CORINA OCANTO
SELECTED WORKS 2010 - 2016
PHONE: (786) 397 9935 EMAIL: corinaocanto@gmail.com WEB: linkedin.com/in/corinaocanto
University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA Masters of Architecture I School of Architecture & Urban Design Class of 2016 (projected) University of Florida Gainesville, FL B. Design Arch, Magna Cum Laude School of Architecture Mass Communications Minor School of Journalism Class of 2014
MEXICO CITY MUSEUM CITY PERFORMANCE CUBE HOUSING FOR L.A. MEDIATING URBAN DICHOTOMIES HAMMOCK COMMUNITY COLONIZING THE NEW VENEZIA LAX CAR HOTEL CINEMATIC BLOCK IDENTITY ART + WEB + BOOKS
MEXICO CITY MUSEUM UCLA FALL 2015
WONNE ICKX
This museum for architecture uses all of the interstitial space between programs for flexible exhibition space. These areas are planned around an irregular grid of columns that supports the outer structure and gives the building its lightweight appearance. The structure outside abstractly reflects the programs spanning across several floors on the interior. A winding staircase takes visitors to each floor of the museum without stealing the spotlight from the spaces and exhibits themselves. The boxes on each level house the different functions of the museum; stacked boxes with the same program have internal circulation, and where possible the north wall is glazed to allow for natural lighting. A gap between the outer wall and the volumes is maintained on every floor to provide a variety of exhibit space types and so guests may look into some of these normally restricted areas.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
8
MN
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
4.7
4.3
6.3
4.5
4.5
4.5
4
5.5
Section AA
Section BB 4.8m
4.
Site Plan 19.2m
Providing a hyper-flexible space is meant to allow curators maximum allowance for a variety of exhibits. Columns can be used as supports for temporary walls that can cover partially or fully the length to the floor.
A
B 3.6
D 4.8
E 4.8
F 6.0
G 3.6
H 4.8
I 3.6
J 4.8
K 4.8
L 4.8
A
MN 6.0
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
MN
1.2
3.6
7
7
2.4
8
8
2.4
C
MANAGEMENT
6
6
AUDITORIUM
4.8
STORAGE STOR.
5
5
RECEPTION
MECH.
4.8
MECH. ARCHIVE CONSULTATION
4
4
KITCHEN
BOOK SHOP
6.0
BB
RESTAURANT
3.6
3
3
STOR.
1
1
2.4
2
2
PROJECT
Ground Floor B C D
AA
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
Second Floor B C D
MN
A
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
MN
7
7
8
E
8
A
Level 1 @ +6.5m 4.8m
6
4.8m
6
Ground Floor STOR.
STOR.
5
5
LIBRARY
MECH. ARCHIVE RESTORATION
4
4
OFFICES
3 2 1
1
2
3
MECH.
Third Floor
Seventh Floor
CITY PERFORMANCE UF SPRING 2013
BRADLEY WALTERS
In my initial studies of Charleston I examined why transitional zones existed, and what kind of boundaries they had. I found that these zones are the result of a combination of urban characteristics such as socioeconomics, flood zoning, traffic patterns, and harsh boundaries, especially between industrial and residential zones. The proposal begins by inserting a box into the site and manipulating its edges to fit the localized fabric, taking special interest in the neighboring graveyard, drop in elevation, and the surrounding architecture, which includes a 100’ tall church steeple, a six-story parking lot, and the one of the oldest structures in the city, the powder magazine. The box was treated as a general form cut by floor slabs which receive volumes that transcend the slabs. The main volume is a music stage that cuts diagonally through
Charleston Urban Characteristics
Box Morphology
the site to accommodate a traditional audience inside the theater, but also can be opened literally to a public sitting outdoors by the graveyard; this transparency between
the inside and the outside turns the building into a transitional zone between the public attracted by St Philip’s Cathedral and the popular Market Street.
Church St.
Old Wall
Powder Magazine Cumberland St.
Cumberland
The main entrances are located on Church Street because it has the highest foot traffic volume and would be the most opportune location for the outdoor ampitheater.
The southern facade near by old city wall recieves the most exposure to long hours of direct radiation. Because of this, the facade has the least openings. However, this side of the building also has balconies on the first and second floor to take advantage of the historic cementary.
Less hours of radiation on this facade allow for more open cells with windows that take advantage of its proximity to the powder magazine’s textures without feeling vulnerable to the
The Cumberland Street facade is the most private of the four and relies more on the relationship with the neighboring street and the very large five-story parking lot that is immediately next to the site. The cells on this side allow light into the building but do not focus on the view outside.
