kv ‘18
Produced in 2018
PORTFOLIO This is a a portfolio focused in architecture and other things of interest. For further projects and information please email to kvarela@syr.edu
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kv
English Spanish Italian
kvarela@syr.edu 787 662 4006
KAMILA VARELA 3
Posted by 2018
SELECTED WORKS, This is a group of selected works created by Kamila Varela, based on her observations on architecture, design, science, literature, history and daily surroundings.
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kv SELECTED WORKS Thesis 2018
MAGICAL REALISM IN ARCHITECTURE
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6 - 13
Spring 2017
NANTOU FLOAT
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14 - 23
Fall 2016 Spring 2016
CRICKET SHELTER
Spring 2016
GOWANUS: TRADE SCHOOL
34 - 39
CURRICULUM VITAE
40 - 43
2018
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24 - 29
BATTISTERO DI SAN GIOVANNI
Projects have been awarded.
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30 - 33
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* Magical Realism in Architecture
Thesis 2018
SALMAN RUSHDIE, in an interview for Bill Maher’s Show, demonstrates Thesis Committee: (Advisor) Amber Bartosh Ivan Bernal Brian Lonsway Site: Post Hurricane Maria Puerto Rico * Thesis Superjury Finalist Certificate of Excellence for Thesis Design Class of 2018 Mediums: Text Digital Painting Physical Miniature Models Lenticular Printing GIFs
concern about the past election stating “ I feel now about my writing differently, because you’ve got so much fiction and so much fantasy, so much distortion and untruth being propagated everyday. That I think you know maybe, not magic realism. I think paradoxically it’s the writer’s job to establish a sense of the truth.”
This is in my is false statement. This has always been the task of the creator, tangle the real and the fantastic to achieve truth. Through a series of experimentation with multiple design mediums one question and realize that even in an contemporary setting architecture as a discipline is based on a retelling of truth. First, stands a short story about a family kitchen and how after the strange rediscovery of the moka pot, it saved a yellow wall. It acts with a subtle, fluid, descriptive manner but most pertinently, it dealt with the technique of spatial folding. It blended the reality of the space with the fantastic portrayal of the objects within it, creating uncanny relationships. This resembles Luis Barragan’s changing room in Mexico City. The gold sphere in the room captures every human movement, the light at the exit moved the dweller into the divine, and the glooming figure represented Christ overlooking everyone and everything.The story unfolds similarly in respect to the kitchen. The crooked rocking chair, the missing moka pot and the electrical cords flirt between both worlds. The shadows emphasize the divine presence, the table reflect human actions and the painting nods to the kitchen, another still life. The painting acts as an in between of the text & space.It sits as an estranged object, uncanny. It shifts the ordinary into the extraordinary. Just like Young Ayata’s Fuzzy Feather’s, where the object when inserted takes qualities of the still life. However, their painting is static. This second artifact moves as a splendid contradiction. While the object is inserted it alters the entire painting. Coffee explodes, walls get patched up & the treated object finally makes its presence. Finally the last artifact, the photographs, are the culmination of this methodical process. These suggest frozen myths of the life after hurricane Maria. They cleverly do this while applying the key terms of the genre in art known as New Objectivity. The photographic techniques reflect those of Gregory Crewdson & James Casbere. These photographs referencing magical realism depict all those hidden truths of the everyday life in inconspicuous ways. The stories you see are as real as the space. Maybe Salman Rushdie wasn’t that off after all, maybe it’s the turn for architecture to be the medium.
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Thesis 2018
KITCHEN, OBJECT I
With just some grinds, Berta’s “cafetera” splashes and saves the yellow wall.
PAST the entrance door begins the first bay, sits parallel to an
The metal reflected various key moments of the family’s trajec-
opening enclosing a generic rectangular room, an exact replica of
tory. At that very moment it was hidden through the clutter of
the simple and generic construction done all over the metropolitan
culinary articles on a wooden table. Most of these had been rescued
area. The four walls, made of cement by a former member of the
items, with the exception of some harvest such as avocados and
neighborhood had been painted in a certain sunflower yellow. This
limes miraculously harvested. The stool stood parallel to the table
very particular hue corresponds to those colors used in the same set
with direct sunlight from the window to its left interrogating the
design for telenovelas to exaggerate the Spanish style illustrated in
new kitchen.
