Gesu Almonte Portfolio 2017 vol.1

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.01 Tokyo Drift

.02 Soil City

.03 Urban Canyon

Infrastructure & parking based program

Public park & air ventilation project

Air remediation & research center

.04 Intertwined Systems

.05 Axial Shifts

.06 Manifold

Hybrid residential & farming program

Mixed use carnival & olympic pool center

Labyrinth style pavilion project

.07 Sixth Street House

.08 BIM Workshop

Virtual reality reconstruction

Office building design

.01 TOKYO DRIFT Spring 2017

The premise of the studio was to design a parking Professor: Ali Rahim garage building in Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo. The market Team: Ricardo Hernandez Perez was slated for demolition, & Roxanna Perez Nisuel and the free space could serve as a platform for other cultural phenomenons within Japan. Though our focus was intended to remain on the car drifting culture of Japan, we were free to incorporate other facets of japanese daily life.

As part of our unique approach into the building design, we chose to focus on Shironuri fashion and cyberpunk aspects of japanese culture, namely works inspired by Ghost in the Shell and cyborgs; as well as robotic elements extracted from Kuratas, known as piloted machine robots.

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.06 parking layouts .07 45° parking layouts .08 30° & 60° parking layouts .09 hybrid helical parking typology .10 hybrid staggered parking typology

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parking standards .01 mechanical parking .02 staggered parking typology .03 sloped parking typology .04 helical parking typology .05

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Site Documentation

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During the design process we took visual inspiration of each cultural aspect, and began to thread each of these together. We intended to provide a space that linked nearby districts, Shibuya, Akihabara, and Shinjuku, in which each of these cultural aspects manifested.

Lobby Plan

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Tower Plan

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.03 The building reflected the cultural aspects though the exterior conditions and facade details, as well as with the infrastructural and machine elements of the interiors.

Roof Plan

.01 Drifting Rotation .02 Regular Rotation .03 Trajectory Analysis

Vertical Mechanical Parking

Transversal Section

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Horizontal Mechanical Parking

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.02 SOIL CITY Fall 2016 Professor: Ferda Kolatan Team: Lara Steiner

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The intention behind the project is to extract elements linking to the existing infrastructure and to create a spatial sequence that compels the public to circulate through it. To achieve this we began by raising a portion of the lot over the highway and the roads that connect to the midway tunnel. This was intended to offer a maximum amount of public space.

We thought about approaching the idea of combining elements from the landscape and the existing structure. As a result we used the varying layers of soil that would exist in the site and began to displace them. This in turn gave us the opportunity to hide and show elements of the infrastructure along the underground tunnel.

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We thought about approaching the idea of combining elements from the landscape and the existing structure. As a result we used the varying layers of soil that would exist in the site and began to displace them. This in turn gave us the opportunity to hide and show elements. To reinforce the idea of using soil as an architectural material we treated it, so it would reflect the design process along each of its stages of displacement.

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The other element along the site that linked back to the infrastructure was the ventilation systems, which were moved to the existing parking and redesigned to serve as the main catalyst for people to circulate throughout the project. This was exhibited in the main entrances to the parking structure, and revealed along the exposed tunnel systems. For the pedestrian access the ventilation would dig into the soil and twine itself along the platforms, stair and pathways in the interior. As for the vehicular access, the parking would change shape to better fit the helical ramps that serve as the entrance. The ventilation system would wrap around the roads.

The vents would only be fully exposed in the exterior along the tunnel system at the lower half of the site.

.03 URBAN CANYON Spring 2016 Professor: Shawn Rickenbacker Team: Ricardo Hernandez Perez

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Nowadays, our cities lack the necessary infrastructure to offset the growing and harmful byproducts induced by pollution. In order to further develop the means to a sustainable future, a mobile system capable of large scale remediation is ideal. Using as a basis an extensive set of research on air purification and site information of New York we designed a prototypical

module system that could be placed and oriented on site using parameters extracted from the gathered data.

The resulting infrastructure would become the catalyst for the architectural spaces required for the NYC Carbon Exchange, and as a next step would incorporate other programs that would serve as spaces for social awareness towards air pollution and remediation.