Street
Radiation
Church Street Radiation Analysis
Cumberland St.
Church St.
Auditorium Volume Concept The rest of the program is organized in volumes of varying size around this main mass. It has the ability to negotiate with with its complex set of neighbors by withdrawing from the edges in different degrees in distance, height, and types of opening, ranging from clear to partial to mainly solid using a skin and glass combination. Ground Floor Plan
First Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan
CUBE HOUSING FOR L.A. UCLA FALL 2014
ROGER SHERMAN
The main goal of this morphing Blom’s Cube Houses in Rotterdam was to address their spatial issues in operating in a 1:1 ratio for core to residency. Beliving this to be a hindering of the potential community, the cubes were enlarged to accomodate more than one apartment. The towers were then aggregated in a way that would both engage the site at the ground level especially in regards to Ballona Creek, as well as allow towers to share egress through bridges on the second and fourth levels where entrances to units are located. This happens in clusters of eight where 6 units per tower adds up to 48 units per cluster. Parking is relocated to the Fox Building, which along with the other remaining buildings, will be changed to a shopping center that ties in to the commercial space located at the lowest level of each tower.
The master plan is based on creating axes towards Ballona Creek,
From this, secondary axes were made where the towers are aligned.
The primary road branches off into drop off culde-sacs before parking their cars.
The sidewalks are sections from the scondary axes that connect buildings on the site.
Removing the pedestrian plane created by the platforms in Blom’s design, the ground floor is opened up as a public space. The tower is widened to accomodate several floors of micro-apartments and the faces of the cube are used to extend new wings that are the new apartments.
5
20
30
50
Floor 1
A B Single cluster logic follows four towers, three arranged around a central fourth. Bridges connect two towers at a time, with at least one connection happening inside the cluster.
Floor 2
D1
C1
Unit types are arranged above a commercial space and party walls are organized around a circulation core that contains common spaces for residents.
bottom level of split level 1 bedroom units 500/1000 sq ft
top level of split level 1 bedroom units 500/1000 sq ft
Floor 3
Floor 4
bottom level of split level 2 bedroom units 600/1500sq ft studio residence 600 sq ft
top level of split level 2 bedroom units 900/1500sq ft
MEDIATING URBAN DICHOTOMIES UF FALL 2013
TOM SMITH
w. Elia Magari Intervening in an urban context is done with a set of strategies. This intervention in the urban fabric is based on an idea of dichotomies found in this particular neighborhood of Manhattan: ground v. sky, local v. tourist, permanent v. temporary, day v. night. It was important in the project to emphasize public spaces happening vertically throughout the tower in order to convey movement in the program. In order to compliment (not mimic) Washington Square Park, different typologies of green spaces were incorporated. The skin derives mainly from the temporary dichotomy and the transition from day to night. By picking irregular points on the grid of the skin we could provide privacy in areas that needed it
nightlife restaurant The site on the corner of West 4th and Broadway is a meeting point of very different conditions, a place of dichotomies, where the scholarly population of NYU meets the very commercial and heavily trafficked Broadway St.
lounge
meeting rooms event space
garden spa gym plaza
cafe lobby exhibition space
population density
view of tower garden
year built
lobby entrance
residency type
Basic Form
The physical manisfestation of the dichotomies drove the first alterations to a basic block infill on the site: by morphing and cutting the block we were able to derive a way to spread the program vertically. The rest of the alterations were made to accentuate the views of the city and Washington Square Park.
Vertical Program Distribution
Vertical Weave + Rotation
Horizontal Weaving of Public Program
Addition of Sculpting Circulation Residential Areas to Public Spaces
Massing of Combined Public Spaces
HAMMOCK COMMUNITY UF SPRING 2013 LEE-SU HUANG & AZHAR KAHN We all wish there was someplace to nap midday when it’s too early to go home or there’s plenty of work to be done; I propose a intervention that would put ‘trunks’ in the atrium from which a whole forest of hammocks could be hung, providing plenty of spaces for tired students (and professors) to take a well-deserved nap or simply sit back and enjoy some fresh air. To bring a little of the sunshine state paradise to our building, I suggest the skin of the pavilion be constructed of units that resemble palm leaf fronds gently moving in the wind. These units would wrap around a frame made of pipes wound in different directions throughout the piece. The skin admits light where the geometry is stable enough to allow a simple perforation. The panels of the skin are held by a system of pipes that connect to the joints and the pipe system.