tropical villas that stood in vogue in a previous generation. This said color, if just for a very short period of time, delighted the family in
After the massive cleaning from the rains that exacerbated the
their attempt to create a home. However, it has been a few months
streets, Berta’s cafetera couldn’t be found anywhere. For various
since the tempest. The floral color plays second to the new emergent
days the family kept searching for the moka pot. It wasn’t until
tones of grey. These scratches and open pores on the wall expose the
the ground completely dried and reflected the grey in the cement
purist grey from the cement and so does this happen in the entire
under the state of ruin that the precious heirloom was unveiled
neighborhood, a grey landscape by the same former member,
once again. It was as if it had been found by an archaeologist eager
constructed with a resourceful yet bland eye. The styled color was
to discover a once legendary relic. It was hidden behind the rubble
most preserved through the west of rooms, the eastern side of the
of damp processed wood. Although the moka pot was concealed
enfilade reflected the damage from the storm. The most affected
by earth, it didn’t resemble it’s previous appearance. The surface
was the center, the second room in the enfilade and the soul of the
jumped, seemed scratchy, as if it skipped holes similar to those
family, the kitchen. All the processed wood of the cabinets was
found in a natural satellite. The round and miniscule holes were
destroyed the instant that it made contact with the wind and water.
dense and articulated an almost aquatic quality but these didn’t
The floor composed of crioll tiles was bombarded with multiple
reflect any soft and wave like pattern. The metal gleamed with every
inundations and shattered the floor creating valleys and holes on
sharp turn it took and shadows formed inside cuts reflecting their
the once polished floor. Even though much has changed since the
depth. It was as if every drop fallen from the sky had impacted the
first rainfall, the home rests in an intact state for the great majority
solid and unmalleable steel on the moka pot. It could be said that
of it. Much was attempted to be salvaged but between the water
by any rational conclusion the rushing water from the neverending
and wind furniture, beams and posts lost their hidden appearance.
floods should have softened and rounded the sharp angles of the
Within the things that the family was able to save were, the plates
numerous sides of the pot and allowed for more curved conditions
from the Dutch superstore, the specialty rum bottles of pitorro, the
to reflect the dulling of the exterior surface. The elements stretched
iron cauldrons, a well built elongated wooden stool and Berta’s
a new distance. The rushing water of the overflowing dams might
cafetera.
have caused the vertical spread of the coffee pot. Erected it reflected more a regal statue with sensuous proportions, those only present in
The moka pot wasn’t particularly expensive and much less quite the
an elegant female hourglass figure.
antique masterpiece, it felt more as a treasured family heirloom, a reminder or memorabilia of great grandmother Berta who escaped
Digital Painting
what could have been her crushing fate in the Canary Islands. Hence, the coffee maker had been in the family pantry for many generations; it showed. The solid steel was mostly intact until the storm. Much of the surface had been preserved except for some minor scratches exposed from falling on the floor and from the many moves over the decades between households.
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Post Hurricane Maria
Post Moka Pot explosion
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* Framed Lenticular Print 24” x 36” *
Thesis 2018
* Magical Realism in Architecture
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KITCHEN, OBJECT I
Thesis 2018
THE type of coffee grinds for a traditional cafetera aren’t quite the same as those of an espresso machine, they tend to be larger and brute. Hence, the coffee that forms inside the pot is a crossbreed with the strength of the espresso and the consistency of an americano. Usually the amount of coffee produced from one pot is rarely enough to serve a couple of drinks. A few days after finding the pot, it was put to use. The opened bottom chamber, where the water is placed, was intact. Nothing suggested a disruption like the strange new exterior conditions. The coffee grinds are pressed tightly in the second base after the water has been poured. Only then the top chamber is placed. And just before the spout releases the first drops of coffee, a very sharp noise comes out of the moka pot. It whistles and shrieks with every air gap escaping the formation of the rich liquid coming out of the spout. The pot whistles and whistles on and on and the coffee keeps materializing and over flows from the pot. The moka pot squawks and squawks from within as it begins to take over the table. The fragrance overpowers everything in the room until it falls second to the pouring liquid. The room becomes stained and bursting with the richness of the coffee grinds reaching every possible crevice. This tinting and filling hides the pores of the wall, invigorating the room with the original soap opera glamour the family so much desired. The gaps in the cement become clogged
Process Work Framed Lenticular Print post dusting Photography Set
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by the grinds allowing the vertical element to be once more a seamless sealed threshold. The moka pot covered the wooden table, the floor and now the walls except the stool. This brutal confrontation between a simple family pot and a divine tempest tainted the wood erasing all the actions performed on its surface. Everything was newly restored, except the wood stool.
