Architecture Portfolio – Spring 2017

LUIS SABATER MUSA SELECTED WORKS 2013 – 2017

POR TFO LIO

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CONTENTS ACADEMIC WORK M. ARCH THESIS PROJECT

2017

THE K AMAMA PRAIRIE HOUSE

2016

THE COLUMBUS ATHENEUM

2014

B. ARCH THESIS PROJECT

2013

INDEPENDENT WORK CROSSET HOUSE

2017

CASA DEL BOSQUE

2016

OCOA HOUSE

2015

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M.ARCH THESIS ACADEMIC WORK: THESIS STUDIO PROJECT LOCATION: SANTO DOMINGO PROFESSOR: LIZ RIORDEN SPRING 2017

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Introduction Global warming and climate change are inevitable issues. In Santo Domingo, average temperatures have increased and escalated to year round uncomfortably hot and humid conditions in just the last twenty years.

Regardless, the current building concept and construction practice are not adapting to this phenomena. The construction is oriented almost solely around concrete and its derived components despite it’s poor thermal performance in the hot humid climate.

In view of this, the research intends to contribute a first step into a possible guideline to thermal comfort in Santo Domingo. Ultimately, challenging the design approach and idea of what a dwelling building in the region can be.

In view of this, I had to ask: Why do we conceptualize architecture around this poorly performing construction system; the concrete? The research revealed that the strong attachment to the concrete material and the little diversification of the practiced construction systems in S.D. has its roots in historical and cultural misconceptions.

In order to understand what to do, a heavily study about the Hot-Humid climate and the meaning of thermal comfort in these zones was a first step into this amaing adventure.

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Tan Hock Beng said; “Many architects working in the region today have forgotten how to design bearing in mind the climate and landscape. They have been caught in the homogenizing forces of mass media and are repeating the built mediocrities of international fashion.� It is sad to admit that the failure of most buildings in Santo Domingo starts here, the design is mentally located in a different climatic condition, hence abiding to different set of rules that often do not

work for the tropical climate. Whereas in cooler regions, strategies are more related to the building, like; where the fire place is, higher mass, higher insulation, reduction of windows sizes. This pattern should not be followed in warm climates, because it is more dependent on the relationship to the building context and its microclimate. Since the main passive cooling strategy is ventilation, building orientation and careful openings design are a primary concern.

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BUILDING DIAGRAMS

The diagrams above show the building design process. Starting by the maximum size the building could take in the property. Then proceeding to make its section thinner, so it would cross ventilate all the spaces. Spliting the massing into public and private. Then shaping and spliting the massing with the extension of the park, in such a way that it would climb and reach higher

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grounds seamlessly from the park in front up to the roof. Then the units needed to become double height to be able to house their entire program without taking away the privilege of cross ventilation from any space. Finally, the shading system covered the building, while remaining permeable enough to let the winds in and out.

BUILDING DIAGRAMS

The project’s intention was driven from the particular unit experience. The priority was to make it so that it would cross ventilate enterily, offer as much outside space as possible, while keeping its closure easily customizable by the user. Hence a thin section for cross ventilation, high amount of balcony space, and a skin for shading and wind control. As part of the context of the project, another intention is to bring the green of the park

and it’s public vocation to higher grounds through a set of platforms that break the massing in two and could be used as a place to watch marathons or any other activities happening in the park below. This also creates more opportunity for plant cooling, cooling by convection through the generated shaded spaces and oportunities for heat loss to the free flowing air bathing the project.

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The form doesn’t really matter, since the whole point is about the DNA of the unit in the project, which can be transferable to any shape. But, as an underlaid statement, the form is also reacting to the original question about the concrete block system, which sadly is the homogenizing element of the city. The formal expression of the building is echoing the notion of parting away from the CMU, this building actually can’t be conceived as it is if one was to take the CMU as the premise, as the default idea for enclosure. The freedom of the lines that are breaking the heavy conceptual and formal chains is acting as a symbol of change and independence from the undesired tyrany of the concrete system. Following some images of the working models along the design process, and a bay model and building render next.

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THE KAMAMA DWELLING ACADEMIC WORK: DESIGN BUILD STUDIO PROJECT LOCATION: PEEBLES, OH PROFESSOR: WHITNEY HAMAKER TEAM: GUANDE WU, ALEX BUCHER, DYLAN HOLTE, JON LUND, ALEX GORMLEY, MARISSA ZANE, TOM COVERT, NAREK MIRZAEI, LUIS SABATER MUSA SPRING 2016

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HOUSE IN A CONTAINER?

The design process of envisaging the Tiny house included many studies related to the essential living spaces, raising important questions like, is living essentially an indoor activity? What exactly does a living room signify? Are walls necessary to enclose or define a space?

