Undergraduate Landscape Architecture Portfolio 2016 by Jose Devora

Jose Devora Landscape Architecture Portfolio California State University Polytechnic, Pomona Department of Landscape Architecture

education California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture Department GPA: 3.33 2012-2017

Personal experience Stoss Landscape Urbanism, Los Angeles, CA Design Intern Involved with current team projects and competition efforts. Contributions in graphics, physical & digital modeling, research, and diagramming. June 2016-present JD DesignBuild, Los Angeles, CA Project Manager/Designer Residential landscape design, build and maintenance Knowledge of concrete, drought tolerant plants and irrigation 2012-present

awards Chapman Forestry Foundation Scholarship 2015 Dangermond Traveling Scholarship 2016 Joel Galarza Scholarship 2016 University Olmsted Scholar 2016

involvement ENV Outcomes exhibition Design and build 10 multi-use showcase benches Spring 2014 Bobby Brooks Memorial Studio with Disney Imagineering Interdisciplinary studio with Architects and Landscape Architects Fall 2014 Hyperhabitation Studio with SWA Laguna Beach Urban Design studio focused in West Hollywood Winter 2015

Computer applications

Jose Devora

Landscape Designer

(323)710-4768 jrdevora@cpp.edu issuu.com/josedevora cargocollective.com/josedevora

Adobe After Effects, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, ArcGIS Software, Autocad, LandFX, Microsoft Office, Sketchup, Rhinoceros, Vray

physical applications Drawing: Aerosol, Marker, Mylar, Watercolor Model Making: 3D Printing, Laser Cutting, CNC Milling, concrete, plaster and wood work

Table of contents Creative Nexus

8950 Sunset Blvd West Hollywood, California

Interface

Beyond Arts District, Los Angeles, California

Wilderness design/build

Beyond Arts District, Los Angeles, California

Prison Crisis

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California

LA River x Los Rafters Los Angeles River, California

Landscapes of Gender dualism Speculative Drawing

Residential Design Build Covina, California

Creative Nexus

8950 Sunset Blvd West Hollywood, California Team Hilda del Real, David Flores, Melissa Langer

West Hollywoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sunset Boulevard is a place that acknowledges individuality and creativity. Historically, music venues entered the Sunset Strip as the city allowed freedom in expression and lifestyle. Therefore the venues have played a prominent role in West Hollywoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creative demeanor. West Hollywood is known as the creative city. However, they focus on the monetary value of that creativity. Instead of inputting into arts instruction like music, they primarily focus on the outputs that creativity produces. The schools in West Hollywood belong to the LAUSD, which lacks arts education funding. There is an opportunity for West Hollywood, with the LAUSD, to become the catalyst for a true creative producer. Our design becomes a nexus that merges music venues, with music education, to teach a set of values that will educate the creative workers and will not only advance the sites music identity, but help fuel innovation that will create jobs, as well as social and cultural benefits. Designing a music venue on our site derived from our music venue typologies. The music amphitheater that we designed not only activates as a venue, but holds open space for all kinds of users to benefit from. Using the topography as an advantage, we placed the

amphitheaters stage at the lowest point of the site. Rising away from the stage, we designed steps and seating with a soft slope enveloping the hardscape so that it gives users options. Rising beyond the seating is a grand canopy, where users can access the school, restaurant, creative spaces, and music instrument rental. The canopy also creates different types of spaces throughout our site. Below the canopy, dark spaces cater to users of an older age. Above the canopy, light shines on all as users are able to dine high above sunset. With the canopy rising above, the edges of our design align with the sidewalk, allowing for easy access onto the site. At the north west corner, steps allow pedestrians to step down onto the site, creating a reveal of the space. Our proposal is poised for many different types of uses. Catering to the massive Sunset Music Festival crowds, or holding a rock and roll concert, as well as becoming as serene as a park. The design not only caters to its visible functions, but it can become more. It will become what the LAUSD has needed for so many years. A creative nexus for the arts, that develops true creativity, in the city that was created to foster an atmosphere of creativity and expression.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is an opportunity for West Hollywood, in partnership with LAUSD, to become the catalyst as a true creative producer.â&#x20AC;?

