KAREN MATA
portfolio BARCH ‘09 | MAUD ‘18 Selected Works representations
urban desing and landscape
architecture
responsive environments
social approaches
topics of interest
urban design & landscape
PRODUCTIVE ADJACENCIES a network of social-industrial condensers for Brookly’s 21st century waterfront Harvard University, Graduate School of Design Program: urban design. Instructor (s): Felipe Correa, Anita Berrizbeitia, Carlos Garcia Velez, Carles Muro. Urban Design: Karen Mata | Konstantina Tzemu Area of study: Brooklyn, NYC
The project investigates how implementing seemingly incompatible programmatic adjacencies, can enhance the creative industry district with civic and recreation qualities. In order to achieve this 4 metropolitan social condensers are generated at Brooklyn’s waterfront that reclaim it as an hybridized public destination. The relocation of the Garment District implies new considerations for changing from a very dense Mahattan condition to a postindustrial waterfront site that has to address natural risks and prevent gentrification. In the same way, housing industry is changing since new economies force other practices. These housing typologies are based on shared spaces, which means housing facilities, combined with social productive spaces and the waterfront redevelopment; generating a porous, flexible and complex place in its spatiality and relationships.
a variety of green spaces organizing the campuses
piers to bring people to the water
public promenade through the campuses
aerial view of the campuses
housing typologies based on the shared economy
section: housing units in relationship with the open spaces and retail spaces
urban design & landscape
LAND MOSAIC AS AGGREGATE EFFECT re-tooling the small city for environmental and social impact at multiple scales Harvard University, Graduate School of Design Program: landscape and ecology Instructor (s): Anita Berrizbeitia Urban and landscape strategy: Karen Mata | Rudy Weissenberg Area of study: Curridabat, Costa Rica
guidelines of conservation and connectivity at the city scale
strategy at the subregion scale
deforestation areas of Costa Rica in contrast with conservation areas
evolution of coffee plantations
landuse over the land mosaics
accessibility to the park system and greater green areas
urban design & landscape
140 ACRES TO CENTRALIZE WEST BALTIMORE large urban park as catalyst of neighborhood identity Harvard University, Graduate School of Design Program: urban design. Instructor (s): Alex Krieger Urban Design: Karen Mata | Laura Butera Area of study: Brooklyn, NYC
Our project aims to study how the creation of a bigger park in West Baltimore can generates a network of economic and social progress through experimental open space activities and hyperconnectivity. This park will mimic East Baltimore’s Patterson Park, which we saw to be successful in terms of the way it organizes the surrounding urban fabric, and bringing constituency to it. Unlike the existing small open spaces, a large park of this size can bring constituency through hosting a variety of activities and programs for the entire community and the city. Schools and Recreational Centers were chosen as anchor-points to generate the park system because the idea of social progress is linked to productivity and therefore education. This park provides a hybrid space to build capability and to rethink urban form in shrinking cities. Building a network of parks and school with the ability to empower their citizens will create a strong capability to overcome challenges for next generations.
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
E
0
5
10
15
20
This parks mimics the effect that Patterson Park has in East Baltimore
aerial view of the park
Harlem as an opportunity. Population & amounts of parks
01.00
06.00
18.00
ADMINISTRATION
RELAXATION
CONSUMPTION
PRODUCTION
12.00
Interrelationship among activities
groundfloor level plan of experimental open spaces
Hyperconnectivity to link the park system with schools and community programs
Spatial relationships through topography
Affordable housing as an extention of the park
Selfsuficient communities
Outdoor amphytheater during the day and night
scheme of areas activated at day and night
multipurpose garden: public park - education and science center
social approaches & urban design
NEIGHBORWORKS BLACKSTONE RIVER VALLEY placemaking strategies to regenerate small post-industrial cities in America [summer internship at NWBRV] Harvard University, Graduate School of Design 21
Program: urban design [summer internship at NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley] Advisors: Megan Rego, Kathleen Dorgan, Meryl Golden Urban Design: Karen Mata
21
30
Area of study: Woonsocket, RI
Milestone #5
Milestone #4
1996
WNDC builds 9
Joe Garlick gets hired
Phase one of WNDC’s
architect-designed
as WNDC’s new full-time
Woonsocket police open a
rehabilitation of Constitution Hill
(though affordable)
director
substation on Constitution Hill
Milestone #6
1995
1994
Milestone #3 1993
44 family-friendly apartments
single-family homes
in 13 rehabilitated buildings. Milestone #7
Milestone #2
09/1997
1991
NWBRV was chartered as a member
LISC opens a RI office and
of the NeighborWorks Network.
