Architectural Studies by Bruno Larios
MMIII - MMX
contents Part I NewSchool of Architecture and Design Graduate Studio Second Year
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Part II San Francisco Institute of Architecture Graduate Studio First Year
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Part III Work Experience Design, Production and Construction
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La Jolla R.E.C.O.U.P. 2030
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Little Italy Design District
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Del Sur Fire Station
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Little Italy Museum Remodel
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New NewSchool Addition
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Rooftop Glass Studio Gallery
20
Wedding Chapel
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Berkeley Hills House
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Home for a Retired Couple
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Oakland Community Sculpture Garden
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Mariposa County High School QUAD
30
EcoWave Conference Center
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Designscape Landscape Design
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I.I.N.I. Real Estate Developers
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Arcosanti
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Tsui Design & Research, Inc.
BrunoLarios
NewSchool of Architecture Graduate Studio 2 An interdisciplinary approach, the second year of the Graduate program at The NewSchool of Architecture & Design in San Diego emphasizes building a link from the theoretical and conceptual emphasis of the first year into the comprehensive design project of the third year Thesis. Studio projects build in complexity focusing on all aspects of the site. From the sensual and perceptual, to the social and historic, and the geological and legal. Case studies were employed as derivations of structural concepts for design development. My process during this time was oriented towards finding integrative solutions to site and sustainability goals. Many site solutions call out for specific plantings of drought tolerant trees and shrubs for both site restoration and micro-climatology. Efforts are always made to find aesthetic interpretations for pragmatic solutions, like integrating water management systems into fountains or man made ponds. Much attention is given to solar paths and passive-solar concepts are employed liberally. Much of the work at this time addresses urban situations and aims for a livable density. I believe a return to walkable cities and dense habitats is the foremost thing we as designers can do to contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions and prepare for a post-oil economy. My emphasis in these urban projects is on complexity of form of course, but also on economic diversity, and social influence.
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BrunoLarios
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NewSchool A+D 2nd Year Studio
R.E.C.O.U.P 2030 La Jolla, California
Permaculture and Urban Food Production As the end of oil approaches, the successful communities will be the ones working towards self reliance with localized and diversified economies able to provide for the basic necessities of life. To this end I propose the Research and Experimentation Center for Organizing Urban Permaculture (RECOUP). The main strategies towards sustainability embraced in this project are as follows: 1. Working towards a culture shift embracing ecological principles 2. Exploring opportunities in urban community-scaled food production 3. Site and building integrated living machines 4. Siting for solar exposure 5. Recycling buildings and recycled materials 7. Green roof vegetable gardens and 8. Passive design utilizing thermal mass Throughout the site there are multiple opportunities for the re-use and recycling of water. At the lower end of the site the water from the kitchen and showers are routed into a constructed wetlands living machine which then irrigates the fruit and nut trees at that site. The upper gardens also recycle water but incorporate harvested rainwater and water collected from a catchwater basin at the southernmost tip of the site. This water is routed into the RECOUP project’s aquaculture garden and then into irrigation. The main house also recycles its water into irrigation but does so with three ponds located on the roofs of the three support towers of the structure. These ponds also act as thermal heat sinks to maintain temperature throughout the house.