san gabriel mountains downtown los angeles

west hollywood

santa monica mountains

santa monica

venice beach

p a c i fi c p a l i s a d e s

pacific ocean

House of Blues

8950 SUNSET BLVD

Chateau Marmont

Schools Music Venues Luxury Hotels Creative Nexus

The Viper Room

Whisky a go go

Sunset Marquis Pacific Hills

Chamberlain

Troubadour

Weho Elementary

Rainbow The Roxy

Sunset Tower

Mondrian Grafton

Sunset/Cienega

The London

The Standard

Andaz

irf

ge Colle

rep

P Weho

The Creative Capitol of The United States Top five metro areas with creative jobs

418,200 Los Angeles Metro Area

402,900 New York Metro Area

133,800

Total Creative Industry Output $176.9 BILLION

Direct, indirect, and induced impact. Revenues, Spending, &Economic Activity.

Chicago Metro Area

A Net Economic Contribution of

$109.1 BILLION

95,700

Creative Industries Contribute

12.7% Tax Revenues $7.7 BILLION

San Francisco Metro Area Total Gross Regional Product $860.6 BILLION

91,900 Seattle Metro Area

Economic Contribution Los Angeles Region 2014 (LA and Orange Counties)

Data from 2015 Otis Report on the Creative Economy of the Los Angeles Region

Concept Diagram

Using the siteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history and the current peculiarities of the site as inputs for the design, the proposed results in an output that intertwines culture and economy as one.

RE U Y LT M U C NO O EC

THE HISTORY THE ED S THE NOW PROP O

students venue users pedestrian vehicle

Music Venue Typologies Case studies of local music venue typologies were conducted to understand the density of these events spaces. Analyzing the proximity between users, artists spaces, and elevations in the venues tailored the design for the users and their needs. A kit of parts was later generated from this study and implemented onto the site.

extra small small

200-500

walt disney concert hall

the fox threater cap: 2,000

AM VR

HOB

large

HB GT WD

2000<

medium

500-2000

seating+ balcony

<200

seating

seating + dining

largo at the coronet cap: 130

vibrato grill cap:

standing

the viper room cap: 250

the roxy cap: 500

amoeba music

standing + balcony

troubadour

whiskey a go go cap: 250

seating open theatre

the greek theater cap: 5,870

hollywood bowl cap: 17,376

HOB

house of blues cap: 1,500

Form Diagram

1 existing slope

peeled structure

Hybrid Typologies

Hybrid typologies emerge from the siteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sloping condition, maximizing experiences on the outdoor amphitheatre design.

standing + balcony

seating open theatre

punctured access

Final Site Model

Study Models

ethnomusicolgy- music in its cultural context theory- nature + mechanics. patterns + techniques history instruments composition- creation + recording. notation- symbols. written expressions or notes + rhythms

multi purpose space potential conference room

music school amphiteatre/ music venue instrument store cafe/restaurant interactive rooms/stations recording studio open/ public space

buy/sell/trade/rent program live music performance space anechoic chamber room- blocks extraneous sounds guitar string room cymbal room moshpit room harp station piano keys station

Valuable Lessons knowlege + learning

classes that teach valuable lessons and foster creativity

accustically appropriate rooms

emotional connections

experiences that evoke feelings that motivate and lead to appreciation, curiosity, creativity.

ground and wall plane interactive spaces

social connection

+ frequent user Users were divided in two categories in which frequency of visit was considered and were organized in a spectrum line that positions them in an order from frequent to less frequent users.

music enthusiast musicians music student local teen young family tourist local

spaces that foster interaction

experiential dichotomies

frequent user soft hard

soft hard soft

hard

light dark

light dark light

dark

loud quiet

loud quiet loud

quiet

dense

sparse

sparse dense

sparse

open close

open close open

Program Configuration The program organization derived from macro and micro mapping within the context of the site. The experiential dichotomies further explain the needs of the user within each space which are qualitative value can be understood with the experiential quality categories.

structural kit of parts

amphitheater

Relationship between the structural and the experiential.

enclosed

enclosed overhead

balcony

stage

seating

The result provides a deeper understanding on the spatial qualities that result from the required needs of the users.