breathes new life into WNDC Milestone #8 1999 Community center replaces crime hub. Milestone #9 2000 Police and neighbors celebrate. WNDC’s conversion of abandoned housing into affordable housing helps stabilize the area Public
Private Milestone #10
Milestone #1
2002
1987
WNDC has developed 45
The Woonsocket Neighborhood Development
orpons, North-
Federal
Federal
National Tax Credit Program
Affordable Tax Credit Coalition
How the sale of government tax credits, a program created under President Reagan.
Urban Housing award
single-family homes in Woonsocket
Corporation (WNDC) begins as a city project
for first-time buyers Milestone #11 2003 Home buyer and landlord
Start Date 00/1987
training
Planning
d
ouse-
NeighborWorks America Working Relationships
nd
Working Relationships
Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC)
Grants provider, programmatic support, training and technical
AmeriCorps
Voluntier provider and resource
assistance, resource connections
Investor, consultant and
Country’s preeminent leader in affordable housing and community development. NWA delivers many of its community-focused programs and services through the national NeighborWorks network – over 240 independent, community-based nonprofit organizations serving more than 4,500 communities nationwide.
trainer
Helps millions of Americans improve
National helpmate for Community
the lives of their fellow citizens through
Development Corporations (CDCs)
connections
service, working hand in hand with local partners.
Citizens Bank, NBC 10, Bank of America
Doebele Community Service Fellowship
2004 26 affordable homes
15%
Investor, volunteer
available to first-time buyers
Milestone #13
Investor
provider
Champions in Action award.
founding each year a current GSD student to bring design and planning skills to a non-profit organization during a summer internship.
Community Builder Award
Milestone #12
Design
35%
2005 43 affordable multilevel apartments, and retail spaces
Implementation
District (RI) Bring in donor
25%
NeighborWorks’properties
Policy Implementation and general regulations
Milestone #14 2006 26 homes in Woodridge Estates and official opening of the Home Ownership Center
Outcome& Further Development LISC office in RI
Helps local partners to transform distressed neighborhoods into resilient and sustainable communities
Constitution Hill
46 units
City
School into family center
Milestone #16
43 units Woonsocket, RI
2008 opening of The Meadows. 80 units elderly housing. NWBRV is award the Community
Millrace
North Smithfield, RI
Woonsocket Municiple Government
Renovation of Hope Street
Heritage Place
135 units Woonsocket, RI
Marshfield Commons
Planned Goals Goals Achieved
2007
25%
Investor, consultant and trainer Working Relationships
Milestone #15
Builder Award by Bank of America.
6 units (56 to come)
Regulator of surrounding developements
Woonsocket, RI
Milestone #17 2009
NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley Working Relationships
Ground is broken on the historic
The Meadows
Independent, community-based nonprofit organizations serving the area of Woonsocket, RI, as part of NWA.
Stillwater Mill development in
80 units North Smithfield, RI
Consultants, Designers
Clock Tower
Burrillville Milestone #18
47 units
2010 Process heralded for
Burrillville, RI
breaking down silos
Community On Going
Fernwood
GOALS
grams lues over ntions in for a ndustrial
Artists
VISTA program
GSD at Harvard
Media
Field Operations
Field Volunteers
Field Designers
News
Established collaboration relationships with local artists to ameliriorate specific areas
Part of the AmeriCorps program
Part of the Community Service Fellowship Program.
Rhode Island Monthly magazine.
