Cathryn Garcia-Menocal M. Arch Architecture & Urbanism 2013
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ARCHITECTURE Human Centered Space Liminal Legality Interior Urbanism
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SCULPTURE Structural Skin Coup de Gras
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ONGOING Homeostatic Prosthesis Phase Change Pool
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DRAWING
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WRITING
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C U R R I C U L U M V I TA E
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Human-Centered Spa c e An analysis of Brunelleschi’s Duomo of Santa Maria del Fiore dematerializes the physical enclosure with line. The construction lines reveal the scaffolding of a complex proportional system. Brunelleschi’s innovative perspectival experiments sought to create a proximity to the divine through the beauty of proportion. The quadruple axon visually codifes the enclosures of Santa Maria del Fiore while discovering the human-centered system of spatial modularity that governs the cathedral. Professor Igor Marjanovic, 2011
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Limi n a l L e g a l i t y Illegal vendors are an unspoken phenomena in the Piazza Duomo. A data set of optimal spatial conditions was gleaned from the observation of the vendor’s position in space relative to both existing buildings and tourists. A positioning pattern emerged after a careful analysis of the vendor’s movement and placement in space. The illegal vendor takes refuge in ‘crowd architecture’, that is, the visual ‘walls’ created by the masses of individuals in the Piazza. Using projection methods, scaling and photodocumentation, a plan view was constructed that further revealed the difference between percieved and actual space. -with Xioameng Li
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A module based on the long and short paths of the illegal vendors was reintegrated into the Piazza Duomo to help develop a marketplace. Ideas about movement transparency, crowd architecture and optimal “pockets� for illegal vendors were drawn from the points, lines and surfaces in the study. -with Xiaomeng Li
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with a sectional reinterpretation of the groundplane based on the dynamic pathways of tourists in the Piazza Duomo. The subtle channels in the ground mirror the roof structure and help choreograph movement in space, ultimately enhancing the crowd architecture that optimizes the activities of the illegal vendors. - with Xiaomeng Li.
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The ideal marketplace for illegal vendors contains a roof and ground that create ‘crowd architecture.’
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I nt erior Urba n i s m When a library grows it contributes to the living, while a cemetary grows by acquiring the dead. Using the conceptual trope of interior and silence, a massive-scale, multimedia section drawing describes micro-insertions in the centuries-old, abandoned Misercordia cemetary to create a library, artist’s residency and research center. -with Joe Bailey Professor Igor Marjanovic, 2012
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‘Misercordia Studio and Library,’ mylar, ink, photo-transfers approximately 3m x 1.5m
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Structura l S k i n / E m b o d i e d Obj ect For my thesis work in Sculpture, I developed a method of casting, layering and manipulating paper allowed me to realize the idea of a structural skin. I took to wrapping architectural beams and industrial objects in Abaca, a particularly robust type of tropical moved, solid entities were rendered rusted skins that retained their formal integrity. Abaca research was conducted with Professor Joan Hall and MFA student Jennifer Baker. Using a Reina 10 lb Hollander beater, I
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Coup de G r a s / E m b o d i e d Space With the aid of acupunture apprentice Felicia Chen, structure and skin were further explored via needle, thread and body. Understanding my own body as a site of trauma, each precarious point on my body was marked with a needle that was then attached to a red thread corresponding to elements of the built space.
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Homeostatic Prosthesis
Dendritic cell communication failure has been tied to autoimmune illnesses and homeostatic disruption. The proposed prosthetic increases the surface area of the denritic cell and quickens maturation the presence of of faux-‘limbs.’ Professor Sung Ho Kim, Ongoing
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After mapping the relationship between dendritic cells and various phagocytes and cell-scaled information bodies, I modeled the movements and growth pathways of the structure both digitally and in a sectional model.
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Digital Models of the dendritic cell prosthetic mirror the neccesary growth pathways for cell-to-cell communication,
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Phase Change Po o l The site of the proposed public pool was a rocky bluff ofA series of models explored material changes through oxidation and urethanes. The structure was comprised of resin-hardened silk. The pool design was based on a and distribute water into voids and out of paths. Professor Derek Hoeferlin, Ongoing
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The site model was a multimodal understanding of the physical topography and usage of the riverside cliff. The interactive model uses iPads with videos of pedestrian industry graphs, and historical imagery of the site in form of plexi-printed pull-out slides. The model was a 12-person team effort, to which I contributed the collapsible, mobile box construction, historical research and graphics, as well as creating and CNC milling the topographic mass.
