GE RAR DO DÍAZ
THICK+ THIN
PALM SPRINGS MODERN ARCHIVE AND EXHIBIT studio
411 critic
STEPHEN LEET fall
2011
FIGURAL PROGRAMS Consideration of two programs, one open and radiant, the other hermetic and with security concerns, drives the form of the project. The opaque mass of the archive is placed around the perimeter, leaving a meandering courtyard for the display of artifacts. This configuration creates shared walls between the archive and exhibition, offering the opportunity to display the archive as exhibition itself. The opacity of the archives mitigates the desert climate and leaves the building as a solid mass with openings only for entry and the careful framing of the mountains to the east and the immediate landscape.
ARCHIVE SUPPORT
EXHIBITION
Photographs : layout concept model
GALLERY SPACE BY CARVING SOLID The courtyard gallery space is conceived as a solid which reaches out towards the bounds of the site.
VOID Simultaneously it is conceived as carved out of the mass of the buildable volume.
EXPLOITING ADJACENCIES At several locations, walls can slide out of view, exposing the contents of the archive and providing a view through archive storage to the landscape beyond.
SPECIFIC FLEXIBILITY The gallery’s changing ceiling heights and shifting plan create a rich variety of spaces for the display of artifacs. Intimate spaces lead to large double height galleries in game of mass and void.
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entry gallery office reading room archive patio mech.
Right: The archive/exhibit looks west to the San Jacinto Mountains. From the site to the top of the mountain is the steepest elevation changes in North America.
SKIN
The facade recalls a hyper-scaled snake skin texture and takes on a luminous blue quality as contrast to the rough, pale landscape. A 1� = 8’ scale model produces this effect by layering transclucent color and a black and white gradient behind a laser cut pattern of tesselated circles. This effect could be realized at full scale with a rain screen of glass spheres or graphic tiles.
CASTING LIGHT A PREQUEL TO THICK + THIN studio
411 critic
STEPHEN LEET fall
2011
CARVING BY ADDING Through the carving of an abstract wall section, three dimensionally complex apertures create a variety of light qualities - directional, diffuse, direct - and shadows along the surrounding walls.
Rather than literally being carved out of a volume, the wall's apertures begin first as additive pieces of foam that fold and reach around and model the bending that light will be forced through. Pouring plaster over the positive molds creates the final product.
LIVE + WORK +SHOW
HOME STUDIO AND GALLERY for two studio
311 critic
GIA DASKALAKIS fall
2011
URBAN HYBRID A typical site massing strategy would combine LIVE WORK + SHOW programs into a undifferentiated mass, missing opportunities of expression inherent in the rich program. This proposal finds a unique manifestation for separate
functions based on the most effective arrangements for living, working, and showing, emphasizing privacy in the living spaces and exposure of production and exhibition on the public ground floor.
B HOMOGENEOUS
A B
Pedestrian/Retail Corridor High Vehicular Traffic Road
L I V E
WORK SHOW
DIFFERENTIATED
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PE
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IAN TR S DE
R DO RI R O LC AI T RE
GH HI
A TR
IC FF
RO
AD
B
URBAN SITING
An urban analysis reveals benefits to the tower + base configuration to the site. The tower, placed along the red line, relates to the scale of the high speed road. The
base, along the green line, relates to the pedestrian scale of the retail corridor.
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SITE TYPOLOGY
The site is composed of a combination of low and midrise to highrise buildings. This proposal’s massing
will contribute to this dialogue, relating to both scales and adding to the complexity of the site.
R DO RI R CO
SCALE-LESS
The load bearing facade is composed of a grid of squares to create ambiguity between the scale shift in the tower of the building. This grid is then articulated to create shading, maximize key openings, and create a varied texture.
PRIVATE Dormitories are placed in the tower with maximum privacy and excellent views over the site.
PUBLIC The ground level consists of the studios and gallery to maximize public exposure of work and art. 1. studios 2.gallery
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PAN AM BUILDING NEW YORK CITY professor
ELYSSE NEWMAN fall
2010
Photographs: Section model of Pan American Airlines Building, reconstructed from photographs.
A CASE STUDY IN THE SHORTCOMINGS OF MODERNISM Post war New York City was marked by explosive growth as the city became one of the most important cultural, economic, and political centers of the world. The Pan Am Building was among the most ambitious of the speculative real estate developments of the period; it was the largest office building in the world at the time of its completion. The "design consultation" of renown architects Walter Gropius and Pietro Belluschi, whose contributions were relegated to styling the building's facade, were not able to mitigate the relentless commercial ambitions of its planners and developers. Their profit maximizing formulas left a building whose scale and bulky proportions spanned the entirety of 4th Avenue, blocking views and destroying the urban fabric. The building is both one of the most financially succesful and publicly criticized projects in NYC and a symbol of the tragic loss of Modernism's social capacity to the greed of private interest. – Abstract for an essay written by me included alongside this section model in the exhibit Architecture in Detail: Global Modernism.
STADIUM FOR THE STREET DELMAR LOOP PUBLIC LIBRARY studio
312 critic
IAN FRASER spring
2011
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working
By elevating the workspaces, the library engages visitors as they walk through the door, creating a dynamic lobby with an urban character.
reading/seeing
By elevating reading spaces onto bleacher-like terraces, the library engages the city through visual connection. The inhabitants of the library partake in a performative act, reminding passers-by of the vitality of the city.