2011 Redevelopment of Stillwater
Greenridge
Milestone #23
7 units (96 units to come) Pascoag, RI Pascoag, RI
Mill in Burrillville is completed.
2017 program Milestone #21 2013
MillRace District Woonsocket, RI Project Type:
Marshfield Commons development in North
opening of the Mary A. Longtin C3 Center Milestone #5
Milestone #4
Milestone #6 1996
WNDC builds 9
Joe Garlick gets hired
Woonsocket police open a
Smithfield, RI is completed. 38 town-house style rental units
1995
1994
Milestone #3 1993 substation on Constitution Hill
Rehabilitation of 5 John St. in Woonsocket
Phase one of WNDC’s
architect-designed
as WNDC’s new full-time
rehabilitation of Constitution Hill
(though affordable)
director
44 family-friendly apartments
single-family homes
in 13 rehabilitated buildings. Milestone #7 09/1997
Milestone #2
NWBRV was chartered as a member
1991
of the NeighborWorks Network.
LISC opens a RI office and
breathes new life into WNDC
Milestone #8 1999 Community center replaces crime hub. Milestone #9 2000
Project Scale:
Police and neighbors celebrate.
Geography/ Location:
WNDC’s conversion of abandoned
Woonsocket, RI, USA
housing into affordable housing
Cost:
helps stabilize the area Public
Private Milestone #10
Milestone #1
2002
1987
WNDC has developed 45
The Woonsocket Neighborhood Development
PUBLIC - PRIVATE PROCESS
Federal
Federal
NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley (NWBRV), previously known as the Woonsocket Neighborhood Development Corporation, is a nonprofit community development corporation that works with residents, businesses, neighborhood institutions, partners, and communities to enrich neighborhood life and make affordable housing opportunities available throughout Northern Rhode Island. This organization, advocates for 3 outcomes: Outcome 1: “Our Neighborhoods” in Woonsocket will be a desirable place to live, with a good quality of life and increased economic and academic opportunity for their residents. Outcome 2: Northern Rhode Island towns will provide additional, high quality housing that is affordable to families and households of modest means. Outcome 3: NWBRV will improve the lives of the direct customers it serves, providing them with quality, stable housing and helping them to build assets.
National Tax Credit Program
Affordable Tax Credit Coalition
How the sale of government tax credits, a program created under President Reagan.
Urban Housing award
single-family homes in Woonsocket
Corporation (WNDC) begins as a city project
for first-time buyers Milestone #11
Karen Mata Harvard Graduate School of Design | CSFP 2017 | 2017.09.24
2003 Home buyer and landlord
Start Date 00/1987
training
Planning
NeighborWorks America
Working Relationships Working Relationships
Grants provider, programmatic support, training and technical assistance, resource connections
Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) Investor, consultant and
Country’s preeminent leader in affordable housing and community development. NWA delivers many of its community-focused programs and services through the national NeighborWorks network – over 240 independent, community-based nonprofit organizations serving more than 4,500 communities nationwide.
trainer
AmeriCorps
Voluntier provider and resource connections
Helps millions of Americans improve
National helpmate for Community Development Corporations
the lives of their fellow citizens through
service, working hand in hand with local partners.
(CDCs)
Citizens Bank, NBC 10, Bank of America
provider
Champions in Action award.
founding each year a current GSD student to bring design and planning skills to a non-profit organization during a summer internship.
Milestone #12 2004 26 affordable homes
15%
Investor, volunteer
Investor
Community Builder Award
Design
35%
Doebele Community Service Fellowship
available to first-time buyers
Milestone #13 2005 43 affordable multilevel apartments, and retail spaces
Implementation
District (RI)
Milestone #14
25%
Bring in donor
2006 26 homes in Woodridge Estates and official opening of the
Policy Implementation and general regulations
Home Ownership Center
Outcome& Further Development LISC office in RI
25%
Investor, consultant and trainer Working Relationships
Milestone #15 2007 Renovation of Hope Street School into family center
Helps local partners to transform distressed neighborhoods into resilient and sustainable communities
Milestone #16 2008 opening of The Meadows.
