The Works: A Portfolio by Felix Reyes

the works

an assorted collection of work that explores aesthetics, inhabitable spaces, and other concepts in development a portfolio by: Felix Reyes 2016 | 2019

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content planAsylum A multi-unit residential complex where residents work off their crimes against the enviroment. pg. 6

welcome home

shipped out

A complex that serves as an entrance into the historical city of Cohoes, NY. pg. 14

Material [Shipping Pallets] Location: [Home in Ruins, Cordoba] Method: [Suspend in air] pg. 24

transitory bliss

life cycles

about

Frozen glimpse into the volatile, yet beautiful chaos of nature. pg. 32

Series of drawings that explore concepts of death, decay, and rebirth. pg. 36

pg. 42

complex entrance

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/| plan A sylum plan(A)sylum is a play on two sets of words: the first set being Plan A, which infers an imperative and a priority, and the second word being Asylum, which is defined as a place of refuge and protection giving shelter to criminals and debtors (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). location: Cohoes, NY [Along the Hudson River] critic: Adam Dayem collaborator: Katie Hoffstatter

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“What is the use of a house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?�

-Henry David Thoreau In this situation, the criminals are the residents of this multiunit complex and their crimes are the injustices they have made towards the environment.

Set 10-15 years into the future, the project is part of a larger national government initiative to enforce societal changes with regards to the environment.

At this point, the effects of global warming have risen close to their peak and the drastic enviromental changes globally have driven global nations to take a stand at slowing down the irreversible. The Hudson River is a prime example of the triumphs of humans having detrimental effects on the quality of the water and species through water pollution, sewage dumping, and river transportation. This project presents a situation in which the residents could pay off their debts to nature kind through onsite research as well as a direct intervention into cleaning up the mess that has been made [via the Hudson River] in exchange for their living arrangements.

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exploded axon From top to bottom: Facade | Program blocks | 3 unit types | Residential vs.

Research Circulation | Parking |

floor plans The living units are organized around central atrium spaces [purple]. Each building of units corresponds to a specific work center[Water Filtration Center, Center for Vegetative Remediation, Educational Center]

level 2

level 1

carve attach repeat

generative unit studies The design for the interior of each of the living units [1 and 2-bed] was created through a generative process that was both additive and subtractive.

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unit interior

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sectional model

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aerial view

complex waterfront

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/|welcome home This project is not only an entrance into the town of Cohoes, NY, but also becomes a symbolic celebration of the history and culture of the Hudson River region. location: Cohoes, NY [Along the Hudson River] critic: Rhett Russo

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“All that is within me cries out to go back to my home on the Hudson River.�

-Franklin D. Roosevelt While the Hudson River has a significant historical presence within the U.S., one of its important contributions is its source of inspiration for what would later be referred to as the Hudson River School. The phenomenological experience that one has in relationship to this landscape as well as the inclusion of a built environment was essential to really scaling down the human in the site as well as blurring the relationship between street, site, and river. This transitional blur was achieved using intersecting diagonal axes as a main organizational tool in terms of program distribution and circulation. These axes create a weaving down movement toward the river rather than a direct path. The natural elements of the site create a varied set of relationships between the privacy and introspection within the untamed labyrinth as well as a more open and contextual experience within the vegetation and the site. It is this idea of home that is essential to really creating a gateway to the city, immersing the people into a communal space that is celebrating shared experience and shared history.

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site context diagram The site[red] has a close proximity to major waterways, The Mohawk and Hudson River.

The lack of public, natural spaces[pink] made it essential to include that on the site.

longitudinal section

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floor plans One circulates through the built aspects of the site as one continuous gesture, moving from boathouse, to cafĂŠ, to elevated labyrinth garden, and finally the performance center.

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site plan Replicating the traditional color palette of the Hudson River School, indigenous vegetation that correspond to these colors are placed on the site.

program diagrams BoatHouse [Green] | Performance [Yellow] | Residential [Red] | Parking [Light Green] | Dock [Blue]

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a division a gesture a bridging

model

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night time on the river

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complex through the waterfront oculus

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/|shipped out Set in a small town in the Cordoba province of Argentina, this canopy project challenges the notion of architectural restoration by opting to retain a certain crudeness in materiality, location, and construction. location: Colonia Caroya, Cordoba, Argentina critic: Gustavo Crembil collaborators: Catriona Cribbs, Ria Kelsick, Soraya Mbaoua, Olivia Rosado

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“Beauty in art is often nothing but ugliness subdued.�

-Jean Rostand The canopy is placed in the open courtyard area of a historical house in the town of Colonia Caroya. Left in ruins after years of neglect, the home becomes a prime location to explore how simple, raw design and aesthetic can be used to invite the public back into an abandoned space.

Colonia Caroya is known for its production of shipping pallets amongst other things, making it an ideal industrial ready-made module for the canopy system.

