PORTFOLIO ISABEL ALVAREZ DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | ARCHITECTURE | DECEMBER 2016
ABOUT Isabel Alvarez Arzeno
Contact: alvarez.i@outlook.com | 809-757-5115
My work is based on Caribbean and Latin American countries influenced mostly by modernist architects. I do intensive research of theories, relevant references and on site information as a first approach to any project. I explore on functional design concepts to create better spatial solutions parallel to aesthetics concepts to integrate with the context, with the ultimate goal of creating architecture that works for the people and the environment.
EDUCATION Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra
Aug 2009-Jun 2014
Bachelor of Architecture GPA: 3.6/4.0 – Magna Cum Laude De La Salle School
Sep 1994- Jun 2009
Diploma of Science and Letters
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Alvarez Foundation
Jan 2016-Actual
Architectural Resident – Develop design drawings of an addition for a project in the mountain and supervise its construction. Moshe Cosicher Architects
Feb 2015-Sep 2015
Architectural Intern - Kept the plan sets (printed and virtually) updated of an 80-story building located in Brickell, Miami. Drafted in Sketchup several quick sketches of designs ideas. Drafted interior elevations in AutoCAD. Drafted from scratch design documents of a 50-story building project in Downtown Miami. Professional Reference: Architect Moshe Cosicher (305.710.8072) Santiago Land Use Plan Department(Plan de Ordenamiento Territor
Feb 2014-Jun2014
Architectural Intern - Mapped zoning areas and utilities services of Santiago City by learning the basics of the ArcGIS Software. Drafted a proposal design for the Santiago Metropolitan Park. Professional Reference: Architect Marcos Gomez (828.582.6611) Arch. Elizabeth Arzeno
Jun 2012-May 2012
Architectural Intern - Assisted the General Contractor in a public sector daycare construction in Moca. Took weekly notes of the construction activities. Drafted technical drawings. Kept updates time and cost schedule of direct and indirect costs. Professional Reference: Architect Elizabeth Arzeno (809.430.4388)
SKILLS 3D Modeling and Drafting: Autodesk Revit, Autodesk AutoCAD, Sketchup 8. Digital Image and Rendering: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Indesign, Adobe Photoshop, V-Ray (Sketchup) Languages: Spanish (native), English (Fluent -Summer English Program (2007) Chesire Academy, CT, USA).
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| PROJECTS |
M OU N TAI N
A DDIT ION | PRO FES S IO NAL | 2016 - AC TUAL - 3 -
DR- H A I T I BORDE R DE V E LOPM E N T
C O M M UNIT Y PL A N N ING | AC ADEMIC | FINAL PRO JEC T | 2014 - 7 -
U I A2014 DU RB AN
A R CH IT ECT UR E OTHERWHERE | C O MPETITIO N | 2013 - 15 -
K A N D I N SK Y C OU RT YARD
SOCIA L CENTER | AC ADEMIC | 2011 - 21 -
AR CH I T E CT U RAL DI M E N SI ON S STAN DARDS H OUS E | AC ADEMIC | 2010 - 25 -
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MOUNTAIN HOUSE | ADDITION SAMANA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.
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MOUNTAIN HOUSE | ADDITION SAMANA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ADDITION
ADDITION PROPOSAL
EXISTING HOUSE
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THE MOUNTAIN HOUSE IS PLACED IN A HILLCREST, OF APPROXIMATELY 10FT BY 30FT; 5 YEARS OF CONSTRUCTION ACCOMPLISHED AN ESTIMATE OF 11,000 SQUARE FEET OF CONSTRUCTION AREA (BOTTOM IMAGE). A HOUSE ADDITION GONE WRONG WAS THE REASON OF MY INTERVENTION IN THE PROJECT (UPPER LEFT IMAGE). THERE WERE NO FOOTPRINTS OF THE CONSTRUCTION SO I MADE A DESIGN PROPOSAL (MIDDLE LEFT IMAGE) TAKING IN CONSIDERATION MOSTLY THE STRUCTURES, THE AESTHETICS AND THE PROPORTIONS OF THE HOUSE. I immediately detected four problems: - Most of the columns were slender, so I suggested consulting an engineer who reinforced the columns. - The columns alignment was not perpendicular to the rest of the house. For this situation I decided to stake out reference points and markers in order to align the formwork despite the beams directions. Two columns had to be taken down and two more had to be poured and three columns had to be walked, but the resulting slab is now aligned with the rest of the house and it accomplishes structure safety. - The biggest aesthetic problem was the 16 naked columns under and the irregular space unwillingly created under the slab. For this situation I modeled the columns in Sketchup and designed a proportional space to the existing construction. The spaces created included a water tank to collect rainwater, a storage room that was needed, two bedrooms with bathrooms and the main entrance staircase to the whole house. - The roof designed was sloped in one longitudinal direction and I redesigned it in a traditional two direction slope.