Magical Realist Photography Painting within Painting
Liquid Wall
Soil as Coffee Grinds
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* Photo Prints 18” x 24” *
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Thesis 2018
* Magical Realism in Architecture
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Thesis 2018
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KITCHEN, OBJECT I
Thesis 2018
* Magical Realism in Architecture
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Spring 2017
* Nantou Float: Entertainment District THE TWO LAST BUILDINGS buildings in the historic site were In collaboration with: Vivian Cheng Professor Committee: (Advisor) Fei Wang Urbanus Site: Nantou Historic District of Shenzhen, China * King & King Architecture Leadership by Design Memorable Mention Design Class of 2018
* Shezhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism Mediums: Architectural Drawings Animated Drawings Lenticular Printing Structural Drawings
designed as worker barracks in the 1970s, but today function as normative industrial buildings that include a police station and a shop.
As industry in the area dwindled, these dormitories succumbed to Shenzhen’s affordable housing demand to become permanent residential buildings. Contextual research of the industrial site and surrounding neighborhood revealed a lack ofcultural and social spaces. Nantou, where these worker barracks are situated are the only historic site of Shezhen and the neighboring city of Hong Kong making it a prominent landmark for chinese culture. The project proposes a multifunctional building that provides flexibility to meet the community’s fluctuating needs. This is a projective development that anticipates Nantou Old Town’s growth as a commercial and cultural center for the inmense population of Shezhen since their economy is shifting from industrial to service focused. In order to accomodate a large variety of programs and free up space, the building’s existing structure is hollowed out, and circulation routes are appended as cantilevered extensions surrounding the narrow building. These cantielevers serve as covered gathering spaces on the ground flow which is lined by rotating doors, creating an active, inviting, and porous atmosphere. The main space is divided into two floors activated by a rack and pinion platform in the middle of the floor plan, creating different spaces through alternative configurations of elevation. This project is driven by the need to maximize the building’s potential within a changing context, which has been proposed to accomplish by providing maximum program flexibility driven by different users with shifting needs.
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Spring 2017
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* Entertainment District
* Nantou Float
Spring 2017
Midnight Market Configuration First Floor (Open)
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Third Floor (Static)
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Perspective Section
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Second Floor (Lifted)
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Detail Section (Rack & Pinion Elevated) D.
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Spring 2017
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* Entertainment District
* Nantou Float
Spring 2017
Boxing Match Configuration First Floor (Semi-Open)
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Third Floor (Static)
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Second Floor (Lowered)
Detail Section (Rack & Pinion Mid) Perspective Section
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Spring 2017
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* Entertainment District
Spring 2017
* Nantou Float
Shenzhen Fashion Week Configuration First Floor (Open)
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Third Floor (Static)
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Second Floor (Locked)
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Detail Section (Rack & Pinion Locked)
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Animation Market Animation Boxing Match Animation Fashion Show Structure & Mechanics Axon
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Perspective Section
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Spring 2017
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* Entertainment District
Spring 2017
* Nantou Float
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Battistero di San Giovanni
Fall 2016
THE BAPTISTERY of Saint Giovanni in Florence has become In collaboration with: Evan Ginsburg Zhe Wang Professor Committee: (Advisor) Curtis Roth Kyle Miller Site: Florence, Italy Mediums: Rendered Prints Mesh Mapping Collaging
a symbol of tourist attraction for region of Tuscany in the northwest of Italy. The city once it required the World Heritage Site status has been undergoing multiple critical preservation efforts highly influenced by the requirements placed by UNESCO in which traditional western ideals of architectural preservation are the main focus. The baptistery, in the center of the piazza of San Giovanni, standing parallel of the titan that is Brunelleschi’s Duomo persists superficialy in current popular tourist culture. It’s fame and glory during this millenia has crippled the rich history and tranjectory of use of the baptistery. Tourists flock to the famous doors as if it was the only pertinent architectural element worthy of their attention and social media feed. This icon of romanesque architecture has been rendered a false flat facade of a bigger symptom of current culture. This is a provocation to both UNESCO’s agenda of creating a false environment fitting the tourist economy and traditional italian preservation techniques that have financialy strained the italian government to the point of temporary privatising historic landmarks. The baptistery has been preserved ironically as a billboard promoting itself. The interior volume has been rendered to solid block as it isn’t much of interest to the common visitor. This encompasses the picturesque qualities strictly stipulated by UNESCO that must be maintained to retain “attractiveness” for the incoming flood of tourists. The scafolding holding the facade fits the narrative of temporary privatising, just as major fashion houses have scattered finding historic buildings across Italy to financially patronize the renovations and cover the building under construction with scafolding holding posters of their latest campaigns. This renders the architectural object as a demonstration of its current cultural significance, purely superficial.