Planned Goals Highest
80 units elderly housing.
City
Goals Achieved
NWBRV is award the Community Builder Award by Bank of America.
Woonsocket Municiple Government
Level of Committment vs Level of Achievment
“Creating attractive places where people want to be increases foot traffic and helps support the local economy. Interesting places with more community interaction also reduce crime and instill a sense of identity to a neighborhood.” - Smart Growth America
Milestone #22 2014
1987 - now (2017) Affordable housing/ Infrastructure
Project date range:
About Woonsoket, RI At the birth of the Industrial Revolution, Woonsocket, RI was a group of small farming villages nestled along the Blackstone River. They occupied a unique location—the point where the River saw its greatest drop in elevation on its run from Worcester to Providence. This prominent natural feature has shaped the City, the area’s built environment, as well as its social and economic fortunes. In harnessing the River’s power, the City’s manufacturing legacy was cast. From the 1820s on, this legacy is a defining force. It generated tremendous opportunity and wealth in its heyday. This legacy of mill structures, theaters and other high quality buildings informs the redevelopment plan.
rentals
2012
New York Times
Key concept, placemaking “Creative placemaking is an approach that incorporates arts, culture, and creativity into the planning process to allow for more genuine public engagement — particularly in low-income neighborhoods, communities of color and among immigrant populations.”
47 affordable and market rate
Milestone #20
Opens Kitchen Incuvator
NeighborWorks’properties Working Relationships
NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley (NWBRV) is a nonprofit community development corporation that works with residents, businesses, neighborhood institutions, partners, and communities to enrich neighborhood life and make affordable housing opportunities available throughout Northern Rhode Island. With over 25 years of experience, we know that it takes more than bricks and mortar to create a community. It takes partners, people, and initiative along with safe, affordable housing to create a thriving community where people want to live, invest, and spend their time.
resilient adaptations
Milestone #19
Regulator of surrounding developements
institutional structure between public and private organizations website: www.neighborworksbrv.org
Kitchen incuvator
Saturday Markets
It is a program that aims to empower future enterpreneurs from Woonsocket to start their business. NeighborWorks works with these people and gives them orientation before starting using the space of the kitchen in order to have a more productuctive performence. Process involves conceptualization, management, and the final production that can be tested during other activities organized by the organization. This program just started this year and have proved to be interesting and useful for the residents.
It started this year and it aims to promote sustainable grow, and more access to healthy food to the people in Woonsocket. It works combined with handcrafts sales but it has not been successful in terms of the amount of people going. One of the reasons might be that this event is running all weeks and after foodtrucknights.
Milestone #17 2009
NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley
Working Relationships
Ground is broken on the historic Stillwater Mill development in Burrillville
Consultants, Designers
Independent, community-based nonprofit organizations serving the area of Woonsocket, RI, as part of NWA.
Milestone #18 2010
Process heralded for breaking down silos
Community
Milestone #19
On Going
Lowest Not a Factor
2011
Redevelopment of Stillwater
GOALS
Physical/Environmental
Social
Economic
Cultural/Ideological
Old housing renovation and rehabilitation of deteriorated infrastructure
Turning deteriorated neighborhoods into a place of social gathering and learning and reconciliation, is leading to a new sense of identity in the greater region. The outcome is evident but goes slow.
The project is empowering neighbords to continue with new or current projects. They are building capacity in many ways, beyond proving infrastructure.
Integration and learning programs foster to promote cultural values over the place. More over, interventions in creating facilities are looking for a change in ideology of post-industrial town in the US.
Artists
VISTA program
GSD at Harvard
Field Operations
Field Volunteers
Established collaboration relationships with local artists to ameliriorate specific areas
Part of the AmeriCorps program
Milestone #23
Media
Mill in Burrillville is completed.
2017
Milestone #20
Opens Kitchen Incuvator
Field Designers
News
Part of the Community Service Fellowship Program.