ADDITION ORIGINAL SITUATION
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Since January 2016 I am resident architect for two weeks a month supervising the construction of the addition design, keeping record of everyday works and others minor suggestions for the rest of the house.
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ADDITION ROOF LEVEL DESIGN
ADDITION UPPER LEVEL DESIGN & CONNECTING TERRACE
ADDITION MIDDLE LEVEL BEDROOMS DESIGN
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UNDER CONSTRUCTION
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In the process of the addition another situation came up: it was only directly related to the owner’s bedroom and he requested me to design a connecting circulation at both sides of the room, to the patio and to the existing entrance of the house.
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DR-HAITI BORDER DEVELOPMENT | COMMUNITY PLANNING LAC DE PELIGRE, HAITI.
LONG TERM VISION A BI-NATIONAL COMMUNITY FOR CROSS-BORDER DEVELOPMENT INCLUDING COORDINATED MASTER PLANS, TRADE ZONES, INDUSTRIAL EFFICIENCIES, QUALITY RESIDENTIAL LIVING, HEALTHCARE AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS.
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DR-HAITI BORDER DEVELOPMENT | COMMUNITY PLANNING LAC DE PELIGRE, HAITI.
A COMMUNITY MODEL EXPERIMENT WITH CIVIL SOCIETIES SUBSIDY IN HAITI; THE MOST PROSPER LAND OF THE NEW WORLD DISCOVERY BUT ALSO THE MOST AFFECTED ONE. In 1492 Haiti was the pearl of the Caribbean and today is poorest country in America. The invasion, slavery system and capitalist model implanted by its discoverers set the basis for the later poverty, division of the island and migration conflicts between Dominican Republic and Haiti. In order to amend the damage an a ttempt to shift the modern paradigm to an ecological one is held on the proposal of a community able to replicate. Following modular and ecological planning concepts and taking vernacular architecture to a more contemporary design the development of the DR-H border area will bring better quality of life to Haitians and Dominicans.
MEDIUM SCALE
Create Haitian and Dominican neighboring communities at the central area of the border where the Dominican Artibonito River waters are holded back into the Hatian dam called Lac du Peligre.
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SMALL SCALE
This scale is the planning scope of the project. One single community for 600 people in area of 10 hectare. A human centered place with K-12 and High School Education, Multiuse Center, Market Place, Primary Care Center, Police and Fire Station.
MICRO SCALE
This modular unit is the prime lakou: the smallest neighbourhood, designed for a group of 6 homes around a central public space. Each home is formed by smaller modules has its own backyard for agriculture.
SMALL SCALE
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STEEL SHEET
SOCUAL MODULE
BAMBOO STRUCTURE
INTERIOR BAMBOO NET
KITCHEN AND BATHROOM MODULE
EXTERIOR BAMBOO NET
BAMBOO WALL STRUCTURE
BEDROOM WITH GALLERY MODULE
CONCRETE BEAM
CONCRETE PILES AND SLAB
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REFERENCE IMAGE
BEDROOM MODULE
MICRO SCALE
1 BEDROOM HOME
2 BEDROOOM HOME
3 BEDROOM HOME
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REFERENCE IMAGE
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UIA2014 DURBAN | ARCHITECTURE OTHERWHERE DURBAN. SOUTH AFRICA
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UIA2014 DURBAN | ARCHITECTURE OTHERWHERE DURBAN. SOUTH AFRICA
Warwick Junction is a dynamic trade and transport hub in the heart of Durban’s inner city. Rigorous, colourful and noisy, it is a nucleus of activity and movement for hundreds of thousands of people every day. This transport node provides a setting for predominantly informal traders at an unprecedented scale. The competition aims to recognize the complex systems that underpin the site’s economic, cultural and social dynamic - and to find ways to strengthen, reinforce or expand these systems to the advantage of users and inhabitants of the site and surrounding city. Brook Street cemetery, the focal point of the competition, is an island within the city, connected to the main markets only by a steel shed constructed over Brook Street. This structure emphasises of the main cemetery entrance and provides shade for daily small market stalls. Witnessing the site’s distinctiveness and difference, the question arises: should Warwick Junction’s diversity and contrast be encouraged, celebrated, or bridged? And through what means, and on what terms?