Program Distribution

music school ethnomusicolgy- music in its cultural context theory- nature + mechanics. patterns + techniques instruments composition- creation + recording. written expressions or notes + rhythms

interactive rooms/stations anechoic chamber room guitar string room cymbal room moshpit room harp station piano keys station

recording studio

acoustically appropriate

amphitheater/ music venue

multi purpose space

Creative Nexus

creative space live+work galleries artist lofts

instrument store

buy/sell/trade/rent program

cafe + restaurant

live music performance space

open/public space

ground and wall plane interactive spaces

Interface

Beyond Arts District, Los Angeles, California Los Angeles can be seen as a fragmentation of neighborhoods each with their own unique history and identity. The Arts District in particular is one of the neighborhoods in constant flux, characterized by its industrial past and creative lifestyle. It is a place in transition. The district wasn’t always a Mecca for artists, tracing it back to the mid 19th century the neighborhood was defined by vineyards, which by the late 19th century turned to citrus fields, the primary product of the era. As agricultural demand grew, railroads were introduced to the city to aid with shipping and manufacturing needs. The railroads not only helped with the industry but it served as a method of transportation for people moving into California. With the railroads in place industrial businesses built their warehouses around the infrastructure resulting in unusually curved buildings with loadings docks 3 or 4 feet above ground level. Majority of those buildings are still standing today. The 1920’s experienced an industrial boom, becoming the fifth largest city and the seventh wealthiest city in the U.S. This Industrialization resulted in larger railroad infrastructure and vanishing agricultural land. Manufacturing in the Arts District consisted of bakery goods, women’s clothing, foundry and machinery goods, furniture, automobile parts, printing and publishing materials, and rubber. By the end of WW2 the area was completely industrial, as industrialization shifted the neighborhood began facing challenges, the railroads were replaced by the trucking industry which found it difficult to get around due to the small streets in the district. Companies demanded larger land plots and Arts District did not offer those possibilities, making them move to places like Vernon and Commerce. As companies moved away the arts district stood vacant left to decay.

In the 1970’s, artist were being forced out their homes from Venice and Hollywood due to high rent prices, which led them to the Arts District. Low prices and big spaces sounded like a great deal, but it wasn’t as good as it sounded. Migration to arts district was done quietly and illegally. Artist constantly had to hide from the fire department inspections. The city later gave approval for residents to inhabit the buildings. This allowed for a thriving underground arts scene in the 1980’s which saw a downturn in the 90’s due to social unrest and rising homeless populations. The district started to regain its creative lifestyle in the early 2000’s . The Arts district now seems to be going through another change, claiming to keeping its creative identity. The area attracts new residential and commercial development. Displacing local artist of the area and destroying its industrial past by demolishing many of its industrial type buildings. Previous explorations through the city have allowed me to physically witness the change occurring within the Arts District. I first encountered the neighborhood in 2009. At first it felt like an escape from the city. The sense of place felt really hidden, but what confused me the most was the type of people occupying the space, they looked like they did not belong there, due to its industrial character. At this point the area was in the peak of a new migrating population, still showing signs of abandonment, urban decay and homelessness going on. The arts district now is a neighborhood that is starting to boom rapidly. Its growing so fast that is starting to intrude itself beyond political boundaries. The study area is south of Seventh St. otherwise known as BADlands (Beyond Arts District). This new community is partly an extension of the Arts District, both going through rapid urban growth.

Manufactured vestiges, 2016 Industrial vestiges are contrasted with living industrial artefacts. This reveals the concept of Memento Mori (remember that you must die), in order for new lives to be manufactured.

Existing Building Typologies The arts district is currently a place in transition. Within the site there are multiple abandoned buildings.

Interface Conditions Interface relationships between architecture, landscape and people.

Scaffolding Underpass 7th and Santa Fe

Car Impound Bay St. and Santa Fe

Pizzanista! 7th and Imperial

American Tea Room Santa Fe and Violet

Alley between Bestia and 2121 Lofts 7th Pl. and Santa Fe

Loft 743 7th Pl. and Santa Fe

Scaffolding at Ford Factory Lofts 7th and Santa Fe

Bestia 7th Pl. and Santa Fe

Soho House Santa Fe and Bay St.

