felipe lopera | undergraduate lessons in architecture
Like the earth, Architecture emerges from the weaving of layers. Thus, architecture is an extension of the earth, a link between mankind and nature. It explores the framework, the components and joints that compose the construct; and the phenomenological aspect, the emotional and social impact of a space. These selected works embrace the lessons learned.
felipe lopera
undergraduate lessons in architecture M. ARCH applicant | fall 2013
Selected Works
participating in the sculpting and interpretation of space
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Eva[pore]ative Envelope
design studio six - spring 2012
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[Can]delabra
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Sprouted Platform
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Deconstructed Analysis
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Delineated Declination
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Vertical Assemblages
environmental technology - fall 2012
advanced digital architecture - fall 2011
design studio two - summer 2010
design studio five - fall 2011
design studio seven - fall 2012
ReOrdering Nature
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Anticipated Destination
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Room and Garden
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Enclosed Corner
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Public Nodes
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architectural theory - fall 2012
advanced digital architecture - fall 2011
design studio one - summer 2010
design studio six - spring 2012
design studio seven - fall 2012
Y3 | D6
Eva[pore]ative Envelope
Charleston | South Carolina
layering culture and history through tectonics critic | guy peterson
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The project requires both an institution instructing students in the culinary arts, and an inviting place where local businesses are able to intern students into their local establishments. Programmatically the construct takes into account the surrounding food establishments’ layout; businesses facing East Bay Street located at ground level, while eateries on the streets perpendicular are located on higher floors, not only protecting from flood zones, but also providing the occupant with a raised view of the Charleston cityscape.
The faรงade must also comply with the Charleston historic style to react and respect the context of the site. A brick outer membrane will react to this style, mimicking the construction materials used in the area; while the interior membrane will reflect characteristics of modern institutions. Additionally, the faรงade also creates an opportunity for a double membrane, where peripheral circulation can be niched in between the two facades, playing with the connections and thresholds between the interior the exterior circulation.
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Charleston | South Carolina
Student Space Educational kitchen Library Lecture hall Demonstration kitchen Pastry kitchen Classrooms Student Lounge
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Public Space Restaurant Bakery shop Wine room
Public Space Offices Receiving area Trash area
visibility
permeability
transparency
verticality
floor Slab
steel skeleton
enclosure
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Charleston | South Carolina
Pedestrian circulation is the dominant form of movement in this area, thus an open space in the interior creates a desirable location to gather into, and break away from the dynamic organization of the streets. From the inner courtyard, movement is then dictated according to the occupants role in the building: transient visitors may stay by exploring the bottom levels, which have food and wine shops showcasing the end-products of the students’ hard work; students can travel to the demonstration hall or institutional kitchens for handson culinary practice, or to the classrooms and library for theoretical studying.
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6 1. Lobby 2. Pastry Kitchen 3. Bake Shop 4. Receiving Area 5. Student Lounge 6. Demonstration Kitchen 7. Trash Area 8. Classroom 9. Educational Kitchen 10. Restaurant Kitchen 11. Dining Room 1 12. Library 13. Lecture Hall 14. Dining Room 2
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Ground Floor Plan
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Second Floor Plan
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Fourth Floor Plan
Circulation Patterns
Mass Configurations
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Y4 | ET
[Can]delabra
the Dining Room
diffusing light with architectural features critic | lucky tsiah
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The luminaire is inspired by the dining room of an asian restaurant. The room celebrates its own structure, exposing its ribbed components and horizontality; all resulting from the high ceiling planes. Omitting drop-down ceilings allows the luminaire to hang freely in a pendant form, and accentuates the naked structure of the room even further. Compositionally, the luminaire also extends the horizontal movement of the room by implementing a series of ribs in a similar fashion, and supporting an aluminum envelope for the light bulb. The solid walls of the aluminum can limit glare to seep through the sides, and the opening at the bottom allows a direct light to the target (the table/food) to accentuate details and textures, making the dining experience more enjoyable.
Focus importance
Secondary
Secondary Primary
patrons light target
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Y3 | AD
Sprouted Platform
ARC Building | University of Florida
grafting a structure with an existing structure to discover new programs critic | lee-su huang
light cover
diagrid support
personal scale
platform
helicoidal base
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diagrid support
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ARC Building | University of Florida
The atrium in the Architecture building is an inviting space to rest after a walkabout around campus, and also as a destination where group gatherings may occur, such as presentations and lectures.