ECOLOGY VALUES RESILIENCE | | | LARGE SCALE MEDIUM SCALE SMALL SCALE INTERVENTION INTERVENTION INTERVENTION | | | GREATER DURBAN GREAT BROOK STREET CAPSULE HOTEL | | The studio analyzed the A catalytic and resilient regional development, intervention at the end social and economic. of the Brook Street focused on a short term Then, formulated accommodation for the proposals that take into merchants. The capsule consideration the hotel design is based private and public on low cost and simple transportation construction methods infraestructure as well as that can be done by the a green infraestructure. same merchants. Warwick Juntion is compared to a living and growing tree. The studio analogized one of the cementery edges, the Brook Street as the trunk of the tree because it is the busiest commercial edge. It connects directly to the train station which would be the roots of the tree and finally the rest of warwick junction is similar to a crown tree. The studio selected Brook Street Edge to develop an architectural design that connects with the whole. The roof structure was taken as an important element of the markets so it was redesigned into modules able to spread along all the street markets working as the xylem and phloem of a tree.
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CITY ANALYSIS AND PROPOSALS
TRANSMILENIO
TRAM
EXISTING AND PROPOSED WALKWAY
Parking for Tram
EXISTING AND PROPOSED CICLEWAY
GREEN INFRAESTRUCTURE
STREET SECTION
TransMilenio Station Tram Station
Julius Nyerere St Market St Brook St Market Dr A B Xuma St Monty Naicker Rd Margaret Mncadi Ave. Boatmans Rd
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WARWICK JUNTION ANALYSIS
MARKETS FLOW DIAGRAM
BROOK STREET ANAYLISIS
SHED SOLAR ANALYSIS
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WARWICK JUNTION PROPOSALS
SHED AND HOSPITALITY INTERVENTION
CONNECTING BRIDGES
OPEN SHED
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KANDINSKY COURTYARD | SOCIAL CENTER SANTIAGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
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KANDINSKY COURTYARD | SOCIAL CENTER SANTIAGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
I STARTED WITH THE EXPLORATION OF THE BAUHAUS TEACHER WASSILY KANDINSKY’S WORK AND METHODS AND USED THEM AS GENERATOR OF THE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN. I RESEARCHED THAT KANDINSKY USES A NEW APPROACH TO TEACHING ABOUT THE COLOR, BASED ON THE ANALYSIS OF INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS – A POINT, A LINE, A PLANE, AND EXAMINING THEIR RELATIONSHIP. THE RESULT OF THIS ANALYSIS WILL BE HIS WORK “POINT AND LINE TO PLANE”.
I imagined the site of the project as a canvas to make my own point and line to plane work based particular on one of Kandinsky.
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After that I studied Kandinsky’s theory about color and selected the work “Composition VIII” as a model to give color my last work.
BAUHAUS EDUCATION PREACHED THE SYNTHESIS OF ARTS, CONSIDERING THE PAINTING, SCULPTURE AND ARCHITECTURE SHOULD BE COMBINED WITH THE ULTIMATE OBJECTIVE OF THE BUILDING. SO, AFTER HAVING DONE MY OWN COMPOSITION I PROJECTED THE POINTS AND LINES AS ARCHITECTURAL PLANES CONSIDERING A HUMAN SCALE AND THE PROGRAM AREA I HAD REVIOSLY WORKED ON AND INCLUDED:
COURTYARD - MULTIPURPOSE GALLERY - CLASSROOMS - OFFICES - COMPUTER LAB - READING LAB - CAFETERIA
A courtyard is the central space of the complex design and works as an integrator of the three separated building that partially enclose it. The distribution makes natural ventilation and light an important feature of the project.
The organic of the project can be appreciated also from the outside. The two curved facades leave a wider set back that lead to the entrance facing the corner of the street and making it inviting to people to enter.
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ARCHITECTURAL DIMENSION STANDARDS | HOUSE SANTIAGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
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ARCHITECTURAL DIMENSIONS STANDARDS | HOUSE SANTIAGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
THE FIRST STUDIO OBJECTIVE WAS TO LEARN THE HUMAN AND FURNITURE DIMENSIONS IN ORDER TO MAKE FUNCTIONAL SPACES, IN THIS CASE OF A HOUSE FOR A YOUNG MARRIED COUPLE WITH ONE CHILD AND PLACED IN A HYPOTHETICALLY SITE IN THE CITY OF SANTIAGO. THE SECOND STUDIO OBJECTIVE WAS TO RELATE THE SOCIAL, PRIVATE AND SERVICE USES AND MANAGE A GOOD COMFORT ZONE BY TAKING ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL THROUGH PASSIVE TECHNIQUES. TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL THE FOLLOWING WERE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION: ORIENTATION, ILUMINATION, VENTILATION AND SOUND.
Users The hypothetical users are a 28 year-old professional swimmer husband, his lawyer wife and their newborn child. This information leads to take lineal, clarity and openness concepts from a swimming pool and add an office room for her.
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Spaces Area The complete house is design in a 12 meteres by 24 meters rectangular area. A 288 square meters house.
3D modeling course. digitalized in the 2D and r late and d han by de Drawings were first ma
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TO B E C ON T I N U E D. . .