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This process of simultaneously questioning and forming a design hypothesis led to the crucial decision of using only one shipping container to house all essential indoor spaces. The essence of the ‘living area’, however, is carried on to the extended deck in continuous interaction with the prairie.

DESIGN DRIVERS The design was also driven by the constraints of time and money. It was imperative to complete the project within stipulated time, being a Design Studio that should go from having just a site to having a built project in just four months.

As well, as a project being on almost a zero budget, surviving mostly on generous donations by individual donors and some sponsors. Thus, the unit is designed to be as compact

as possible with maximum functionality. It reuses materials as a sustainability measure, like the shipping container and materials from a previous structure on the site, employed as exterior cladding for roof and walls. The result is a tiny ‘butterfly’ house that now sits quietly watching and enjoying the Kamama Prairie.

The 160-square-foot house is designed around and within a new shipping container, which provides a framework to build off of, and constraints to build around. The house aims to be both beautiful and buildable, with a clean, minimal aesthetic to not distract from the prairie. Indoor/ out-

door flexibility is key, with a semi-shaded deck as livable outdoor space. To coexist with the prairie, the house reuses many site-present materials, including barn wood and roofing tin from a previous structure on the site.

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LESSONS LEARNED Likewise, this studio experience will likely leave a lasting impression on the nine students who designed and constructed the major project in just four months.

“I don’t think the goal of a design-build program is to turn architecture students into contractors,” Hamaker says, “but I think it is important for them to understand that relationship — the difference between what we put out into the world and what has to happen to make it exist, and to understand what that conversation is.”

Zane is reaping the benefits of this already as she works on co-op in New York.

“I went out to a job site last week and I actually understood what they were doing,” she explains, “unlike if you’re at an office job and you see things here or there. It may take years for you to understand something that you learn in just a couple months by putting something together.”

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COLUMBUS ATHENEUM ACADEMIC WORK: DESIGN STUDIO PROJECT LOCATION: COLUMBUS, IN PROFESSOR: TERRY BOLING FALL 2014

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THE COLUMBUS ATHENEUM The project is a 37,000 sf. Arts facility located in Columbus, Indiana. The ethos of the studio is rooted in the development of a “construction ethic”. The course is concerned about deep investigations into specific moments of the project in contrast to a broad, superficial comprehension of all parts.

Regardless the many iterations of the overall building, all of them are based on the same moment’s ideas.

My design is driven by these moments throughout the building. Responding to the context of the city and the immediate surrounding also plays a primary role. Lastly, the joints at different scales are protagonists of the project, the desire of revealing the story behind the construction of the parts and the whole, the detailing, and the interstitial space in the building.

The process and developing of the ideas was driven mostly by physical modeling, it was required to be that way. All of these models were working models though, including the bay model which was a big effort to describe the integrated strategies in that section of the Atheneum.

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Conceptual models for overall strategies.

The “lightness” and the “tale structure tells”,

Iterations.

Ground Level Floor Plan

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INTEGRATING THE SYSTEMS This might be the first time that I seriously thought about coordinating the different systems and infrastructure within a building.

Mostly, the intention was to organize the spaces and this infrastructure as an integrated design, where the infrastructure would be thought of since the beginning and as a design opportunity rather than as a consequence.

A series of diagrams helped to see what was actually going on with the building in terms of Program, HVAC, Sol-Air Response, Circulation and Egress Paths, and the Structure Concept.

It was an interesting process, since we were not allowed to do a floorplan, just until the final week. Everything was designed from the section, several sections across each space. I actually appreciate this method.

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UNDERGRADUATE THESIS PROJECT ACADEMIC WORK: THESIS STUDIO PROJECT LOCATION: SANTO DOMINGO PARTNER: FERNANDO SALCEDO MAIN CHAIR: MICHELLE VALDEZ CHAIR: ALEJANDRO ASCUASIATI 2012 - 2013

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THE COMPOSITION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL FORM Its beauty and why

The thesis consisted of an investigation that came from the question How could one compose a beautiful architectural design? and “Could that design process be rationalized in order to understand why the final result is Beautiful?� We found out beauty is not a goal itself, the final aspect is a conclusion of many responses given to identified points during the Analysis Process before the designing moment.

The important thing is to lay attention into the essence of the phenomena deeply analyzed, and not what it may seem to be at first sight. The beauty of the project lies in the reasons that shaped the architectural design, not in its form.

The architectural project chosen to demonstrate the hypothesis was a Baseball Cultural Complex. The process began with an exhaustive analysis of the site. Abstract models were made in order to translate conclusions into graphic symbols that later became the architectural language of the project.

