Elianna Medina 2024 Portfolio

ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO

By: Elianna Medina

DESIGN STATEMENT

Inclusivity and person-centered design are values that drive my passion for architecture. I was raised in a large family that witnessed the challenges presented by various exclusive built environments through the eyes of family members diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Alzheimer’s Disease. Thus, I was fortunate to be inspired by loved ones who uniquely interacted and experienced the world. Through my design practice, I hope to champion cultural awareness and inclusivity and with the goal of providing an equitable experience to all who use and experience my work to promote a stronger relationship between architecture and its inhabitants.

Multi-Generation Housing

This project began as an analysis of different forms pulled from within a designated painting; Bridget Riley’s FETE. The focus was the multi-dimensional movement of lines and shapes which were extracted to create a redefined look. My design showcased shapes that worked cohesively as two units to provide both private and shared spaces to reflect the culture and priority of multi-generational households.

Inspired Project

Site: Los Angeles

Bridget Riley’s Fete: 1989

Top View of Model 1

Circulation of Model 2

Rendered elements of the piece playing with open and concave arrangements to create habitable spaces without committing to a traditional house form. Continuity of design may be observed from the extracted draft models directly

DEL RIO ARIZONA

INDEPEDENT PROJECT

Commissioned project accepted to practice my technical and interior design skills. The client provided a $3,000 budget to furnish a modern desert inspired home with Moroccan, Western and Mexican cultural influences.

Personal Commission

Site: Mesa, Arizona

Budget: $3000

The clients were disappointed with the unit layout and lack of room designation. The apartment was identical to all units in the complex within their budget. They requested a thoughtful use of design to separate the eating area from the living room.

The design focused on the placement of warm colors, native plants, and affordable furniture with splashes of colors and textures to bring the apartment to life.

Living Room

Interior Rendering

The total length of this project spanned two weeks.

Tasks:

- Gather dimensions of the unit

- Create a 3D Rhino Model of unit

- Create a mood board for the client

- Selection of all furniture, decor, and household items

- Selection of paint, moldings, and kitchen backsplash

- Creation of renderings and photographs

TONY SMITH ‘WE LOST’

By taking the ‘We Lost’ sculpture and using it in different orientations and scale, 6 subtractions were made to a rectangular prism. When making these subtractions, I thought of the action as carving through a solid matter that created several layers. The purpose of that space begins to shift and begins to uncover more complex geometry.

Inspired Project

Site: Los Angeles

Front Elevation

Section: Top View

First Section past facade

AXONOMETRIC DRAWING SCALE: 3/32”=1’-0” Top View

Tony Smith ‘We Lost’

Layering was emphasized through the use of colored matboard to dramatize the increasing depth of each level and later used to differentiate between collaborative vs private spaces. This first “sculpture” helped me to understand the building’s spatial potential prior to the inclusion of materials and programming.

This building addresses the need of communities in Los Angeles to provide alternative options to the traditional college education for students with different priorities and needs. The Trade Center offers High School students the opportunity to learn a trade from small business owners within the community.

Front of Spatial Model

Front of Applied Materials Model

ACCESSIBLE STUDENT CENTER

Hearst Tennis Courts

Through the process of Adaptive Reuse Integration the original cement slab used as the main structural entity for the parking garage remains in the proposed Accessible Student Center. Through a series of subtractions of the orignal slab and the addition of an oval building, the structure aims to meet the needs of current UC Berkeley students and facualty by providing both a social and study space that integregrates inclusive design and ammenities.

Proposed Plan

Site: UC Berkeley Campus

By: Elianna Medina & Angel Lukminto

Demolished Parking Lot

Hearst Tennis Courts

Standing Tennis Courts/ Parking

Within the surrounding area of the current “Hearst Tennis Courts / Public Parking” preexisting parking spaces were being removed to make room for new apartment complexes. The Northside of campus lacked a student center where Berkeley students could meet recreationally of study together.

The UC Berkeley campus currently lacks; easily available resources, forms of transportation, and accessible parking spaces for disabled students and staff. In response to this we created the Accessible Student Center that provides a social space on the first floor with adjustable tables to change the height or orientation of tables in the room to accommadate the users and type of activity.

The study space on the second floor provides both larger work spaces for collaboration or private rooms reserved for students with disabilities who require a quieter space to work or to recharge any medical equiptment that would otherwise require students to move off campus to do so.

The oval shape of the building began to create its own vocabulary that I wanted to keep consistent through the use of round windows, a large curb pick up area at the front of the building for the LOOP cart; the only form of accessible transporation across campus, and in some of the furniture within the building.

The translucent material of the glass, and the second floor terrace served as a kind of enticing ammenity to studying at the center as it provides immediate access to nature and fresh air after a long day of studying.

Interior View: Study Space

Exterior View: Terrace

Section

Section 2