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Fall 2016
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Battisttero di San Giovanni
Fall 2016
Battisttero di San Giovanni
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Fall 2016
Battisttero di San Giovanni
“UNESCO is convinced that no development can be sustainable without a strong culture component. Indeed only a human-centred approach to development based on mutual respect and open dialogue among cultures can lead to lasting, inclusive and equitable results. Yet until recently, culture has been missing from the development equation. To ensure that culture takes it rightful place in development strategies and processes, UNESCO has adopted a three-pronged approach: it spearheads worldwide advocacy for culture and development, while engaging with the international community to set clear policies and l egal frameworks and working on the ground to support governments and local stakeholders to safeguard heritage, strengthen creative industries and encourage cultural pluralism. UNESCO renowned cultural conventions provide a unique global platform for international cooperation and establish a holistic cultural governance system based on human rights and shared values. These international treaties endeavour to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage including ancient archaeological sites, intangible and underwater heritage, museum collections, oral traditions and other forms of heritage, and to support creativity, innovation and the emergence of dynamic cultural sectors”
UNESCO: “Protecting Our Heritage and Fostering Creativity”
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Historic Billboard Back Facade
Front Facade
Tourist Mesh
Battisttero Axonometric
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Fall 2016
Battisttero di San Giovanni
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*Terreform One: Cricket Shelter
Spring 2016
THE CONTINUOUS IMPACT of climate dynamics, armed conflicts, In collaboration: Yucel Guven Matthew Tarpley Felipe Molina Project Leader: (President) Mitchell Joachim Vivian Kuan Maria Ailova Christian Hubert *Showcased in Miami Basel Project Development: Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York City Mediums: Woodwork Video Animated Drawings
non-stop urbanization and economic upheavals present a distinct need for a hybrid architectural topology to deliver parallel solutions for food and shelter in each distressed region. This is a dual-purpose shelter and modular insect farm bounded into one structure. It’s intended for the impending food crisis, where people will need access to good sources of alterntive protein, as raising livestock is not possible at our current rate of consumption and resource extraction. The United Nations has mandated insect sourced protein is a major component to solving global food distribution problems. This impacts the diets of all peoples across the globe. Raising cattle, pigs, and chicken for meat products all require immense amounts of fresh water. Harvesting insects for food typical takes three hundred times less water for the same amount of protein. Our project aims to maximize access to nutrient resources and to deal with and support local communities in anticipation of post-disaster scenarios. This also targets societal upgrading strategies in both developed and developing countries as the temporary shelter easily coverts to a permanent farming system/ eatery after the crisis has dissipated. Structurally, the shelter can be minimized into easily manufactured and replicable elements such as a simple CNC plywood archway with linked off-the-shelf plastic containers as infill surface. The current version of the structure is more customized to account for solar orientation, airflow and varied spatial programs internally. A computational model was used to parametrically align all of the individual containers to match the archway splines. Each pre-ordered container was modified to add ventilation screens, flexible insect sacks, locally controlled louvers, and permeable feeder ports with rotating locking mechanisms. The wind quill ventilation component magnifies the sound of cricket chirping in columns of vibrating air. The scheme has a multipronged focus on international hunger solutions, sustainable food distribution methods and modular compact architecture. A project of this type is built for areas in calamitous need both present and future. We understand that our role in the complex system of global cooperation is to seek holistic solutions that integrate interdisciplinary knowledge and citizen participation for shelter and subsistence farming. It is essential to understand the physical, social and cultural substrate of developing territories in which food and refuge is simultaneously critical. 31
Spring 2016
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Cricket Shelter Section Cut of Shelter
Modular Pod Exploded
Shot of Animation (Modular)
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Detail
Full Shot
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Spring 2016
* Cricket Shelter
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Spring 2016
Gowanus Technical Academy AS A PART of the NYC: Urban Planning Research Studio in collaboration In collaboration: Nicolas Carmona Project Leader: Angie Co Julie Torres Site: Gowanus Brooklyn, New York Experimental Studio: New York City Urban Planning Department Mediums: Set Models Architectural Drawings Diagrams Financial Spreadsheet Concept Model Catalogue
with the community of Gowanus, the project Gowanus Technical Academy introduces a possible new economic venture to the Brooklyn neighborhood. The project aims to factor the current socioeconomic shift of Gowanus and incorporate new experimental strategies developed by urban planners. As new zoning requirements are being implemented in New York City the project advocates for a mixed use of a vocational school and afforadable housing. While this is a more traditional proposal for a real estate venture the project speculates on the possibilities of creating experimental affordable housing typologies for the city. The design based on a hybrid of an exquisite corpse operation of dutch and swiss modern housing complexes enables the exploration of creating interior spaces that house communities by engaging program as an organ system with different functions. The vocational school as stated represents a reaction to the current need for education in the area as well it investigates the combination of housing with this type of institution. The project by incorporating an intestinal track joins, the organ, all the major components into open and attractive spaces.