COLONIZING NEW VENEZIA VIA SPRING 2014
STEPHEN BENDER
This bridge over a canal in Venice aims to grapple with issues at the forefront of the ancient city, mainly regarding population and housing, the daily patterns of the city, and ideas about modernization, all in the most iconic and available typology of Venice. The bridge is a species of mobius strip that gains valuable area by placing itself diagonally across the water and by having multiple levels. The bridge is pedestrian on the lower level to accomodate a need for new commercial spaces and has different micro-unit apartments at the second level that emphasize the importance of communal and outdoor spaces. The bridge touches the ground inside two partially preserved corner buildings, creating a third type of space in its context, which can be reapplied throughout the city.
The prevalent structure is made of steel in an attempt ro bring modernity to the site.
first floor plan
second floor plan
section perspective looking south
Engaging the existing buildings with a strong hand makes the application throughout the city more feasible.
Layered slabs fold in and out to create moments between indoor and outdoor that attempt ro create a place for community.
LAX CAR HOTEL UCLA SPRING 2015
ANDREW KOVACS
This is building is about movement and sequences; in order to move vertically through the hotel, guests and visitors must ride their cars up one of two car lifts that deposit them at the correct parking space on the desired level. The hotel is split into horizontal bands that organize the building into layers of programming. These bands consist of a particular program and stay consistent throughout the floor plan as you move vertically through the building. The machine band that includes the parking divides the building into two parts, living and amenities. The amenities in the hotel to the South faรงade is a mix of micro programs that occur in different shapes and change the position and properties of the space they inhabit. The parking on this side of the building is not organized in individual bays like the living, but instead is communal with a shared walkway.
South Elevation
West Elevation
East Elevation
North Elevation
The living side of the hotel has standard, suite, and penthouse rooms, each with it’s own private garage parking space. This eliminates the need for a lobby on the ground floor, since guests can check in using the drive through counter and then head directly to their rooms, where cars are separated from the living spaces, acknowledged inside
by the greeting of a sink by the door and the promise of a window at the end of the room. The experience of the guests, therefore, is one that is secluded and individualized. The rooms share only a thin corridor that connects levels with each other via small fire stairs all along the most external façade.
CINEMATIC BLOCK IDENTITY UF FALL 2013
TOM SMITH
This block is about the essence of the community the Highline has created in Chelsea: it has brought a new population to the surrounding areas and revitalized a part of Manhattan completely. We organized the block both visually and programmatically to embody by taking that essence of destination and having an inclusive attitude toward inhabitants and visitors alike, starting with giving the block an identity of a film school, that makes up 25% of the square feet. It turns the block into a unique piece of land while adhering to the Chelseaesque connection to the arts. The residential program that makes up 60% of the total area is divided into segments that exist in various areas of the block. They are organized along the edges to happen above commercial zones, different buildings of the film school, and civic spaces like the library and galleries.
The fin type skin is used in the residential areas of the block to give each apartment control over its privacy and sunlight.
This skin type creates an offset boundary between the street and the inhabitants inside the lower residential levels.
Additionally there are three residential bridges that create communal areas where they meet towers on either side. All apartments face the exterior of the block, while all of the circulation is moved to the interior so that moments of community are located in the courtyard and turn it into a destination.
RESIDENTIAL
510.000
LOWER INCOME MIDDLE INCOME UPPER INCOME LOBBIES
60%
FILM SCHOOL
195.000
ADMINISTRATION CLASSROOMS THEATER
23%
MULTIPURPOSE AUDITORIUMS SOUND STAGES POST-PRODUCTION
COMMERCIAL
94.000
CAFE / RESTAURANTS
11%
RETAIL GALLERIES
CIVIC
51.000
6% LIBRARY
TOTAL
852.000
Tenth Ave.
Eleventh Ave.
Outdoor cinema seating
The ground floor was turned into an open plan that promotes transparency at the ground level of each program as well as movement throughout and within the block. The interior courtyard is the culmination of the community; programatically it dissects the Highline and spreads it laterally while also incorporating elements of the film school in the residential end of the block.
Exposed trusses are used throughout the school and similar areas where circulation calls for plenty of light and large modulations.
The combination of frosted and clear panels creates a more private condition in areas where it is needed and less direct sunlight is desired.
ART + WEB + BOOKS 2008 - 2015 Art has been a means of expression practically my entire life. Recently it has become an exploration on observationrepresentation relationships and the different results mediums yield. Watercolor, pencil, charcoal, chalk pastel, acrylic, and oil are all mediums I use in my works. My work for professional architects has included the production of books, presentation boards, and a website. These products are a great way to gain perspective into how a firm wants its work to be portrayed. In my undergraduate studies I participated in creating a series of annual publications that in addition to being an exercise in curation were also a fun way to explore ideas about exhibiting in space and book publications.