Fall 2008
BrunoLarios
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NewSchool A+D 2nd Year Studio
LIDA District Little Italy - San Diego, CA
LIDA - The Little Italy Design & Arts District The creative energy of a city must be fueled by the intellectual vigor of its citizens. In that spirit a community school of industrial arts is proposed to foster the burgeoning art and design community in Little Italy and greater San Diego. The Alliance of Industrial Arts: A non-profit collaboration of artists, students and professionals providing instruction in, and studio space for, a variety of industrial arts, including: blacksmithing ceramics enameling fire performance foundry glass jewelry kinetics machine shop moldmaking stonework textiles welding and woodworking Our Urban Design Priorities: • Overlap uses and functions as much as possible • Make alcoves and courtyards for privacy and social interaction • Draw on Italian urban planning cues for vitality and character • Punctuate the street edge for rhythmic and eclectic experiences • Integrate modern, classical and vernacular architecture • Harness elements of plazas, balconies, patios, fountains and arcades
Summer 2008
BrunoLarios
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NewSchool A+D 2nd Year Studio Fire Station Del Sur, California
A Comprehensive Approach to Sustainability Inspired by a Phoenix rising from the Earth, rammed earth walls were sourced from dirt excavated from the site. Earth floors are finished with Linseed Oil. Salvaged clay tiles are used for roofing and Saltillo tiles on the patio areas. The morning sun enters through clerestory windows to greet the dorms, while warming up the kitchen and fitness areas. Shade is provided from the hot midday sun, and wind from the NW and SW permeates the open plan to cool the structure. Ample clerestories throughout provide natural indirect daylighting while providing shade in the summer and allowing the low winter sun to penetrate and warm the thermal mass in the colder months. Opening the clerestories in the summer allows hot air to escape and aids in maintaining moderate temperatures. Water permeable pavers maintain ground water levels and prevent erosion. Greywater Recycling takes place in three constructed wetlands bioremediation ponds and is used to irrigate the lawn and for other site chores. Excess water is diverted to the creek bed on the site. The roofs are angled to divert rainwater to a lush garden oasis tucked in a courtyard just outside the lobby. Excess runoff is collected and diverted into the greywater system. Drought tolerant shrubs like Oleanders, Purple Sage, Bougainvillea, and Red Bird of Paradise, as well as Siberian Elm Trees, Gray Birch, Juniper and Amur Maple trees limit water usage and maintain site character.
Spring 2008
BrunoLarios
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NewSchool A+D 2nd Year Studio
Fire Station 2050 Little Italy - San Diego, CA
Density, Complexity, and Diversity Solar panels will not save the world. Neither will recycled bamboo flooring. It won’t be louvers or radiant heating, or any other countless band-aids being tacked on to “Green Buildings” nowadays. By the year 2050 today’s emerging technology will be commonplace and highly efficient. Yes, it will drop our energy bills and yes, it can help clean our oceans but this is not enough. Forty years from now, long after sustainable technology has become transparent and ubiquitous, the next revolution in design will be a striving to weave complexity into our urban fabric. By creating a highly dense, highly diverse, and highly complex urban landscape we will be laying the groundwork for the cultural evolution of our species. Beyond survive-ability is the next step; thrive-ability. Economic, moreso than spatial density was defined as the primary objective. In that spirit, a lot which today contains only a fire station museum, is improved to contain not only a museum, but a farmers market, a bar, restaurant, cafe, yoga studio, condos, apartments, professional offices, and a greywater filtration system. The Economic Diversity promoted by this new design provides for the employment of massage therapists, yoga instructors, baristas, cafe managers, bartenders, hostess, bussers, cooks, servers, restaurant managers, entrepeneurs, artisans, artists, farmers, lawyers, accountants, architects, maintanence, cleaning crews, leasing agents, water systems engineers, landscapers, building superintendents, and tour guides. Sufficient housing is provided to theoretically house and employ each of those people mentioned above, creating a truly dynamic and urban space.
Spring 2008
BrunoLarios
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NewSchool A+D 2nd Year Studio
School of Architecture East Village, Downtown San Diego
Structure and Skin Sitting neatly on the Downtown/East Village border at the crux of the Park Blvd redevelopment thoroughfare, the opportunity exists here with this New School of Architecture and Design to create an iconic structure that defines the East Village and cements the NSAD reputation as a worldwide leader in Architecture and Design. Inspired by a case study on Renzo Piano’s Tjibaou Cultural Center in New Caledonia (1998) the main drivers for this design was a need to satisfy the difficulties of a severe Western exposure without compromising the desired experiential qualities of the program. Vertical fins on the East and West sides coupled with horizontal fins on the North and South allow ample indirect light while minimizing the harsh direct sun. The existing Old Main building is kept 100% intact with all staff, faculty and administrative duties transferred to this building. The new studio building contains two classrooms and two studios per floor, as well as the woodshop and computer labs. The print center, library and student gallery are brought to being in “the cube” with a Coffee Bean rounding out the corner and completing the link to the surrounding community.
