#bravelycurious
CHRISTIAN VILLAGRAN - UNDERGRADUATE PORTFOLIO
DISCOVERIES ALONG THE JOURNEY
01
VOL.
WHO AM I? My name is Christian Villagran. A Southern California resident for the past 12 years. I’m a passionate and eager to learn individual who has faced great challenges along his journey, yet managed to succeed and learn from his struggles. Through my years as a student, I’ve been exposed to the wide array of possibilities in the field, as well as having the opportunity to further my skill on the field as a landscape designer. I’m eager to further strengthen my skills on the design field, as well as being exposed to the communal thinking process behind every great and successful design.
Christian Villagran Corona 951.323.0871 christianvillagran@me.com I cvillagran@cpp.edu
01CORALLATION: Santa Monica, CA CARLOS PEREZ & CHRISTIAN VILLAGRAN LA402//Winter16’//Barry Lehrman 02GOLDEN LIGHT:Silver Lake, CA CARLOS PEREZ, JEFF PALMER, CHRISTIAN VILLAGRAN LA303//Spring15’//James Becerra 03NEUTRA PLAZA:Pomona, CA KATHLEEN CANTA, NICOLE NGUYEN, CARLOS PEREZ, CHRISTIAN VILLAGRAN LA301//Fall14’//Takeo Uesugi CONSTRUCTION & PLANTING
04RED ROCK CANYON VISITOR CENTER CHRISTIAN VILLAGRAN LA330 Series//13’-14’//Keiji Uesugi 05RECLAIMED BENCH:Design & Fabrication ERIK DELGADILLO, KEVIN PEREZ, CHRISTIAN VILLAGRAN LA332//Winter14’//Keiji Uesugi 06BLDG 3. SCIENCE COURTYARD CHRISTIAN VILLAGRAN LA341//Fall14’//Craig Sutton PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
07LAW RESIDENCE CHRISTIAN VILLAGRAN, TIERRA VERDE LANDSCAPE & MASONRY 08MARTINEZ RESIDENCE CHRISTIAN VILLAGRAN, TIERRA VERDE LANDSCAPE & MASONRY 09AGUIRRE RESIDENCE CHRISTIAN VILLAGRAN
CONTENTS
DESIGN STUDIOS
01
CORALLATION:
Santa Monica, CA // LAGI 2016
Corellation is a system composed of three major components: Clean energy generation
through thin film dye-sensitized photovoltaics, marine life revitalization though the creation of a new breakwater that serves as a reef for marine life, and water quality filtration & marine life awareness through educational tours and activities.
The existing conditions of poor water quality and therefore a depleted marine ecology; allow Santa Monica to become a showcasing platform for sustainable energy generator technologies, responsible concepts and practices that revitalized the environment, as well as the creation of hubs which bring awareness to the importance of such principles.
The word Corellation; is a compound word comprised of Coral and Correlation, taking physical form as a tessellated pattern which is inspired by coral and its ability to be the foundation for a marine based environment. This word reflects the intent of our proposal in the sense we will create a correlation ambiance through the creation of new breakwater which will provide habitat nodes for marine life. The breakwater will be constructed of habitat typologies that tailor to specific needs of native marine species in order to reestablish the Santa Monica’s once thriving marine ecology.
The Silver Lake Reservoir is a mystical element and sense of pride to the neighborhood of Silver Lake. However, do to policies and a severe drought it’s in need of rebirth. As a result, we’ve proposed Golden Light, a statement that reacts to the history, existing conditions, and the neighborhood of Silver Lake. The site feels as if one is inside of a stadium taking part of an ongoing game, the reservoir sits at the bottom of a valley and acting as a watershed . The reservoir has become an icon of this part of LA, creating a sense of pride as well as a selling point. However, do to policies the water isn’t physically accessible to the residents. This creates for an existing condition in where the residents experience the vast water body as a large reflecting element.
As a response we opted for creating an accessible space for the residents of Silver Lake, yet without losing the light conditions experienced by the residents. In addition; we have used the rich history of this location as a source of inspiration.
02
GOLDEN LIGHT:
Silver Lake, CA // Silver Lake Reservoir
Golden Light is response to the current light experience in
where residents experience water as light. In addition, we have drained the site and created a canyon typology with the potential to become a riparian zone as a way to mimic an arroyo seco experience. In addition, we have introduced a structure composed of various translucent and reflective fabric which reflect and allow for light to pass through. This allows for resident to retain the current light experience, but without the need to retain millions of gallons of water on site.
03
(RE)CONNECTING COLLEGE OF ENV:
Pomona, CA // Cal Poly Pomona
The goal of (Re)Connecting College of ENV , is to provide a social anchor at the College of Environmental Design as a key spatial access for the campus community. Large gathering spaces and a bigger cafĂŠ to better accommodate the needs of students, faculty, and staff. Or design was influenced by the history of the College of Environmental Design, and the growth (a tree) it has continued to do over the decades. The branches of a tree are the paving gradients that spread across the plaza, with the mounds representing the leaves. With the hope of making a place to unify not only the majors of the college, but the entire campus community as well.
04
RED ROCK CANYON VISITOR CENTER
05
RECLAIMED-BENCH:
Design & Fabrication
As a society we are programed to think a consumers and believe that our resources are never ending. However, we know this is not true. Reclaimed-Bench is a direct response of this realization in the sense that is constructed of reclaimed materials that have been repurposed to serve as a bench. This bench is aimed to serve as a demonstration that “waste� can be repurposed in a beautiful manner, the team has used material which are commonly scrapped; metal (in the form of I-beams in this case), pieces of wood, and hardware.
BLDG 3. SCIENCE COURTYARD
The intent for the new Science Courtyard, is to serve as a learning experience while providing a space for outdoor classrooms, single seating, group seating, which can be used as resting areas. The visitors will be surrounded by great plant specimens from the southwestern chaparral, as well as a sun dial which appears during the fall months with the aid of shadows, and allows the visitor to tell time when shadow lines hit metal bands which are pressed on the concrete walkways through the courtyard. The amphitheater will serve as a gathering space for outdoor classrooms, expositions, or small concert. furthermore, it will serve as a catch basin during rainy days by catching runoff water from the site and rooftops. in addition, it will aid students see the natural processes of water percolation, and see the relationships between water, contour lines, and grading.
07
LAW RESIDENCE
Law Residence Has been one of the largest landscape designs I’ve worked on while working as the lead designer at Tierra Verde Landscape & Masonry. The Law’s are a young couple who reside in the city of San Gabriel, CA. They lacked a vision for their front and back yard, yet they knew they wanted the existing un-inviting and wild-like feeling gone. I focused on creating a landscape that showcased a drought tolerant planting palette, surrounded by a modern and beautiful hardscape framework; a design that incorporates the beauty of meandering paths as well as the modernity of rectilinear ones.
CONDITIONS BEFORE DESIGN INTERVENTION
LANG RESIDENCE
PROPOSED DESIGN INTERVETION
PLANTING STRATEGIES
Lang Residence
A landscape design which has been one of the most important I have had the privileged of developing. The Lang’s are owners of a Spanish Colonial Revival Home, which is part of the Monrovia Historic Preservation Group (HL #55). With this important recognition in mind, it was important to highlight its status and retain the character. As a response, I chose to mimic the hardscape materials that give this house its character such as; colorful and dynamic ceramic tile, cool Saltillo tile, and white stucco finishes. In regards to the planting material, I chose a colorful drought tolerant palette that embraces the dynamic essence of the house
AGUIRRE RESIDENCE
VOL. 01
CHRISTIAN VILLAGRAN DISCOVERIES ALONG THE JOURNEY //