Rhode Island Monthly magazine.
2012
program
Milestone #21 2013
New York Times
Milestone #22 2014
Working Relationships
Affordable housing and emergent urbanism | Woonsoket Neighborhood Development Coorporation, 2005-2011
47 affordable and market rate rentals
opening of the Mary A. Longtin C3 Center
Marshfield Commons
development in North
Rehabilitation of 5 John
Smithfield, RI is completed.
St. in Woonsocket
38 town-house style rental units
Karen Mata Harvard Graduate School of Design | CSFP 2017 | 2017.09.24
Artistic events/ instalation
Friday Food Truck nights
activator programs around the Mill-race district Neighborworks is giving guidance to starting artists. Through different grants they help artist to achieve their goal according to a bigger picture of the urban experience.
These events attemp to attrack people towards a major experience of the city. Events like this aim to encourage people to use public spaces as a place of gathering and to walk around. Although, it is a challenge to motivate people to leave cars near by and discover the city by foot, this initiative has been very successful since residents feel very attracted for different cuisine offers.
seats in the garden
music
Legend of places 1 Kitchen Incuvator’s patio
21
21
2 Lower Patio
1
3 15 Island Place 4 Tree Plaza 5 Island Place Historic District 2
ping pong tables 30
instaphotos
[ development in phases PHASES_02 PATIO
Proposal for new redevelopment area- a balance between pedestrians and cars.
foodtruck night
IN [CLUSIVE] PROCESS
]
discover all what we have for you today! PHASES_03 MILLRACE SPACE
painting faces
design your space
5
4
river of wishes
seats
after foodtruck night outdoormovie
balloon painting
3
PHASES_04 PEDESTRIAN ORIENTED STREET
PHASES_05 NEW PLAZA AND PEDESTRIANIZATION
Topography differentiate pedestrian and parking space
MICRO-MACRO LANDSCAPES & TERRITORIES OF EXTRACTION
environmental constrains presented through natural textures representation
Harvard University, Graduate School of Design Technique: silkscreen Canvas: paper Instructor: Annette Lemieux by Karen Mata
micro- macro landscapes acrylic paint over paper size: 15’ x 3’
micro- macro landscapes acrylic paint over plastic, wood, and fabric size: varies
SURFACES OF CHANCE
temporality through seasons
representation
Harvard University, Graduate School of Design Technique: silkscreen Canvas: paper Instructor: Annette Lemieux by Karen Mata
AUGMENTED TERRITORIES
responsive environments
a system of public interactive spaces Universidad Simon Bolivar (USB) Undergraduate thesis. Program: urban plannig and public space. Advisor (s): Ignacio Cardona | Aliz Mena Area of study: Caracas, Venezuela Awarded with Honorable Mention
In this age, people think and process information in a different way because they are used to the instantaneity of the hypertext. How this will affect the urban experience? This project seeks to link people’s digital interaction into urban dynamics, understanding there is another dimension in which people relationships are taking place. Thus, based on the maps of the contemporaneous city (incorporating digital links) a physical and digital intervention is created in order to generate a system in which people can move and get together in a continuous urban hypertext to enjoy the city and find new opportunities for activities. Understanding digital space as an extension of physical ones, public spaces are connected through a complex network that makes them interact continuously and be seen by everyone.
Digital public connectivity
map of uses
pedestrian flows
digital paths through physical opportunities
digital public hedge
digital network through the city’s grid in a day time
people’s aglomeration in a day time
DATA CCS [app]
public space connected to virtual space
people aglomeration
places conneced to leasure virtual network
WALKABLE HATILLO
The project aims to transform Hatillo’s historic center in a place for pedestrians. This is a very active place in Caracas due to its cultural activities, but urban dynamics are been weakened because of car use. Starting from the walkways design, public spaces were augmented and ameliorated, integrating and taking advantage of greenfields, cultural and trading areas. To guarantee the success of this project, local economies, community participation and public administration were incorporated into planning works as well as a management plan distributed in stages to join the development and appropriation of the space.
connecting and weaving public space in a traditional historic center
urban design
Program: Public space Client: AlcaldĂŹa de Baruta. Employer:MA+ [Micucci Arquitectos Asociados] Urban design: Karen Mata. Area of study: El Hatillo, Caracas, Venezuela
phase 1
phase 2
34%
1154 m2
phase 3
857 m2
phase 4
of urban voids are private.