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An exploration of state changes and cure time-- silk was treated with polyurethane, which is subject to a two part curing process. After part one, the material becomes susceptible to self-adhesion and creates intricate folded spaces, like the section above. The second curing phase renders the formerly delicate material hard enough to saw through.
A second set models used a urethane-dipped fabric with wider cells between the threads. The urethane state change reacted similarly, but did not yield the complex sectional folded spaces of the silk.
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Structural beams were developed alongside the resin-cast silk models, thereby reverse engineering a tensile membrane pool space.
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Phase Change Pool, plan and section.
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Drawing Art and Architecture most readily meet in the practice of drawing. Both highly spatial disciplines require an intimate understanding of the volumetric envelope of the internal and external body. Studying in Florence represented a unique opportuity to explore these ideas and how they came to be understood during the Renaissance; an age where the dominion of the eye affected concepts of space, transcendance and the aesthetic capacity of the body. Beginning with an exploration of line, both in expressive and gestural representations of the body and the urban landscape, the drawings graduate into a study of modes of modeling space within the built form, using ink, chiaroscuro and sfumato.
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tone.
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Writing I have written, curated and published over 1000 articles for designboom, among the digital architecture and design magazine, with a unique monthly readership of 4 million that spans 190 countries. During my tenure, I was responsible for 50-60% of the most but my most memorable articles were interviews with Zaha Hadid and Renzo Piano.
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C AT H R Y N G A R C I A - M E N O C A L E D U C ATION
E X P E R IE N C E
Washington University In St.Louis Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Art B.F.A. Sculpture and Architecture, 2012
GARCIA-MENOCAL.COM Project Architect, Munich, Germany 2013-present Engaged in the design of products, media and spaces. Clients have included Audi, Barberini S.p.A, KRAM WEISSHAAR. and CeBit, the world’s largest and most international computer expo.
Santa Reparata International School Of Art Florence, Italy Summer 2011 and 2012 Architectural Design Gehry Partners LLP Santa Monica, CA 2008 Master Class with Frank Gehry for HBO Series New World School Of The Arts Miami, FL 2004-2008 Magnet School, Visual Art Division R E C OGN ITION Dean’s List Annika Rodriguez Full Tuition Scholarship Conway Art Full Tuition Scholarship A C TIV ITIE S Student Union, Architecture Senator August 2010- May 2012 National Organization of Minority Architecture Students, 2010, Vice President
S K ILLS
school roof.
DesignBoom Magazine Architecture Writer, Milan, Italy 2013 popular digital architecture and design magazine, with a unique monthly readership of 4 million that spans 190 countries. Responsible for 50-60% of the most Piano and Gary Chang in long-form journalistic pieces. Increased breaking news features and trained new editorial interns. Sarah Oppenheimer, Folding Enterprises LLC Project Manager, Art Basel, Miami, FL 2011; installed W-13 for the Annelly Juda Fine Art booth. Installed non-loadbearing walls with a metal truss system for the placement of periscopic cutout. Project Manager for D-17, a large scale sculptural installation in the Rice University Art Gallery in Houston, TX. Prepared installation specs and parts catalog. Directed a team of 15 graduate architecture students in the inventory and installation of panels and structural components. Global Architecture Brigades, Washington University in St.Louis Brigade Leader, Founder and President, Santa Rosa, Honduras. 2011-12 organized and led a team of 6 students in constructing a school in Santa Rosa, Honduras. Directed a team of 10 graduate and undergraduate designers in a design competition for a healthcare center in El Canton, Honduras. Sam Fox School Digital Fabrication Lab St.Louis, MO 2010-12
MacOSX, AutoCAD, Adobe CS5 Illustrator, Photoplasma cutting, lasercutting, CNC milling, forging (propane tank forge, hot-rolled steel), papermaking and casting (Reina Hollander Beater, 10 lb.), woodworking (miter, table, hacksaw), veneering and 3-D printing (acid bath and water jet substrate removal.) Working knowledge of Adobe CS5 InDesign, MasterCAM, and T-splines for Rhino. Native English and Spanish speaker, basic Italian and German.
tion, set new and more functional parameters for laser strength, bed height, drill bit size for multiple job scales. ArquitectonicaSTUDIO Miami, FL 2009 Intern, worked on master plan for museum complex development in Murcia, Spain, developed a land usage plan with the Landscape architecture departQuebec. Rubell Family Collection Miami, FL 2008 Curatorial and Research Intern, worked alongside distributors, editors and graphic designers in the production of “30 Americans” catalog and exhibition featuring Lorna Simpson, Kehinde Wiley, Leonardo Drew, Javiera Simmons. Oversaw and assisted in the restoration of a rare Keith Haring work.
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