Louis Antonio Suarez Architecture Portfolio
L o u i s A n t o n i o
Web lasuarez.myportfolio.com Email lasuarez@andrew.cmu.edu Phone 412.708.5258
Student of Architecture and Music
Education Carnegie Mellon University Bachelor of Architecture, Minor in Music (2016 - Present) | Cumulative QPA 3 .76 | Studio QPA 4 .00 Honors and Awards Carnegie Mellon university College of Fine Arts Dean’s List (2017 - Present) School of Architecture Honors (2016 - Present) School of Architecture Design Commend (2017 - Present) American Composite Materials Association Compost Materials Challenge Honorable Mention (2018) Work Experience Carnegie Mellon university First Year Drawing Teaching Assistant (2018 - Present) Summer Pre-College Architecture Teaching Assistant (2017 - 2018) Wats:ON? Festival Crew Member (2017) Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh The LABS Photojournalism Summer Intensive Mentor (2016) Volunteer Experience Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Book Shelving, Program Assistant, Mentoring (2012 - Present) Activities and Organizations Carnegie Mellon University Contemporary Ensemble (beginning fall 2019) Carnegie Mellon University Guitar Ensemble (2016 - Present) Interpunct Journal on Architectural Theory (2018 - 2 019) The Cut Magazine on Music Criticism (2017 - 2018) Pittsburgh Classical Guitar Society Orchestra (2014 - 2016) ACE Mentor Program (2014 - 2016) Duquesne University City Music Center (2012 - 2016) Skills and Interests Freehand Drawing Architectural Drawing Model Building Structures and Statics Public Speaking
Photoshop Illustrator Indesign Premiere MuseScore
Rhino Grasshopper Python Vray DIVA
Classical Guitar Music Composition Music Theory Musicology Screenwriting
Studies in Algal Motion This project is an inquiry surrounding the development of a water community around Six Mile Island on the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh that integrates ecologi-cal factors as design drivers. The project explores how green algae can be employed as an agent for dynamic shading and unique architectural experiences
The eco-machinic nature of this project revolves around a study of the stochastic behavior of algae in turbulent flow. In order to facilitate growth, algae must be periodically sift between states of intense light and darkness. Based on this principle, the algae’s position in relationship to an aperture in a container can be determined probabilistically through the use of a Markov chain.
Algae is employed within the wall poche to create a dynamic shading device based on its proximity to sunlight. This generates an experience of varying opacities. Depending on the time of day, spaces in the housing units undergo differing levels of privacy of daylight, encouraging a more fluid way of life. (Research credit: Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Vol. VII, 1966)
Alone Together Inspired by “The Idea of North”, pianist Glenn Gould’s radio pro-gram about solitude, these public baths located near Saco Lake in New Hampshire are founded on principles surrounding simultane-ity of community and isolation. Derived from monastic architectural forms, the building utilizes a cloistering effect. The courtyards and vaulted spaces create a simulated urbanism in which the occupants cirrcumambulate, where they exist in sight of each other, though iso-lated from contact.
A Building in Pittsburgh This work examines how the typology of a Pittsburgh townhouse can be expanded into contemporary architectural works. The thin facade suggests a symbolic nature of Pittsburgh architecture, while the long facade employs parabolic vaulting to a filter for the occupants to pass through, turning the building into an icon for a possible future Pittsburgh.
1. EPDM ROOFING 2. HIGH LOAD RIGID INSULATION 3. TREATED WOOD BLOCKING 4. STAINLESS FLASHING 5. STEEL DECKING 6. STEEL SECONDARY BEAM W8X21 @ 13’-0” O.C. 7. STEEL PRIMARY BEAM W16X45 @ 26’-0” O.C. 8. 3/8” TK. STEEL PLATE
9. STEEL TUBE COLUMN WW12X24 @ 24’-0” O.C. 10. CONCRETE SLAB 11. WELDED WIRE MESH 12. POLISHED CONCRETE SLAB 13. 3/8” TK. STEEL PLATE 14. CONCRETE BELLED CAISSON 15. RIGID INSULATION 16. GRAVEL BACKFILL
17. 10” TK. CAST IN PLACE CONCRETE FOUNDATION WALL 18. REINFORCED CONCRETE FOOTING 19. BRICK PARTY WALL 20. GLASS ROOFING 21. ALUMINUM MULLION 22. GLASS GUARDRAIL 23. GLASS CURTAIN WALL 24. 8” ALUMINUM PRESSURE PLATE
Center for Urban Agriculture This building is a permeable growing space for the community of Home-wood. Permeability is achieved in both spatial organization / building edge and programmatic use. The plan is a field of mixedprimary use space, and can be approached from all sides, lending itself to a continu-ous flow of those who are curious about gardens. The plan removes hier-archy, and creates symbol of equality. The building is extraverted rather than introverted. Planting occurs more on the edge than in the center, and works hand-in-hand with the architecture to create an experience of wonder, turning the garden into lush landscape.
Library Hellscape To descend to a place where one searches for things. The modern library has very much become the total library of Jorge Luis Borges. This intervention in Carnegie Mellon University’s Hunt Library library is based on a deconstruction of the Cretan labyrinth, which, if un-rolled , is nothing more than a simple line. By the means of digita-lization, such transparency in also achieved in information. Library collections are no longer limited to physical books on shelves, but now comprise nearly all human knowledge.
Gleisdreieck Station How do we perceive cities, and how do we know them? We see our immediate urban surroundings, but, as we come to know a city better, we also qualify what we see nearby with our growing knowledge of that city as a whole. This hybrid study in drawing and book binding ex-plores a kinesthetic basis for Perspective, which is built on the drawing pedagogy of Kimon Nicholaides. It aligns with the transactionalist understanding of perception and considers perspective as partly invented and partly discovered truth. The drawing begain with study of Ber-lin’s famous Gleisdreieck Station, discovering methods to represent the two intersecting rails and their relationship to the street below. Bookbinding is employed to empha-size the concept of discovery. The book’s unfolding ad-dresses toplogical issues of berlin, through a derive-es-que understanding of elevation change and wandering. (Image credit: Google Earth)