1897 m2
1376 m2 1002 m2
32%34%
576 m2
phases of implementation
of urban voids of urban voids are private. are inside plots.
32%
types34% of plots
of urban voids are inside plots.
of urban voids are private.
types of plots
32%
of urban voids are inside plots. types of plots
Close Close
0 m2 1900 m2
0 m2
Open
out of 3800 m2
Espaced
Close
Open
Espaced
Open to one side
0 m2
1900 m2
900 m2
3800 m2
out of 3800 m2
out of 8920 m2
out of 15200 m2
Open
Espaced
Open to one side
1900 m2 3800 m2
900 m2
3800 m2
Open to one side
900 m2
out ofout3800 of 15200 m2m2
out of 8920 m2
out of 8920 m2
out of 15200 m2
1
2
3
2 1
3
1st phase: distend sidewalks
1
2nd phase: define current parking lots for pedestrian activities.
2
3rd phase: complete use for pedestrians
3
urban design & architecture
DELIRIOUS PETARE: interpretation of the environment through urban passages Institution: Universidad Simon Bolivar (USB) Program: urban design Architectural Design Studio IX Instructor(s): Ignacio Cardona | Rodrigo Guerra Team of 4 students for the general urban plan Architecture and urban design: Karen Mata Area of study: Petare, Caracas, Venezuela
without this proposal, it takes
90 minutes to get down the hills
Slums have managed to gain areas in the city with the most difficult access for its natural conditions. However, mobility is limited and it isolate people to experience the city as well as cut off places to be known and crossed. Therefore, a system of vertical passages was created through the interpretation of natural and social landscapes, in order to connect places for enjoyment and promote optional activities for more opportunities. The project act as an hinge to link spaces resulted for formal and informal processes of urbanisation in a place with strong slopes. It uses visibility as a strategy to get a point of reference in such a diverse territory. The proposal creates spaces for public life and cotidianity activities that strengthen the ones which are currently taking place in Petare.
People wait until destination.
30 minutes for a car that take them to their
VERTICAL INTERSTICES public transforming private spaces
architecture
Universidad Simon Bolivar Program: architecture Architectural Design Studio X Instructor(s): Franco Micucci | Enrique Cilia | Bernardo Dorbessan. Architecture: Karen Mata Area of study: Chacaito, Caracas, Venezuela Chosen for best works exhibition at USB [2014]
night view shows how the building promotes urban night life, even when offices are close.
Located in the middle point of important public spaces in Caracas. This tower acts as an urban hinge articulating metropolitan nodes of encounter through a vertical public space. The idea is to take the experience of long walks through the streets and incorporate it into a private tower to stimulate public life, mixed-uses and the idea of private buildings open to the city. The project seek to serve as an activator of public space, adding a start or end point to a important pedestrian walkway in Caracas, which leads people to the other nodes of the system. This vertical public space creates new layers for public dynamics. A new level of interaction for pedestrians.
Public and private places for people to gather
Urban nodes and comercial corridors
plan
Pedestrian pathways
section
detail facade skin
detail exterior stairs
architecture & urban design
EXPERIMENTAL FORMS OF LIVING: new social groups as a catalyzers of public space Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia Program: housing typologies Instructor (s): Marcela Ángel Samper | Jaime Gomez Meneses Team of 3 students for urban design Architecture and urban design: Karen Mata
Area of study: Fenicia, Bogotá, Colombia
The project arises as an exploration of gentrification in Bogota focused on housing as a social issue for a diverse city. The initiative called “Progress Fenicia”, plans to transform the downtown area with an emphasis on public space, mixed-use construction, and public-private partnerships as a urban renewal strategy. This project seeks to mix the pre-existing organization of the land with the future development project. New relationships between public and private space are established to push forward the existing urban dynamics and diversify them to promote a sustainable and progressive development, not only for the new neighbors who are purchasing their new house but also for the existing families who still want to live there. Public space acts as a mediator to control and mollify the big social contrast present in Latin America’s cities
Some typologies of housing according to their users.