BRANCH LIBRARY RECONSIDERED
The concept for this small library branch emerges from questioning the role of small community libraries and their contributions to the city’s public space. The ubiquity of the internet has made books only a part of the function of libraries, creating new possibilities for library design beyond the effectiveness of book circulation and search. This neighborhood library is a place not only to read but also to see, be seen, work, and play. 2
The proposal takes the reading and computer spaces as an opportunity to encourage interactions between people both within and outside the library. By providing dynamic workspaces, the design hopes to create a lively environment for community members to use internet workstations, read, or work, all while experienceing the presence of those around them.
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1 The ground level contains the entry foyer and workspaces. 2 The childrens area hangs overlooking the workspaces 3 The last two levels are the main stacks and a reading area overlooking Delmar Boulevard, one of the most trafficed streets in Saint Louis.
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Drama on Delmar Delmar Loop Theatre studio
312 critic
Zeuler Lima spring
2011
fitting in/ standing out This studio places its focus on producing urban interventions that are sensitive to the specific fabric of Delmar Avenue in St. Louis, a street popular for its variety of small shops and restaurants. This project manages to "fit in" by establishing physical relationships to neighboring buildings and reinforcing the street perimeter while "standing out" by expressing the mass of the main programmatic element: a small black box theatre. The theater is conceived of as a heavy volume suspended in an light crystalline bar.
theater support retail
Sustainably Luminous An ethereal quality is achieved through the layering of a channel glass rain-screen over a solid wall with ribbon windows at clerestory and adult height level. This creates a light, softly glazed effect while also providing room for a significant amount of insulation and blocking radiant energy. flashing channel glass rain-screen supporting angle air/vapor barrier
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1 Studio; can be used for theater support or as stand-alone dance studio
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2 Retail 3 CAFE BY DAY, theatre foyer/ event 2
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STREET
right
Section model shows material variation. The street face is glazed and luminous. The back uses natural materials that suit the garden
space by NIGHT.
LOBBY/SERVICE
above Theatre lobby/ restaurant cafe. right Theatre entry mezzanine.
GARDEN
THEATRE
SWIMMING IN THE PARK CARONDELET PARK AQUATIC CENTER studio
311 critic
GIA DASKALAKIS fall
2010
NEGOTIATING THE LANDSCAPE This studio culminates in a project for a public aquatic center in a park with a rolling landscape. The proposal makes use of the relief making techniques of cutting and folding to negotiate a steep bank on the side of a large pond. These cuts form paths around and over the site, connect various locations to the pond and create a sun deck that lies at the water’s edge. The main pool area occupies most of the space under the shell, while more private spaces such as changing rooms and saunas are imbeded into the earth. Over these rooms, a fitness center shares the expansive space under the roof.
CUT+CONNECT
LIFT
FILL
TRANSLATING TEXTURES studio
111 critic
IGOR MARJANOVIC fall
2008
MAPPING
A series of photographs encroaches on a scrap of cardboard until it is abstracted by proximity of observation. The drawing lay over analyzes deformations in the once perfect horizontal folds which result in implicit diagonal geometries.
CONSTRUCTION The analysis of horizontal and implicit diagonal geometry is explored further with a lumber construction. This structure creates a transitional surface with a diagonal fold using exclusively horizontal elements [in plan]. Furthermore, the construction was to be free of any external fasteners or glue. A dowel joint holds the contruction together.
CV Gerardo DĂaz 2655 North Austin Avenue Chicago, IL 60639 773.370.0385
EDUCATION
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUISÂ Degree 2012
Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts Bachelor of Science in Architecture
diazg89@gmail.com issuu.com/gerardo_diaz
EXPERIENCE
ALLOY DEVELOPMENT New York, NY January - current
GRUNSFELD SHAFER Architects | Evanston, IL
Design consultant; conducted design research in a request for proposals for a 130 unit residential building; 3-D modeling/ rendering; model building. Intern; assisted with the production of construction drawings for a single family home; CAD drafting, code compliance, redlines.
December 2012
ZOKA ZOLA Architecture + Urban Design Chicago, IL July - current
DIGITAL FABRICATION LAB Washington University in St. Louis fall 2011 - present
SGB ARCHITECTS Hangzhou, China (PRC) Summer 2011
PLAYGROUND PILOTS Chicago, IL 2006 - 2008
Intern; produced presentation images for publishing. Included re-modeling previous projects in Rhinoceros to refine, clarify, and articulate architectural concepts; texture mapping; rendering; and post processing. Lab monitor; Assisted students with laser cutters, calibrating settings for diverse range of materials, dimensions, and fabrication processes. Design Intern; Individually produced conceptual designs for significant portions of three competitions. Managed tight deadlines in a fast paced international environment. Prepared weekly presentations of progress.
Project manager for student run construction business. Coordinated a staff of 30 students and multipe vendors on site, and managed inventory. Designed and led interactive workshop on ADA guidelines. Recruited students from over 800 applicants.
SKILLS
DRAWING
AutoCAD, Revit, Adobe Illustrator, manual orthographic and perspectile projections
MODELING
Rhino, Sketchup, Revit, woodshop and laser cutting.
VISUALIZATION
Vray, Maxwell, Photoshop Indesign, Lightroom, graphite rendering
PHOTOGRAPHY
Digital and 35mm. with studio lighting
LANGUAGES
English, Spanish native speaker and written profiency
ACTIVITIES KWUR fm 2009 - present
Disk Jockey for student run alternative radio station. Methodically prepared selections of music for weekly show, reviewed new albums, and set up sound for live shows.