Wilderness design/build

Beyond Arts District, Los Angeles, California Team Adrian Arrevalo, Juan Prieto, Dawn Wang

Wilderness is a collective group of artists and designers that create immersive, exploratory, interactive theatre performances. They push the boundaries of a traditional theatre experience by performing in abandoned spaces. Their current project, The Day Shall Declare It, takes place on 7th St. in the Arts District. The play wraps itself around the idea of “working” and how it affects our daily lives and significant others throughout the 1930’s.

Our task as landscape architecture students was to lure and attract attention from pedestrians, in a subtle discrete manner, while delivering a visual pleasance that responded to the 1930’s industrial era. Our team communicated with the company daily and discussed design ideas on site upon the facade. Design build took approximately 3 weeks.

Prison Crisis

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California Team Shawn Park, Carlos Reyes

By 2016, more than 2.3 million people have been placed behind bars by the American criminal justice system which currently houses approximately 22 percent of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prisoners. And due to the steady pattern of prison population proliferation, overpopulation in correctional facilities is a growing concern in the US. Overpopulation in these facilities create a stressful environment for both the corrections officers and inmates. Private corporations have taken advantage of this situation creating the prisonindustrial complex that transformed imprisonment into a profitable business. Amidst all this, the mental distress experienced by inmates is another factor of the prison crisis. It is quite difficult to fathom the mental distress that inmates experience; approximately 50 percent of inmates are diagnosed with at least one mental disorder, a consequence of deinstitutionalization during the mid-to-late 1900s. Despite the elevating problem presented by the prison crisis, the phenomenon has become accepted as the norm in society, desensitizing people to the injustice and inefficiency behind prison bars. Unless a prison reform is implemented, the quality of the detention centers will continue to deteriorate. This project was a

response to the existing prison crisis in order to create awareness about a critical matter that continues to be ignored and overlooked. A representational prison cell was installed in a public space to provide an opportunity for passersby to experience being confined in a restricted volume. The interactive installation displayed messages and facts intended to provoke pondering about the lives affected by the corrupted penal system. Essentially, this project challenged people to either remain desensitized to the critical matter or spend time to actually recognize the negative impact of the system.

Incarceration Rates (per 100,000 population) 743 147 136 122 118 US UK Portugal Luxembourg Canada

108 Belgium

106 Italy

72 98 82 France Netherlands Denmark

Restricted Housing Unit 70 sq ft

Elevator 14 sq ft California Leads the U.S. 46,568 inmates Standard Porta-Potty 16 sq ft

Mid-size Sedan 84 sq ft Los Angeles leads CA, makes up for 33% of state prisoners Horse Stable 144 sq ft

School Bus 284 sq ft

Typical One Bedroom Apartment 992 sq ft

Psychological Disorders Anxiety Depression Bipolar Disorder Trauma-Related Disorders Phobias

Physical Restrictions Abuse Confined Space Isolation Light Deprivation Limited Security

LA River x Los Rafters Los Angeles River, California Team Shawn Park, Carlos Reyes, Chad So

The concrete channel which people understand to be the Los Angeles River today holds a monumental significance in California history that made the prosperousness of the city of Los Angeles possible. Despite the integral role of the Los Angeles River both presently and in the past, it is one of the most neglected infrastructure in the city. Due to peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s negligence of the effects of improperly discarded waste material, an unquantifiable amount of litter ends up in the river, deteriorating the water quality. Los Rafters x Los Angeles reveals not only the presence of the river but also the physical manifestation of peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s indifference to the current conditions of the river. By aggregating discrete trash elements from three separate sites across the Los Angeles River, three individual rafts were constructed and released on-site. This critical stunt triggered controversy because unwanted debris was deliberately introduced into the river ecology in the process; however, it simply utilized native debris that would have ended up in the river regardless of our intervention. Los Rafters x Los Angeles applies a synthesis of controversy and provocation as a tactic to expose the reality of the Los Angeles River to the public.