STUDENTS
ELDERS AND DISABLED
AUGMENTED FAMILY
TENANTS
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Patio de ropas
Zona social
Current housing’s situation
urban design & architecture
LINKING BREAKAGES TO THE CITY: programed bridges that connect segregated neighborhoods through green corridors Universidad Simon Bolivar (USB) and Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV) Program: urban design. Architectural Design Studio VII Instructor(s): Tomás Cervilla | Maria Mercedes Hernandez | Ignacio Cardona Team of 4 students in urban design Architecture and urban design: Karen Mata. Area of study: Los Dos Caminos, Caracas, Venezuela
Chosen for the “best works exhibition” at USB [2013]
This configuration of buildings acts like a bridge to connect urban discontinuities and existing isolated public spaces. Then, deteriorated areas acquire a sense of place since people can reach them and appropriate the space around. In this site, two of the biggest green areas in the city of Caracas were connected using creeks as a natural infrastructure for public life. This linear park allows porosity between two sides that not recognize each other so far today, not only physically but socially. To revitalize this area, the project is not only a place to pass by, but a passage to a place. Public encounter, interaction and the possibility to do optional activities reinforces the identity of the city.
URBAN BARRIERS INTO SOCIAL [INTER] ACTION POSSIBILITIES: going out of a medieval city
urban design
Universidad Simon Bolivar (USB) Program: Social architecture: T.A.C Taller de Aquitectura Gratuita (Free Architecture Workshop) Architectural Design Studio VIII Instructor(s): Alejandro Borges Architecture and urban design: Karen Mata Area of study: La Urbina, Caracas, Venezuela Chosen for the “best works exhibition� at USB [2013]
Caracas is becoming a medieval city due to its building walls and fences, every time bigger to avoid eye and physical contact between the public and private looking for a sense of security that push out the urban man till a point that dynamics in public space seems to be completely absent. Therefore, the idea is to take out what happen inside these walls to the outside in order to promote social interaction and reduce barriers between society through the public and enjoyment. The project aims to transform unused spaces into places by becoming them plural. And which allow, little by little, to destroy these walls to create public space.
THE FRAGMENTED CITY reconstructing the urban fabric to generate public life on the streets
urban design
Design competition Program: public space Client: Alcaldía de Caracas Team of two architects and an engineer. Urban design: Karen Mata. Area of study: Av Bolivar, Caracas, Venezuela
Because of several incomplete masterplans Avenida Bolivar has lost its scale, identity and sense of unity, which has turned out into a deterioration of its urban life. The project aims to recover public life transforming little plot’s areas given for this competition into a system of public spaces linked to important buildings that promote cultural and socio-economic activities, in order to strengthen the axis and create a border condition for enjoyment and the empowerment of its citizens. Public space is expanded creating a variety of scenarios through the urban fabric, mixing different scales where people can get together and optional activities might take place, Corners of historical value are rescued by creating places to sit and contemplate the landscape.
Current situation: Urban voids
Avenue’s scales through the time
Proposal : Filling the blanks for public.
Before
Before
After
After
CONNECT[ING] ABRANTES
responsive environments
linking virtual and physical experiences International Competition Urban strategy, artisitic and digital intervention: Karen Mata | Rodrigo Guerra Area of study: Abrantes, Portugal
The ultimate goal is that Abrantinos experience the world and that the world experiences this city. Merging the Local and the Global to generate an expanded perception of the urban dynamics, and allowing the construction of a system in which the representative places associated to a particular scale could bolster the creation of a system that fosters Mondialisation, supported by Augmented Reality
PERSONAL SCKETCHES
representation
by Karen Mata