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THE MUSEUM This was a particularly fun building to develop. It was inspired by the energy of a baseball player when swinging at the ball. The directionality of it hints to the main player in the complex, the stadium. A big atrium that at the time was under developed was the space that collected the flow and sequence of the building, taking the users up and down and visually connecting the different spaces in the building.

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THE MIXED USE COMPLEX The mixed use complex is one that pretty much responds to the major rules of the site plan, as for floorplan. Private courtyards for the users softens the lively atmosphere of its context. Moving up, the volumes starts to talk to each other, being lower or higher according to views to the site and solar protection.

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CROSSET HOUSE INDEPENDENT WORK PROJECT LOCATION: ADAMS COUNTY, OH W/ ALEX GORMLEY FALL 2016

Site Visit, August 2016

ITERATIONS The design team spent a few weeks brainstorming and editing a total of ten possible schematic concepts down to four which we felt to be the most achievable and successful. The concepts draw their inspirations from the site and associated context as well as from a plethora of precedents. The tobacco barn, the farmstead, the forest, and the agricultural fields, surrounding the site are where we found the deepest attractions and associations, and is why we decided to react to these on the following schemes.

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SELECTION PROCESS The clients are simple persons, but with a very refined taste for architecture, owning a Frank Lloyd Wright style house in Cincinnati, and having worked with the award winning architect John Senhauser on a small hotel project. Hence the scheme on the right was the preffered one, focusing on the spatial experiential sequence and views to the prairie.

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SIMPLIFYING After grand dreaming and decyphering our client’s mind, together with trying to make things easier for our Amish contractor; simplification led the way.

Wasn’t easy, but was the right thing to do.

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2 A300

10'-6"

9

3

7'-6"

4 6'-0"

8

5 12'-0"

7

6

Foyer 23 SF

WALKWAY TO GARAGE 12'-0" Bathroom 2 45 SF

12'-0" Bathroom 1 66 SF

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8

12'-0"

5

Hallway 1 72 SF

4 Kitchen/Dining 7'-0"134 SF

12'-0" Storage 23 SF

Bedroom 2 161 SF

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12'-0"

3 5'-0"

9'-0"

2

E

1

7'-6"

D

10'-6"

Living Room 142 SF

Deck 476 SF 14'-6"

Laundry 14 SF

9'-0"

6

6'-0"

4'-0"

1 6'-0"

1 A300

Hallway 2 55 SF

C

Bedroom 1 135 SF Closet 14 SF

B

0'-0"

Closet 14 SF

8 FT Datum 8' - 0"

Level 1 0' - 0" Foundations -2' - 0"

Level 1 1 1/8" = 1'-0"

2'-1"

0'-10"

21'-4"

8'-2"

3'-0"

9 9'-0"

D

16'-0"

10'-2"

15'-5"

11'-3"

1'-7"

E

17'-9"3'-6"

4'-0"

24'-0"

2'-0"

5'-5"

8

14'-6"

7

8'-2" 3'-1" 0'-4"

7'-6"

41'-9" 5'-9"

0'-0"

3

South 1/8" = 1'-0"

Level 1 - Dimension 1/8" = 1'-0"

6'-0"

10'-9"

2'-6"

10'-9"

6'-0"

3'-3"

2'-9"

8'-9"

11'-7" 0'-6"

2'-0"

2'-0"

2

3'-3"

0'-6"

FLOOR PLAN A101 Scale 1/8" = 1'-0"

ELEVATIONS A200 Scale 1/8" = 1'-0"

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C

8 FT Datum 8' - 0"

8'-0"

0'-5" 2'-0" 0'-4"

5'-8"

0'-4"

9'-0"

18'-11"

0'-4" 2'-4"

0'-4" 6'-8"

3'-9" 5'-8" 0'-4"

3'-1" 2'-0"

12'-0"

9

12'-0"

3'-2"

4'-11"

0'-5" 8'-2"

2'-2"

0'-4"

3'-1" 2'-4"

6

4'-8"

0'-4"

13'-10" 2'-6" 3'-0"

7'-6"

6'-0"

8

12'-0"

5 3'-5" 0'-4"

6'-0"

3'-5"

7'-6"

8'-5"

9'-3" 1'-8" 8'-0"

10'-2"

4

7

6 12'-0"

5'-8"

3

2'-0"

10'-6"

5 6'-0"

3'-5"

2

6'-0"

4 6'-0"

0'-4"

7'-6"

1 3'-6"

3

10'-6"

0'-4" 3'-5"

2

6'-0"

5'-5"

1

North 1/8" = 1'-0"

12'-5"

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Project Client Location Date

B

Level 1 0' - 0" Foundations -2' - 0"

Crosset House Crosset Adams County, OH Issue Date

Project Client Location

Crosset House Crosset Adams County, OH

Date

Issue Date

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CASA DEL BOSQUE INDEPENDENT WORK PROJECT LOCATION: JARABACOA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC W/ ALEX GORMLEY & GUANDE WU SPRING 2016

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SCHEMES At the beginning of our process through sketching and diagramming, we realized there are four basic principles to the house. Each one has benefits and we used them to develop all the schemes to follow

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ITERATE A core design strategy for every project I take is to iterate, as fast and as much as I can. This allows me to see all the good possible solutions for a project, ultimately learning from each and composing a better one.