Glendale Narrows

LOs Angeles E. Washington Blvd.

Maywood Riverfront Park

compton

Hollydale Park

Compton Creek

Willow Street

Long Beach

Glendale Narrows

Kit of Parts The river rafts were crafted using native debris found on site to emphasize the various discarded materials that end up in each respected location conveyed by the context map. Each individual raft had unique characteristics and embarked on its own journey down the Los Angeles River. rope

arundo

can

A mannequin was attached to the raft with a message written on the sail-like tarp to provoke question and curiosity from passers by.

football

Maywood Riverfront Park

water bottle

Video Link: https://vimeo.com/160690070

water bottle

weeds

rope

cone

mannequin

Compton Creek

wood pallet

water barrel

ice chest

gas container

arundo

Landscapes of Gender dualism Speculative Drawing

The following is a creation of two fictional landscapes. Landscapes made out of composite images in order to get across values of social constructs. Landscapes of Gender Dualism is a scenario in which men and women fail to coexist as a society and split in their own ways into the construction the physical world. These dichotomous landscapes reveal two different and bias ways of living.

Landscapes of Man

Landscapes of Woman

Man arrogance is to leave behind his identity for the heritage of cultures. Man is worried with constructing the future, without noticing he is wrecking the present. Man relies on artificial technology to build a better environment. He builds giant skyscrapers in order to resolve issues of overpopulation. While he resolves this issue another one emerges, that of artificial resources to sustain his buildings. The production of these resources results in pollution of the sky. As carbon dioxide levels rise, the ecosystem hurts. Mans relationship to the land is that of stewardship. He claims that invasive species are to be held responsible for the destruction of the world. He develops xenophobia of exotic species of plants and animals. His goal is to eliminate these migrators. As he successfully puts these species into extinction he realizes the ecosystem he has created can no longer sustain those “native species”. Man has a solution to everything, don’t worry he’ll fix it. He then realizes there is no more wildlife on his earth, wildlife which was responsible for the production of food and oxygen. Technology is the answer to his problems. Signing birds are now replaced with flying drones that produce artificial oxygen and cast news for the inhabitants of his city. News that says that there is no need for wildlife and that genetically processed plants are the answer to the worlds hunger. Man solves problems but yet creates new ones. The carefully designed drones that solved the oxygen crisis are short lived. Once their life is over they are put into landfills, landfills that are now filled with the toxic sulfur of these drones. Man does without thinking of the consequences. He now occupies a toxic landscape filled with remnants of his arrogant creations.

Woman is delicate; her gift is to give life. Woman is worried about the present for the better of the future. Woman seeks to adapt to the environment. She isn’t afraid to build off past mistakes. She is not afraid of being speculative with the structural ruins left by man. In her eyes she sees new potentials for these buildings that are made up of resources that will never go back to their natural state. Her response to the ecosystem is an emotional one. Woman’s relationship to the land is that of partnership. She finds beauty within the wild. She allows for invasive species to thrive, accepting the fact that ecosystems are ephemeral. Her goal is to see if these exotic species can evolve to be strong enough to survive this world. Woman doesn’t have a quick solution and doesn’t promise to fix everything. As she patiently waits she realizes that these foreign species have learned to adapt to the current harsh climates. The once invasive plants have learned to fixate nitrogen levels in the soil. And other plants have learned to produce oxygen. She also finds out that animals have developed their own method of agriculture in order to feed themselves. Woman doesn’t preserve but rather adapts. Even though she understands that the ecosystems don’t last forever, she has hope that by giving nature a chance to survive it will keep on evolving at the changing rate of the world. Woman doesn’t plan for the future since she is not in control of that. She now occupies a rambunctious landscape filled with remnants of past mistakes that have been transformed into something new.

Residential Design Build Covina, California Partner Carlos Reyes

SEATING AREA

SHEEP SCULPTURE

SUCCULENT PLANTS DRY STREAM GRASSES AND PERENNIALS WINDMILL SCULPTURE

FIRE PIT

REVISION

ASTRO TURF

DESERT GARDEN

DATE

SEATING AREA DECOMPOSED GRANITE