing is based on an existing building assigned to each student. The building’s architectonic space had to be analyzed in terms of space and geometry. After studying the building and its atmosphere, we had to take photographs of certain instances of the building that caught our attention and then select four that would be portrayed in an abstract drawing that would depict the building and it’s space. The building I studied was the University of Puerto Rico’s main library the Lazaro Library designed by architect Henry Klumb.
The main library is an open space with thick cylindrical columns. The stairs are the main focus when one enters the building with their monumental form and the wood details contrasting with the plain white walls. These elements are what encompass the essence of the building and are portrayed in the drawing as such.
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Park[ing] Day Prof. Edgardo Arroyo 2014
Group: Carlos T. Acosta, Fernando Cabeza, Fernando J. Claudio, Amanda P. Colon, Jeniffer Cruz, Maria S. Davila, Marellis V. Hernandez, Mineisha Janer, Monica Portuondo, Alexandra Z. Santana, Maritza B. Torres,
Park[ing] Day is an international event that points out the domination of vehicles and parking spaces in highly urbanized cities. For the project, the entire studio design group had to create a temporary pavilion that would provide the public with a resting space. We decided to use corrugated cardboard and reused wood pallets to show the public simple ways these often discarded materials can be used to create a comfortable durable space. We utilized the corrugated structure to provide the seat structure. By folding the cardboard instead of cutting and gluing, we ensured that the pieces were stronger as they would have less joints from where to break from. We covered every edge with colored duct tape to reinforce the parts where it could be weakened while adding an accent color
to the installation. The wood pallets were dismantled and rebuilt in a different shape to provide a safe flooring surface that would level the parking space with the sidewalk eliminating the barrier that keeps people out of the parking space. With the cardboard, we created a limited coverage to provide a certain amount of shade without covering the sky. Our idea was to create a space that could be compared with the tranquility of being underneath a tree.
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Recyclable Fashion Show Competition 2017
Group: Carlos T. Acosta
One of the main problems with plastic bags is that they end up in the ocean and the animals eat them. Our design brings harmony between the plastic bags and the ocean, by using them as a bathing suit. The bathing suit is made using one of the most timeless fashion techniques, the crochet. The crochet is essential to the design because it lets the suit breath through the small apertures in between the many knots. This was taken into consideration when designing the piece since plastic is known to seal and prevent ventilation. The plastic bags were cut into strips and then tied up to make the plastic string. The aesthetics of the design is inspired by the contemporary bathing suit design where the piece has selected cut outs to emphasize certain parts of the body such as the back cleavage
and waist. This also aids in the ventilation of the piece. The fact that plastic bags can be crocheted opens up the material to countless styles proving that one does not have to sacrifice style for helping the environment.
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