KARLA VALDIVIA
1205 ST. CHARLES AVE APT. 402 NEW ORLEANS, LA 70130 305.343.2102
EDUCATION
MASTERS OF ARCHITECTURE
karla.valdivia@gmail.com
New Orleans, LA
BACHELOR OF DESIGN
WORK EXPERIENCE
TULANE UNIVERSITY
August 2008-May 2010
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
Gainesville, FL
June 2002-May 2007
PROJECT INTERN
TULANE CITY CENTER
ARCHITECTURAL INTERN
NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES
August 2008-Present New Orleans, LA Develop drawings and diagrams for publication. Conduct New Orleans based research. Meet with team members frequently to discuss development. New Orleans, LA September 2008-August 2009 Develop a pattern book of low-income housing consisting of differing plans and facades for specified sites within Central City and the 7th Ward. Meet weekly with team members to discuss proposals, budgeting and design changes. Conduct site visits and analysis.
SALES ASSOCIATE/REPRESENTATIVE - DESIGN CONSULTANT
INDIGO GREEN STORE
Gainesville, FL August 2007-August 2008 Tend to daily activities including sales, inventory adjustments, and purchasing. Assist customers with product information and placing orders. Have a required knowledge of all GREEN building materials. Update website with new product information and events.
SALES MANAGER
CALZATURA BOUTIQUE
Gainesville, FL July 2005-September 2007 Overlook and execute daily activities within the store. Manage daily sales as well as attend to customers. Account weekly sales as well as hire and train new employees.
ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
TEAM MEMBER
HOLLYGROVE MARKET
New Orleans, LA Participate in Design+Build of HollyGrove Market Vendor Pods, benches and tracks.
Fall 2009 Semester
TEAM MEMBER
NEIGHBORHOOD STORY PROJECT
New Orleans, LA Participate in Design +Build of “StoryPod” for non-profit organization located in the 7th Ward.
Fall 2009 Semester
TEAM MEMBER
URBANbuild
New Orleans, LA August 2008-May 2009 Provided winning design serving as the prototype for URABNbuild 4 and collaborated with team members on construction documents during fall semester. Participated in the build throughout the spring semester and conducted red lines on site throughout construction process. The finished house was published in DWELL volume 10, issue 2 December/January 2010.
AWARDS AND HONORS
AIA MEDAL AND CERTIFICATE OF MERIT_ Awarded to 2 students who exhbit general excellence in the field of architecture. OGDEN EIGHT _ Selected as 1 of 8 thesis students to exhibit their final Thesis at the Ogden Museum in New Orleans, La. GRADUATE ADMISSIONS COMMITTEE _ Selected as 1 of 3 graduate student representatives to serve on the Graduate Admissions Committee for the Fall 2010 applications. 2010 TULANE 34 NOMINEE _A recognition of 34 outstanding graduating students who have excelled scholastically, have distinguished records of involvement, and have excelled in the area of student leadership on campus. 2009 AIA HONOR AWARD in the Residential Category _URBANbuild Prototype 4
SKILLS
SOFTWARE _ Proficient in Microsoft Office, AutoCAD, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Knowledge in Rhino, ShetchUP, and V-Ray. FABRICATION _ Laser Cutting, Model Making, Woodshop skills and stick welding.
CHINA STUDY ABROAD STUDIO_Urban Design The Qianmen District is 80 acres of dense Hutong neighborhoods situated along the axis of the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. Acting as a connection to these two sites, the district’s neighborhood quality is being erased and new programmatic developments are planned for the 2008 Olympics. The change is resulting in the drastic relocation of residents and small businesses. Working with a team of 4, we placed focus on eliminating the removal of Qianmen’s residents and to preserve both the historical architecture as well as the way of life it creates. Our hope was to bring funding into the site by creating new up-scale housing along with mix-use buildings along the site’s perimeter, by incorporating cultural center, government buildings along with schools and markets. Many of these additions to the site were intended to not bring funding but provide jobs and education for the residents. Incorporating a market/green space hybrid with spaces that one can shop, work and play, help to keep the neighborhood lifestyle many Chinese people are used to. Using the hybrid as a datum throughout the site creates a connection with each programmatic piece within the 80 acre urban design project. GOVERNMENTAL ANC SOCIAL SERVICES
RESIDENTIAL ZONES OPEN MARKETS
RESIDENTIAL AS IT RELATES TO CULTURAL AND EDUCATION AREAS
COMMERCIAL MIX-USE
GREEN SPACES AND RECREATIONAL AREAS
STREET NETWORKS
STREET NETWORKS AS THEY RELATE TO MARKETS
HUTONGS AS THEY RELATE TO MARKET SPACES
STREET NETWORKS AS THEY RELATE TO GREEN SPACES
FLORIDA LANDSCAPE STUDIO_A Water Research Center The Water Research Center was to include studios, a common area, a meditation point and a library.