The bare space provides an excellent opportunity to construct a canopy that activates the volume, and adds function to the atrium. Covering only portions of the atrium keeps the appeal of the multi-level open space intact, while borrowing a portion of the space for presentation and gallery space.
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Y1 | D2
Deconstructed Analysis
Conceived Space
recognizing layered organization within the building critic | john maze
Circulation
Grid
Structure
Void
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The Atheneum Analysis
Analysis of existing buildings aids in understanding the different layers and concepts that are present in the construction. Simple geometric shapes, circulation patterns, structure, light permeability, and void relationships all become apparent through in-depth study. Applying the found ideas to create our own space greatly enhances the quality of design and space.
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Y3 | D5
Delineated Declination
Cross Florida Greenway | Florida
controlling the slope of the landscape to solve programmatic issues critic | stephen bender
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4 Dining Center 1. Dining Hall - lower level 2. Dining Hall - upper level 3. Storage Room 4. Kitchen
Reception and Visitor Complex 1. Reception Area 2. Gallery 3. Conference Room 4. Office Area 5. Apartments
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Learning and Reseearch Center 1. Lab Area 2. Teaching Lab 3. Teaching Studio 4. Studio Area
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Cross Florida Greenway | Florida 22
The conference rooms sit at the edge of the visitor complex, allowing natural light to flood the rooms and distantview relationships to frame the apertures.
Changes in landscape delineate the vertical configuration of for staggered openings from building to building. The center to tower over the other components of the complex, surrounding it; providing a welcoming view of what type of
the complex, which offer opportunites height irregularities allow the visitor as well as the extent of the landscape experiences await the transient occupant.
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Y4 | D7
Vertical Assemblages
High Line | New York
joining levels of circulation in a public knot team | felipe lopera & emily dawson critic | tom smith
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The High Line creates a new passageway while simultaneously providing its travelers with moments of pause. View and light are two fundamentals that the High Line exploits and explores.
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Permeable enclosure
Impermeable enclosure
Level divisions
Vertical connections
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Rooftop Restaurant Kitchen 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 12 11 10 9 8 7
Natatorium Lounge
Auditorium Cafe
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High Line | New York
Light Diagram
Rooftop Restaurant Kitchen 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 12 11 10 9 8 7 Balconies
Auditorium Lobby Hotel Reception
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The High Line elevates its occupants and gives them sights into areas and spaces that they would have otherwise been unable to experience. The open air park soaks up light as it streams through the nearby buildings.
Programmatic Blocks
The hotel takes cues from the High Line in its effort to react to it, and contrasts the liberal nature of the High Line views with a privacy-affording skin that shields its hotel stayers from prying eyes, but allows them views of the outside.
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High Line | New York
Where the High Line and the hotel meet, larger public spaces are introduced, and used as an opportunity to introduce inviting destinations for the public.
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HVAC
clear glass
The skin consists of a louver system that reacts to the ability of those passing by to see in by increasing the density of its louvers on the lower floor and allowing them to spread apart natural as the building reaches heights that surpass the context.
Spandrel glass
curtain wall clip
raised mechanical
concrete
steel beams
Each hotel room is composed of floor-to-ceiling glass facade to maximize viewing area. Raising the floor at the entrance to accomodate mechanical space creates a taller space for living at the far side of the room. 29
Y4 | TH
ReOrdering Nature
Theoretical New York
pollinating the grid with organic parametrics critic | martin gundersen
Dictating the historic New York landscape to conform to the conventional rigidity of the rectilinear grid established a new form of order in the city. This particular order gives configuration to places that haven’t even been planned into existence yet, a map for the un-built and conceptual. The divisions created were left at a large enough scale that each cell could become independent from all the other cells, and develop its own character, while still functioning as an important member of the whole, like the cells composing organisms; a honeycomb structure or animal cells composing tissue. The separation of organic and rigid is not an either-or function. There are two extremes at either side: basic ninety-degree partitions and fluid forms with no apparent corners of intersections. Designing in New York has slowly moved from the very rectilinear end of the spectrum towards using natural Parametricism in nature to bring back a connection to the landscape that was once present. Establishing the new circulation patterns to more similarly match natural movement creates an opportunity for computer software to aid the design. Digital software introduce a new organizational system. It is inherently a system of functions, thus there needs to be a connection between one function to the next, which ultimately create a network of systems intertwining with each other. This becomes a beautifully organic web system in itself, on top of the product of the functions. Thus not only does the product embody characteristics of nature, but also the way in which we structure these designs biomimics the underlying structure of life, as in cells, tissues, and veins.