Spring 2009
BrunoLarios
San Francisco Institute of Architecture Graduate Studio 1 My time at SFIA infused me with an understanding of the power behind the organizing principles of Architects like Frank LLoyd Wright, Bruce Goff, Arthur Dyson and Sim Van Der Ryn. I was taught to approach architecture with a sensitivity to place, material, ecology and the human sprit, and taught to experiment with my creative process and method. SFIA could be considered a school of Organic Architecture, featuring numerous case studies of Frank Lloyd Wright in the curriculum. Much attention was given to understanding his creative process and examining his various uses of geometric modules. In fact, I had the opportunity to twice attend special 2 week studio charettes at Taliesin West given by SFIA. At night we slept in the students’ desert shelters and during the day would design in the studio and wander about the property for inspiration. We were given special tours of private residences of top Taliesin Architects’ homes, and soaked up some of the best architecture in the world. I left with a deep respect for the organizing principles in the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Organic style of Architecture. By no means, however, was this school exclusively about Organic Architecture. I was introduced to Extropian Architecture which believes that life and human consciousness can be raised to higher plateaus through visionary applications of advanced technology. It can be viewed as the architectural extension of Humanism and Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs. To this day I carry the belief that truly great architecture has the power to raise peoples’ consciousness and the capacity to be an instrumental force in our cultural transcendence.
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BrunoLarios
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S.F.I.A. 1st Year Studio
Glass Art Gallery Oakland, California
Glass, Light, and the Sensory Experience Intended to sit atop a warehouse in West Oakland, this project was an exploration in glass material properties and forms. Special attention was paid to the reflective and refractive effect of light passed through glass. Several passive solar design techniques were employed. Warm air is created on the southside between two pieces of glass and then circulated into the floor system via a series of ducts for radiant floor heating. Solar energy is used to heat water in a floor aquarium for similar effect. The southside gallery has a net for training ivy as well. In the summer this mitigates overheating, but allows the passage of solar energy in the wintertime. A charming effect occurs as light passes through the tangles of vines and leaves and casts shadows on the floor. Ferro-Cement construction makes this wild skeleton possible, filled with stained glass made from various sources, including recycled bottles. Glass tiles laid over like scales on a snake form the roof, speckled mirrors and broken glass dot the walls. Multi-colored glass tubes make interior partitions, glass mosaics decorate the entrance and gallery space, curtains made from broken glass seperate the lounge from the gallery. To heighten the prismatic effects, mist is sprayed from the central tower into and above the gallery space. A firepit surrounded by concrete benches in the far aft both warms the structure and serves as a flickering source of light from which to enjoy the unique translucent properties of the gallery.
Spring 2003
BrunoLarios
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S.F.I.A. 1st Year Studio
Wedding Chapel Mt. Shasta, California
Matrimony as a Driver of Form My first studio project. The assignment was to create a wedding chapel using the symbol of marriage as a primary organizing element. The symbol I chose was a wedding ring, and the resulting design certainly evokes a silver setting and diamonds. The site in Northern California featured a 60ft waterfall and the open seating arrangement allows for the enjoyment of this natural setting. The chapel support rooms and offices are reached by descending 6 ft underground while the chapel itself is an open air stage in the center of the four supporting structures. The sloping roofs serve as seating for guests who surround the ceremony on all sides. A massive medallion of cut and polished stone marks each of the four tent shaped structures, acting in a similar fashion as stained glass, allowing sunlight and colored light into the chapel rooms for effect. The material chosen for this structure is a translucent concrete to provide natural lighting to the lower rooms, and at night the entire structure will glow radiantly from within in this forest setting. Even at this first attempt, the use of geometry as an organizing element for design and an innovative use of material and form is clearly evident.
Fall 2002
BrunoLarios
Living Machine
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S.F.I.A. 1st Year Studio
Home for an Architect Berkeley, CA
Tension and Release The assignment here was to design a house for yourself. I chose a site in the Berkeley hills with a substantial slope of 45 degrees. Road access is from the top of the site. The house itself is rooted into the ground at one point at the top of the site, and explodes out at the horizon like a cannonball out of a cannon. It is supported by two high strength steel cables suspended from a reinforced concrete windmill arch, and one more cable planted into the ground, pinning it back into place. Materials include concrete, steel, fiberglass, and wood. The house itself is composed of recycled boat hulls welded and bolted to a steel spine skeleton. The interiors are finished in wood. There are three bedrooms, three full baths, two half baths, a library, kitchen, rec room, workshop and studio. Each room is on a separate floor and connected by a spiraling helical staircase modeled after the snail shell’s geometry. Features of the house include a windmill, spa, vegetable garden, firepit, yoga pad, balconies with vanishing ponds on every floor, and a cascading waterfall greywater filtration system. Beginning at the guest bedroom level, each of the next three levels has a small waterfall and pond. As the water moves from pond to pond, bacteria in the roots of the aquatic plants break down the protein chains from organic matter as the plants absorb and process biocompatible chemicals from soaps and detergents. The aeration and oxygenation that occurs in the waterfalls kills odor causing anaerobic bacteria. By the time the water has reached the end of the last pond it can be used to water the vegetable garden or be recirculated back into the house to conserve water.