Sectional Diagrams: SketchUP Sections, Hand Drawing and Photoshop
One enters from the side of the site enabling one to experience the landscape during the procession from the world’s distractions into the project at hand. The procession moves one from the most public areas into the more private spaces ultimately ending at the meditation area. The landscape was a constant charge during the design process lending to the heavy integration into the context. The process began with site condition studies through ink washes.
Permeable Edges: Watercolor and Ink on Watercolor Paper
Hard Edges: Watercolor and Ink on Watercolor Paper
Edges Beneath the Water’s Surface: Watercolor and Ink on Watercolor Paper
Sectional Site Model: Chip Board, Bass Wood, Plexiglass and Wire
Zones: Watercolor and Ink on Watercolor Paper
DESIGN+BUILD_URBANbuild URBANbuild is a year long program where students team up to both design and build a low-income housing project in Central City, New Orleans. During the fall semester 12 designs were proposed for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath 1200 sq. ft. house. One scheme is chosen and further developed throughout the semester concluding with the finalization of a set of construction documents submitted for permitting. The spring semester is spent building the house and updating red lines on the document set.
MY PROPOSAL_FALL 2008
FINISHED HOUSE_MAY 2009
THESIS STUDIO_ Community Collage: The contexualization of the re-development efforts in Central City, New Orleans, La. This proposal, concentrated in the heart of Central City, New Orleans, explores a way of developing a connection to the historic fabric while explicating the contemporary goals of re-development. Through programmatic and socially driven elements, it will work as both a physical and geographical stitch within the neighborhood and community. Many of the interventions evoke a common response as being alien as they are seen and experienced solely from the exterior allowing for little to no understanding of the spatial qualities, form and tectonics the contemporary typology offers. The proposal is in critical dialogue with these interventions as it adopts from the achitectonics of these projects yet renders itself comprehensible by engaging the public as a whole through program and culture. As the current contemporary interventions in this area act as isolated, dispersed nodes, the proposed Community Block must work as the anchor that will didactically allow for the experiential.
RE-DEVELOPMENT CENTER RE-DEVELOPMENT CENTER
CAFE AND EXHIBIT SPACE
WATER RETENSION
ADMINISTRATION
INDOOR COURTS
FITNESS ROOM
LOCKER ROOMS
FLOWER SHOP
SOCCER FIELD
CHILDCARE
DESIGN CENTER
RE-DEVELOPMENT CENTER
AFTER SCHOOL CARE
WATER RETENSION
POOL
CLASSROOMS
MEDIA LAB
CAFE
MARKET
BASKETBALL COURT
WATER RETENSION
INFORMATION
COMPOSITE SITE DIAGRAM OF SPATIAL EXTENSIONS
FIRST FLOOR PLAN
ADMINISTRATION
MUSIC PERFORMANCE
OUTDOOR PERFORMANCE
LOUNGE
EXHIBIT SPACE
The programmatic pieces gesture toward one another to claim exterior space and form spatial extensions. While the buildings house important program in their interior, each hold spatial qualities such as permanence, interstitial spaces and public, open areas. Each formal gestural allows the program and the engagement of the site to extend beyond the building proper.
SECOND FLOOR PLAN
FITNESS CENTER
PERMANENT SOLID
OCCUPIED STRUCTURE
TRANSIENT SOLID
ABANDONED STRUCTURE
OPEN FABRIC OPEN / PUBLIC INTERSTITIAL SPACE
ABANDONED PROPERTY OPEN SETBACK INTERSTITIAL SPACE ENTRY
SITE IN RELATION TO STREET ACCESS