Density and weight are created through the overlapping of these modules. Pallets are traditionally used on the ground and meant to function under compression, yet we choose to suspend them in the air. This inversion enables a challenging of the relationship between airiness and heaviness within the project by creating an illusion that these pallets are impossibly floating above the viewer. Vertical elements derived from the planks on the pallets hang off the megastructure like a fur, blurring the space and the light even further. Ultimately, the goal of the project is to revitalize a historical house that is abandoned and waning. Likewise, this project aims to reimagine the crude appearance of the pallet into something that can be beautiful and elegant.

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exploded diagram

construction diagram The canopy is assembled through a system of scaffolding in which placeholder pallets are piled within and then removed. The pallets are held together through a compression joint made of planks and steel tightening bolts.

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top view and section The canopy sits on a steel shelf attached to the wall. Steel cables connect both sides and are tightened to compress the system into place.

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study model

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stack it hang it blur it

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under the canopy

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frozen surge

/|transitory bliss The perception of solid and fluid are two concepts that are both interchangeable and emphasize the fleeting, transitory quality of the natural world. critic: Rhett Russo

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“It’s a cruel and random world, but the chaos is all so beautiful.”

-Hiromu Arakawa Landscapes are subjected to elements that carve, extract, and replace its natural state redefining the idea of equilibrium with every passing moment.

Through a series of drawings and digital models, I aimed to express this transient state in an artificially created landscape.

The fragile, spiked land masses are frozen in a state of destruction as a swirling fluidlike mass steadily consumes them. The world seems to wrap and engulf aspects of the singular moments of stability, emphasizing the perpetual triumph of chaotic destruction and reconstruction. A certain beauty is infused within this discord as a mix of colors scramble throughout the site.

Disorienting, yet inviting, these colors emphasize the volatile blissfulness of the natural world.

Subsequently, the connotation of destruction and chaos is muddle with a presentation of something that can equally be celebratory and euphoric.

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top view of fragment

nature x chaos= beauty

section of fragment

Vomit: World Works in Cycles Ink on Paper 24" x 12"

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/|life cycles Life is essentially nothing more than a cascading series of cycles. As one cycle comes to an end, another creeps its way out, sprouting life from a state of decay. We often seek ways to cope and endure through this process to humanize the invasive hold that nature has on us. However, death is not in fact the end of life. It is a continuation of an essence that is in a constant state of metamorphosis; everchanging in form, in energy, and in entity.

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Roots: A Story of Rebirth Ink on Paper 39" x 26"

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Eternal Truths Ink on Vellum 22" x 18"

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Tales of the Fly & the Lotus Acrylic on White Paper 22" x 7.5"

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Fertilizer Graphite on White Paper 20" x 16"

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work experience

skills

R&R Studios:

Evan Douglis Studio LLC:

Ruben's Transmission:

[October 2015June 2016] As an intern, Felix was responsible for archiving work and model fabrication.

Involved in the production of the Besame Mucho installation at Coachella 2016.

[Summer 2017]

[Summer 2018]

Felix was exposed to the exploration of aesthetic and ornament as an intern in Douglis' office.

There he worked on model fabrication and computer drafting.

Deciding to get involved in the family buisness, Felix worked at his father's mechanic shop over the summer. There he learned about repairing cars as well as the complexities of managing a buisness.

awards AIA Student of the Year: [American Institute of Architecture] High School Recipient 2015 Miami, FL

Adobe CC Suite Autocad Rhino 3D Grasshopper Sketch-Up Pro V-ray for Rhino

other: Hand-drawings Drafting Painting Sculpting Model-Making

education

languages

Young Arts Merit Scholar:

Design and Architecture Senior High:

English Spanish

[Merit Award in Design] 2016 Miami, FL

[2012-2016] High School

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: [2016-Present] Bachelor in Architecture

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software:

contact email:

reyesf@rpi.edu

phone:

[305]-205-4046

instagram:

@farch.projects

about Hello, Felix has advised me to thank you for reaching this far into the portfolio and that it is okay if you decide to skip this part as you probably will. He has asked me to narrate for him as he finds it strange to talk about himself.

Born in Miami, Felix Reyes lived a pretty average and boring childhood despite what most people believe about growing up in the “Magic City”. For a long time, he jumped from hobby to hobby whether it was playing the saxophone or learning to break-dance. However, it wasn’t until he was 14 that he developed an interest in art that eventually led to him deciding to attend Design and Architecture Senior High. There he gained a profound knowledge of art and design, as well as engulfed himself into a community of people that were weird, passionate, and anything but average.

At first, Felix wanted to focus his studies on industrial design and aspired to design the new Iphone or reinvent the iconic Eames chair. However, he soon realized that the fast pace and almost endless output of concepts did not suit him and decided to join the architectural strand of his high school on a whim. There he instantly gained a passion for architecture as he found a way to infuse design and art into constructing space and human experience.

Along the way, he found his method of production which is a thoroughness that is sometimes obsessive as well as a philosophy that work is always in a “state of development”. For him, projects are just stages of a larger conceptual series of ideas that are always "in the works". Felix has taken this method with him through his studies at RPI as well as plans to continue maturing it throughout his “not so average anymore” life.

-Anonymous Narrator

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