Spring 2003
BrunoLarios
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S.F.I.A. 1st Year Studio
Home for a Retired Couple Tehachapi, California
A Truly Humanist Approach This project was about the abode. This project was about how much freedom could be packed into a single house. The owners wanted a retreat for themselves and a fantasy land of sorts for their friends. They wanted something that would inspire wonderment and awe. Somewhere where the couple could laugh and love. Make and deepen friendships‌‌Create. And rejuvenate their desire for each other and for life. Daily. This house has an open plan. An art studio and adjacent office double as guest bedrooms in a separate structure for privacy and peace of mind. The master bedroom faces east for morning exposure and features a lazy Sunday room, for lazy Sundays. The house wraps around a central courtyard featuring a garden and bioremediation pond. Rooms adjacent to the pond include the master bedroom, bar, hookah den, and grotto. This house is organized for entertaining. The kitchen faces south, and overlooks the greenhouse. The dining room looks east for dinnertime sunsets. After dinner, guests can move into the smoking room for an aperitif, or adjourn into the acoustically considered music studio for some creative explorations if so inclined. The bar is oriented to face the music studio for performances, and includes a balcony for quiet evenings. On blockbuster nights, this house features a private movie theater sealed from light and noise, and when coupled with a projector and surround sound cannot be beat for a home movie theater experience. Whether meditative and alone, or drunken silly with laughter, the sauna affords the opportunity for a peaceful mind and restful body. Descending underground, past the hookah den, one emerges into a small cave-like room replete with towels and a small efficiency kitchen and full bathroom. Around the corner lies a hot tub integrated into the wall, mimicking a grotto and overflowing into the southeast corner of the pond. From here, the serenity of the pond and surrounding house and gardens can be peacefully enjoyed from the womb-like comfort of this hot-tub cavern. Building materials consist of super adobe, plaster, earth, glass and ferro-cement. This house is buried halfway underground. The northernmost wall serves as a retaining wall and is made of super adobe and earth plaster for thermal mass. Earth floors are soaked in linseed oil for maximum resistance to wear. All remaining walls and roof are ferro-cement for durability of construction and flexibility of expression. Mosaics are employed liberally throughout walls and floors as well as several stained glass murals.The hope is that this house can serve as a center of rejuvenation for those that inhabit it, inspiring warmth and smiles and memories along the way. Winter 2003
BrunoLarios
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S.F.I.A. 1st Year Studio
Community Sculpture Garden Oakland, California
How Can A Fractured Inner-City be Unified Taking advantage of the many empty lots in West Oakland, this Community Sculpture Garden has two lives. During the day its function is as a conventional Community Vegetable Garden, a gathering space for neighborhood residents. Over one hundred 20 sf plots are laid out for cultivation. An area in front is reserved for playing chess, and a playground in the middle for children whose parents can sit nearby and socialize. Also, a neighborhood bulletin board, benches, and lockers help complement community services. At night the Vegetable Garden transforms into a Sculpture Garden with the use of Holograph technology. Holographs use tiny light boxes to transmit 3-dimensional solid looking objects into the air. With this technology 3d models could be projected into the spaces over the vegetable plots to light up the night and would encourage urban artists to expand from ink and spraypaint to more marketable skills like 3d rendering programs and animation. Furthermore, a small stage is set at the back of the lot for impromptu hip hop lyrical displays. By encouraging local residents to empower themselves be it by gardening, artwork, or lyricism and providing a forum for community socialization, this Garden could function as a small but integral part of the resurgence of this neighborhood. A low cost solution that could be employed on many lots throughout Oakland and Berkeley.