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Spring 2016
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Gowanus Technical Academy Interior Model Shot
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Layers of Model
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Exquisite Corpse Model Hybrid Catalogue First Floor Plan
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Unit Configuration
Concept Axonometric
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Spring 2016
Gowanus Technical Academy
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Spring 2016
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Spring 2016
Gowanus Technical Academy
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Experience 2018
CURRICULUM VITAE This is the work experience, skills, education and alliances of Kamila Varela.
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kv
kvarela@syr.edu 787 662 4006
KAMILA VARELA English Spanish Italian
EDUCATION SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY, Syracuse NY Thesis, “Magical Realism in Architecture” * Major: Architecture Minor: Architecture History
Florence, Italy architectural study, Fall 2016 New York City urban studies and real estate, Spring 2016
UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO, San Juan PR
B. Arch Class of 2018 Cum Laude Dean’s List Summer 2015
School of Humanities Philosophy and Art History
EXPERIENCE STUDIO V | Architectural Intern | New York, NY
Summer 2017
Member of design team for La Guardia Food Market Competition. Tasks included meeting with clients, concept design, illustrations, and proposal document submission. Developed interior design for residential micro-units, product and material research as well as client renderings. Produced site analysis, site modeling and initial concept design sumbission for I.M Pei building renovation.
ROBERTO RUBBINI ARCHITETTO | Research Intern | Florence, Italy
Fall 2016
Member of research team for product design, developed online representation plan and media management plan.
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE | Teaching Assistant | Florence, Italy
Fall 2016
Assisted professors for the Representation Studies traveling course with research on formal analysis, precedent and location data.
TERREFORM ONE | Research Fellow & Designer | New York, NY
Spring 2016
Member of the design and construction team for the “Cricket House” installation. Tasks included prototype fabrication, researched based on invivo testing, installation construction, content creator for competitions
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE | Technical Assistant | New York, NY
Spring 2016
Assisted professors for the Urban Studies Studio course with technical support in technology, fabrication, printing and events.
KING & KING ARCHITECTURE LIBRARY| Technical Assistant | Syracuse, NY Assisted professors and students with technical support in technology, printing, publications and events.
ALLIANCE AL MAGAZINE (ARMARIO LOCAL) | Writer & Illustrator | San Juan, PR
2016 - 2018 2018
Member of AL MAGAZINE focusing in producing content related to Art & Architecture in Puerto Rico. Tasks include interviews, written content, illustrations and photography.
BHOGHOSIAN FELLOW ASSISTANTSHIP| Installation Assistant | Syracuse, NY
Spring 2017
Assisted boghosian fellow Maya Alam (2016-2017) with team on the production and fabrication of her fellowship installation.
EXHIBITIONS SHEZHEN BI-CITY BIENNALE OF URBANISM| Shenzhen, China
2017
Showcased cultural project proposal called “Nantou Float” of the historic district of Shenzhen.
2017
MIAMI ART BASEL| Miami, Florida Showcased the “Cricket House” installation produced for Terreform One as a prototype for exhibit.
HONORS THESIS SUPERJURY FINALIST| Syracuse University
2018
Certificate of Excellence of Thesis Design for “Magical Realism in Architecture” *
KING & KING LEADERSHIP BY DESIGN| Syracuse University
2017
Memorable Mention for “Nantou Float” cultural project.
SKILLS DIGITAL
Autocad, Revit, 123d Catch, Rhino 3d, Grasshopper Ladybug, DIVA, V-Ray, Mad Mapper, Paneling Tools Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, After Effects, Premiero Pro
ANALOG Woodwork, Acrylic, Freehand Sketching, Watercolor Lenticular Printing, Lasercutting, 3d Printing Miniature Set Design, Sculpting
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