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Y3 | AD
Anticipated Destination
Gainesville | Florida
generating a space in waiting for the bus system critic | lee-su huang
The design goals of the installation include comfort, placement, and materiality. The curvature provides human comfort by acting as a matched receptacle for the human body. Locating the bus pavilion along the tree line near the street evokes a sense of closeness to nature while the passengers await for the bus. Structurally, the pavilion resembles the adjacent trees: large, sturdy base (seating area); thinner members supporting the structure like branches; and a porous canopy to protect from direct sunlight, and diffuse light into the structure.
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First Skin
Second Skin
Structure
Seating
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Y1 | D1
Room and Garden
Conceived Space
exploring the relationship of niched spaces and the field critic | donna cohen
The room and garden experiments with the way in which smaller-scale interventions relate to the openness of the field. Establishing circulation around these niches begins to creates connections between each of them. The resulting matrix becomes the field that nestles them. Each niched space is shaped and configured to represent an idea; one space presents hot conditions: taller and exposed to the barren outside. While the other space contrasts it with colder conditions: low-lying and hidden under the field. Thus, both the room and the garden are created simultaneously, showing that each aspect is linked to the other; the room exists because of the 34 garden and the garden only exists because of the room.
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Y3 | D6
Enclosed Corner
Gainesville | Florida
refitting city layers according to urban program critic | guy peterson
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Downtown Gainesville is composed of a tightly knit fabric of historical culture, restaurants, and nightlife. These conditions were carefully considered for the urban infill project. The building must respond cohesively to the existing context of the area. The lot at the corner of S. Main St and SW 1st Ave is surrounded by various bars, which already respond to the nightlife aspect of downtown.
bars/nightclubs dining
This leaves the construction with the two remaining aspects: culture and dining. The buildings adjacent to the proposed area include appraiser offices, libraries, and other government buildings. There are also many sit-in restaurants in the surrounding area. Therefore a first floor coffee shop benefits the abundance of working populaiton that will be looking for a quick meal and reenergizing beverages. The second floor offers a gallery space where local art can be displayed, while allowing a narrow peripheral hallway to peer over the street and enjoy the cityscape of downtown gainesville.
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Gainesville | Florida
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second floor plan
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ground floor plan
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
coffee shop viewing space gallery walkway exterior courtyard restroom egress
overhead enclosure
glass enclosure
wood facade
vertical circulation
structure
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Y4 | D7
Public Nodes
Manhattan | New York
creating public pockets in an urban network team | felipe lopera & emily dawson critic | tom smith
New York’s urban form is comprised of a network of rectangular blocks, each with its own character. Some ready for construction, while others await their turn to be programmed. The abundance of dense city-blocks creates a need for public courtyards, nodes where nature can interact with urbanism. 40
The inner courtyards provide a break from the abruptness of adjacent buildings, and allow occupants to wander from niched courtyard to the next with changes in elevation.
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Manhattan | New York
Translating the rectilinear language of path from the city into the block.
Mapping nodes created by fluid paths of movement within a city block.
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Fusing the rigidity of the city grid with nodes for public place to form a new circulation relating to both.
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Layers of hardscape and landscape interact symbiotically to contrast against the density of the city.
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Residential Retail Elementary Planetarium Parking
Program blocks are stacked according to the need for privacy. Public spaces are used as the plinth surrounding the courtyard, while private residences rise vertically to increase privacy. Multi-story buildings flood the New York city-scape. Elevating public courtyards to the roof surfaces engages the occupants with the urban fabric of the Manhattan context.
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Entry of light
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Manhattan | New York
Introducing balconies to the residences adds an intimate dimension to the facade. Differing uses of balconies between the plinth and the towers acknowledge the levels of privacy desired. Inset balconies in the plinth coincide with the need for higher privacy in the lower levels, while balconies in the towers protrude out to provide views of the New York skyline.
West Elevation
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The treatment of the skin reflects the programmatic issue of seclusion against exposition. Metal mesh skin for the privacy of the school; horizontal louver system for the residential plinth; and glass curtain wall for the residential towers, to complete the fenestration of the block.
North Elevation
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Acknowledgements
Special thanks to my Mom, Dad, and Sister for giving me opportunities I would have never had in other countries, shaping the course of my life, and supporting me in difficult times. And to all of my close friends and individuals who have worked hard and positively by my side.
felipe lopera 223 Leawood Circle Naples, Florida 34104 flopera@ufl.edu