Summer 2003
BrunoLarios
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S.F.I.A. 1st Year Studio
High School QUAD Mariposa, California
Searching for An Ideal Public Form This project was born from a high school senior class gift to their school. The Mariposa County High School senior class raised five thousand dollars to place a fountain in their quad. At the time, the quad was simply a mound of grass and the project called for an integration of the fountain with the school. A local contractor offered to donate labor, and a local nursery offered to donate plants. The five thousand dollars was for the cost of the fountain and construction materials – concrete and fieldstone. The design thus was simple, utilizing a circular module of escalating five-foot radius. The benefit of a circular module is that it facilitates various levels of social interaction. Each space offers differing levels of intimacy depending on size and orientation within itself and within the larger context of the quad. The southeastern most ring complex is the most open. Consisting of a small circle spilling into the central courtyard and tables, this space eases the interactions between loosely affiliated groups of friends. Directly north of the lunch tables is an elevated, exposed platform and table. For people who want to see and be seen, this location is ideal. West of this small platform is the stage and fountain area. A set of bleachers already exists adjacent to the quad, so a small accessible stage is built for assemblies or pep rallies. The southwestern ring complex is the most private. Two rings have direct access to the quad, and one ring can only be accessed by passing through the other two. Of course, anyone can simply walk across the grass and hop the small bench, but the psychological effect of having this ring removed from traffic and sunken into the ground is one of distance, seclusion and privacy. This space was designed with consideration of the high school social and psychological environment with respect to the desires of the students to socialize, the teachers to supervise, the administration to limit cost of construction and maintenance, and the outgoing seniors to improve their school and instill pride.
Winter 2002
BrunoLarios
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S.F.I.A. 2nd Year Studio
Convention Center San Francisco Bay, California
Shifting Paradigms With a Singular Building Taking the question beyond the basic definition of ecology as a corporeal measure of environment, an ecologically designed building needs to function beyond the numbers and measurements of scientific instruments. An ecologically designed building must address the ecology of the mind, and in doing so must consider elements of time and place, culture and purpose, psychology and desire. The final expression of form must not only embrace the current zeitgeist, but itself be an instrument of gravity for critical mass towards a new paradigm shift. The Eco-Wave Conference Center Features: Minimal Impact on the Land This building floats in the middle of the San Francisco Bay, or any Bay around the world. Precious land and money is conserved by not purchasing prime real estate. Renewable Energy Taking advantage of its home in the water by gathering all its energy from the back and forth motion of the waves. 50 small turbines are placed along the length of each of the five floating root structures. Water Filtration and Recycling Integrated into the spiraling ramp in the central courtyard is a meandering stream and a small series of ponds. This water feature promotes aesthetic and acoustic welfare, while also functioning as a living machine. Adaptability Depending on the weather, the Petal Roof Structure can be pulled open to expose the amphitheater to the sky. This action lifts the 4 lecture halls skyward as well.
Summer 2003
Tsui Design & Research Inc., Oakland, 2003 Architect Apprentice Investigated biological systems and structures to apply knowledge to architectural design; prepared presentation materials either by model building, hand drafting, or color pencil rendering
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HAR Construction, Chula Vista, 2010 Electrician Apprentice Site work, rough-in, fixtures and wiring for SouthWest Union Middle and High School $20mil renovations.
Cosanti Foundation, Cordes Junction AZ, 2004 Planning/Drafting Assistant Prepared construction documents in AutoCad; conducted field inspections and site surveys; drafted reports for land use based on permaculture principles; supervised construction of a greywater filtration sytem
Almonte Total Home, Almonte, ON, 2007 Construction Crew Built and demolished conventional wood frame walls and bulkheads, installed wood floors, roofing, decks, drywall, paint, fixtures and insulation on home and basement remodels
I.I.N.I., Tijuana, 2005 AutoCAD Specialist and Purchasing Director Created and modified Construction Documents as needed; consulted with vendors and contractors to ensure timely and accurate delivery of materials
DesignScape, San Diego, 2006 Hardscape Designer Met with residential clients to design hardscape concept plans for their homes; project manager responsible for design, research, drafting and client relations on over 30 projects
Since my Architectural studies have begun, I’ve looked for work in a diversity of fields and roles to arrive at a holistic understanding of the building process. From designer to developer, whether making drawings or hammering nails, their are countless things I’ve learned on the job I could never have never learned in school or from a book. Because of my diverse experience I feel I have a unique understanding among architecture students of the real world skills necessary to design and build buildings.