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Global Pollution Scale

Pollution Types 22

Macro Site Conditions

Mechanical Layout

Micro Site Conditions 23

Macro Site Conditions

Roof Detail Sections

Longitudinal Section

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Remediation Detail Sections

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Plan

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.04 INTERTWINED SYSTEMS Fall 2015 Professor: Justin Korhammer

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Analyzing the symbiotic qualities present between cordyceps and insects, this project extracts the particularities of the relationship. The logic behind this relationship suggests a process by which the fungi and insect merge, creating a tertiary condition. This condition is then expressed by having the residential components and farming elements create a hybrid system. Fungi spores were abstracted based on their

morphology and function. Which resulted in modular components that were packed and clustered to study variations of growth.

The farms would function as hubs for agriculture, horticulture and as hatcheries, with the residential units gradually growing from a horizontal system, to a vertical one. The building would serve as center for production, and as an active purifier for the environment.

Circulation

Pressure

Temperature

Views

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First Floor Plan

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Sixth Floor Plan

Roof Plan

Unit Typology

Egress

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Vegetation

Farming & Residential

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Longitudinal Section

Skin Typology

Innitial Facade Stage

Final Facade Stage

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.05 AXIAL SHIFTS Spring 2015 Professor: Danielle Willems

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Extracting patterns of displacement along the city of Philadelphia, via an analysis of movement, transportation, and programmatic makeup, a conceptual massing and juxtaposition of program is arranged. This information, as shown in the mappings, is then combined with an individual formal study, which takes into consideration geometric

aggregation, volume, skin conditions and non conventional interior design. The intention is to outline what elements drive movement along the city grid, and how this in turn enriches a formal design process. The outcome is a series of spaces intended to replicate city elements at a smaller scale, present in both the interior, exterior and the landscape of the project.

Mapping Analysis

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Module Iteration

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Program Distribution

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Lobby Plan

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Site Section

Site Plan

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.06 MANIFOLD Fall 2014 Professor: Eduardo Rega

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Spatial Extraction From The Shining

Maze Concept

The basis of this project stems from a desire to transplant the agency and action of actors within fictitious narratives into architecture. Qualities regarding the various characters and spatial particularities that existed within Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining were analyzed to create an architecture that responds to new types of agency. Of these, the most intense are the labyrinth like qualities of the hotel, and how they would

tend to reflect the current mood and psychological state of the characters. As part of the design process elements were extracted from the site, the Esherick house, and overlaid with other architectural projects that manifested labyrinth like qualities. The result was a spatial sequence that formed a maze along any axis, making it inescapable.

Spatial Extraction From Proto Documents

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Section Proto Documents

Final Section

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Site Section

Site A

Axon

Plan Proto Documents

Final Plan

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Site Plan

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.07 Sixth Street House Fall 2016 Professor: Christopher McAdams Team: Judith Vazquez & Phoebe Leung

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This project was part of an architectural exploration on the design, modeling and development of virtual systems. Using VR technology the aim was to recreate projects that hadn’t been built, using the digital tools in place to provide an alternate virtual experience.

Separated into teams of our choosing, we researched Sixth Street House, as a building to recreate in VR.

The complex and multilayered plans, in combination with the sections, served as a platform from which we could draw different interpretations of interior spaces. To offset this, we used the physical model images and elevations to build accurate depictions of the exterior spaces.

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This increased the amount of space available for exploration, and added to the experience of circulating through the interiors of the house.

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In terms of the interior, we drew inspiration from the descriptions of the of the house. Most of the furniture, fixtures and general style was based on a conscious and subtle integration of technology. Likewise, we felt it was proper to integrate furniture from the design studio, Morphosis, due to its ties to the designer.

Overall our goal was to develop an atmosphere in which users could interact and gain appreciation for the Sixth Street House.

.08 BIM Workshop Fall 2014 Professors: Franca Trubiano & Patrick Morgan

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Using building information modeling software the task at hand was to develop a 10 story office space building with amenities, recreational spaces and detailed glass envelope.

With the site information provided the office building is comprised of a main lobby, a three floor underground basement level, three floors dedicated mainly to office space and 5 other floors for free program distribution.

The main entrance and lobby holds an atrium and skylight spanning all 10 stories of the building, and provide much needed light across all floors.

Technical drafting, wall details, and using BIM tools as a primary source for design and modeling were the key points.

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