Design, Production & Construction
Work Experience
BrunoLarios
BrunoLarios
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Work Experience DesignScape
Hardscape Concept Designer San Diego, CA
Concept Landscape Designer As a Concept Designer at DesignScape I was Designer and Project Manager for over 30 concept landscape designs. Budgets ranged from as low as $15k to over $200k, with an average of about $65k. I would meet with clients to consult on their site, budget, design profile, and program. Then I would usually prepare three plan sketches to refine their design and communicate options. After clarifying a design intent I would prepare a final drawing and construction estimate and a concept sketch or two for them to sign off. After sign off I would prepare a project profile for the horticulture, lighting, and irrigation teams. I certainly learned a lot about working with clients at DesignScape. Some knew exactly what they wanted and just wanted me to draw it up. Others only had a vague idea, and needed me to draw it out of them. Most wanted the same similar elements, just different styles. I would try to cue off their house or show them a series of scenes to gauge their stylistic preferences. Only about 1 in 10 was a real handful, but I always worked hard to try to satisfy all my clients desires. I learned how to deal with a variety of personalites, and I got good at nudging clients towards embracing design decisions they hadn’t known they wanted. I learned the importance of selling my idea differently to different clients. We’d be assigned two new clients a week, and we were expected to sign off and process two old clients every week as well. This rapid fire design sequence was a great opportunity to practice making quick design decisions and production documents as well as managing a client portfolio of around 8-10 active clients at a time.
2006
BrunoLarios
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Work Experience I.I.N.I.
Purchasing Director Rosarito, Baja California
Real Estate Development My time at I.I.N.I., a real estate development firm in Rosarito, Baja California was primarily spent acting as the materials director and liason between vendors, contractors, and the office, ensuring the timely and accurate delivery of materials to the job. Occasionally I would assist with special presentation projects, and preparing documents in AutoCad for contractors. I spent some time doing site walks and field checks and got a good sense of the type of work needed for the mobilization of construction projects. The rendering above and to the left and the plan sketch on the left page represent a proposal I drafted while working here. I designed a 3 bed 3 bath duplex with 2200 sf living space and 1000sf patio deck space for each unit. The design was deemed above the price point of the company’s target market and not developed further, but nevertheless represents an approach attempting to deal with the contradictory forces of density, open space, privacy, and communtty while addressing market forces and real world constraints. Working for I.I.N.I., besides exposing me to the inner workings of a real estate development office, taught me the importance of never taking my eye off the bottom line. Today, when I design, I’m constantly evaluating the effectiveness of any decision against the bottom line. I’m trying to develop a personal style that can serve the needs of the market for elegant designs and profitable ventures, while at once being easy and inexpensive to build.
2005
BrunoLarios
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Work Experience Arcosanti
Urban Scientist Cordes Junction, Arizona
© Cosanti Foundation
An Urban Laboratory in the Desert I had the great pleasure to live and work at Arcosanti in a diversity of roles, for over a year. In that time as a plumber’s assistant I put together the boiler room for a 10 unit complex incorporating a solar hot water system. As an electrician’s assistant the two of us wired the entire building, set all the fixtures, and incorporated a solar panal array and control module. As a construction assistant we built a concrete loading dock, set a custom wooden bench into stone, built out a brick patio, and as a construction crew leader I manufactured concrete pavers for several outdoor projects and built a custom stone staircase from fieldstone gathered around the property. For three months I worked in the Agriculture Gardens and set about the daily duties necessary for maintaining a commercial permaculture farm and orchard, like letting out the chickens, tilling the soil, checking the vegetables for insects and peeling the garlic cloves. We built a living fence to protect our farm from stray cattle and hungry bobcats. I designed and built a living machine hooked up to the camp washing machine and used it to irrigate plants in one of our greenhouses. On weekends I worked in the bakery, or in the kitchens, and gave tours to visitors. More than anything however, the great joy at Arcosanti was the chance to commiserate with like minded individuals eager and enthusiastic about urbanism, architecture, sustainability and self-reliance. I made friends with people from literally all over the world: Tokyo, Sweden, London, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Brazil, NYC, Vermont and Canada among others, that shaped my attitudes and changed my perspective about the human condition, urbanism, politics, architecture and social organization. For a short time I got the chance to lead the weekly School of Thought, an open forum with Paolo Soleri where attendees could pick his brain about Arcology Theory, about Arcosanti in particular, about the state of the world or any pressing matters of the day. It was a chance for me to dig deep into his understanding of urbanism and his concept of the Urban Effect. In short a theory that posits that the city is the central instrument in the next evolution of our species. If our cities could condense, at the same time becoming more complex and maximizing efficacy while maintaining a designers elegance, it would set the stage for the Urban Effect, a unique condition seen in the defining cities in human history. An intesification of this effect previously seen in cities like Athens, or Vienna for example, but occuring simultaneously all over the world would set the stage for the intensification of the Human Spirit and, he asserts, turn the page to the next chapter of our existence. My interest in the principles behind New Urbanism, and the walkable city movement stems directly from Soleri’s ideas on density, complexity and frugality. Paolo of course saw the city as the central instrument in this orchestra. He was always careful not to speak of a political structure, only the built environment, but I nevertheless learned much about politics at Arcosanti by observing carefully the events as they transpired. There were only 50 or so of us there, so it was small enough to see city politics as they happened. Despite the small size there was nevertheless an entrenched political structure and process making change quite difficult, but by being able to see the process acted out on a daily basis I came away with a much deeper understanding of the political process and how I might function most effectively within it.
2004 - 2005
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Work Experience TDRI Architect Apprentice Oakland, CA
A LETTER FROM EUGENE TSUI: I am an internationally published and televised architect and author of four books. My books have been voted as “recommended reading” by the Royal Institute of British Architects and the American Institute of Building Design. My work has been televised in several documentary programs worldwide such as National Geographic, The Discovery Channel, The History Channel, the McNeil/ Lehrer Report, The Learning Channel, Home and Garden Television, the BBC, China Television, Euro Television, etc. Our work is based upon the study of nature’s processes and design intelligence as a basis for developing designs for the built human environment. Our office is a training grounds for intern architects, landscape architects, designers, ecologists and city planners. We have had an on-going education program for interns since 1990. Due to the increasing number of applicants we have to be very selective in who we choose to take in as a part of our program. For instance, 220 persons applied for 13 positions in 2003. One of the selected individuals was Mr. Bruno Larios. Bruno came to our office in March of 2003 and left in March of 2004. During his stay he was involved in many different kinds of design-related activities and also initiated and developed concepts which are being further refined now. Mr. Larios was involved in a great diversity of hands-on construction which includes the construction of our offices using common and uncommon materials in imaginative and original ways. Bruno is familiar with wood and sheet rock construction, with the use of cementious materials such as Structolite and concrete, re-cycled blue jeans for wall insulation, Exolite structural translucent panels for creating murals, carpet installation, wood staining, tension cable structures, furniture making, the construction of openable moving walls, plexiglass domes, interior landscaping and he studied, developed and constructed the first prototypes for tensegrity system chairs with certain of his designs named after him--the Larios Chair. Bruno has also proven himself as a fine scale model maker. He was instrumental in the creation of a 24 foot long model of the Floating Bridge of the Strait of Gibraltar connecting the continents of Europe and Africa. Bruno Larios has a fine aesthetic eye for proportion and refined construction skills able to adapt to any scale of work. His own work shows an exuberance of originality and creativity found in few individuals. Bruno is also a profound thinker who possess uncommon insight and emotional depth. He has written poetry and essays which have astounded the entire office and he wishes to be an individual of substance. His personality is quiet natured which belies his keen sense of observation and depth of thought. He is able to take up the task at hand and develop solutions to complex problems with enthusiasm. In fact, I believe he is spurred on by challenge and difficulty. I believe that, given time and the experience of a diverse, imaginative environment, Bruno Larios could very well become a significant force in the design world. He is a designer with personal vision and risk-taking capabilities and is not afraid to share his designs with the world. In sum, I give Mr. Bruno Larios my highest recommendation and support. I am certain that you will find him a gifted and easy-going personality full of inquisitiveness, resourcefulness and insight. He would be a very positive presence in your environment. If you wish to contact me you can telephone me at: 510 301 2105 or e-mail me at: info@TDRInc.com Sincerely, Dr. Eugene Tsui, architect, city planner and author; TDR, Inc.
2003
brunolarios@yahoo.com