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1

3

4

5

6

7

33.35

6.05

6.20

3.85

5.75

5.75

5.75

2

4

3

1

2

1

A300

A300

A406

A301

A301

A300

J 7 A406

2.50

CLOSET 1 A500 3

I

A300

Foyer

2.50

DN

Guest Bath

WIC

Stor.

H

A302 A500

WIC

WIC Guest Room A405

Vanity L1

Bedroom II

Bedroom I

REF.

Bedroom III

Dining

Storage DW

G Bath BR II

Bath BR I

Bath BR III 2.50

1

WIC

2.50

1 4

Kitchen

2.50

13 A401

22.50

F

E Living Room

2.50

2 A302

2.50

D 3 A200

2.50

C

2.50

B

A Jacuzzi

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LEVEL 1 1 : 75

From its conception, the Casa del Bosque was meant to be a home for the family to retreat from the day to day and merge into the natural landscape that surrounds the site. The building is laid out to maximize the views from the house as well as create unique outdoor spaces which blur the distinction between what is inside and what is out. As one enters the house, a sense of moving through a forest can be felt through the moves in the architecture and light that fills the spaces

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with its warm embrace. The development was research driven, stressing the analysis on how different architects approached circulation and formation of the spaces in their projects.

The most interesting contribution with this project is that we managed to develop a private and a public path for the project, kept one from the other.

It was a pleasant project along the entire process; the client was always open to our ideas, the design team

was able to debate the many different proposals and agreeing on one without much arguments, the contractor was prompt with RFIs and full of useful advices. The schematic design came really naturally right after the clients settled on one of the proposed schemes, which was not the preferred idea among the group, but still became a project we came to love.

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KITCHEN ISOMETRIC

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KITCHEN ISLAND ISOMETRIC

CASA DEL BOSQUE MATA DE PLATANO, JARABACOA, R.D.

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DISEÑO ARQUITECTÓNICO: LSRA DESIGN BUILD STUDIO FIRMA: 10cm Retalle

DISEÑO ESTRUCTURAL: ING. JUAN JOSÉ RAMÍREZ CODIA NO. 17553 FIRMA: Marco Lateral de Cocina; Terminación ME 0.80

DISEÑO SANITARIO Y AGUA POTABLE: ING. ELVIS FRANCISCO MARTE CODIA NO. 17167 FIRMA: Gabinetes Superiores; Terminación ME Ver Sección de Cocina

DISEÑO ELÉCTRICO: ING. JOSÉ DE CASTRO CODIA NO. 9337 FIRMA:

0.03

LEVEL 1 3.30

Luz de Trabajo; LED Strip Bajo Gabinete

0.03 0.62 0.60

SELLOS: CounterTop y Backsplash; Continuo hasta fondo de gabinetes Terminación CT

Tramo; Altura ajustable 0.55

0.90

Laterales de Isla; Terminación ME

0.08

0.03 0.08

0.09

0.05

Gaveta; Interior de gaveta a ser definido por ingeniero y ebanista; Corredera con freno

Muro para tuberías; Temrinación ME. Ver Elev. Posterior de Isla

0.82

Tope de Isla; Terminación CT

0.55

Grifo; SS

0.90

0.05 0.13 0.03 0.04

Fregadero Doble Undermount; SS

0.56

TITULO DE HOJA:

0.04

0.50 0.64

0.08

0.02

KITCHEN

0.10

0.10

LEVEL 1 3.30

0.08

0.57

0.08

0.47

FECHA:

Issue Date

ESCALA:

As indicated

1.20

HOJA NO.:

9

KITCHEN SECTION 1 : 10

A400

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OCOA HOUSE INDEPENDENT WORK PROJECT LOCATION: OCOA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC W/ ROSARIO ARGOMÁNIZ WINTER 2015

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CONCEPT The concept was to create a follie like structure, where one would ascend to a higher ground in order to enjoy the magnificient views to the mountains and natural beauty of the site. The program would reflect this in terms of organization, being the public spaces the most exposed to the views.

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THE DIAGRAM We were given a tight space for construction of 8m x 10m. The site was lavish with beautiful sights, thus contemplation was the main goal.

The shape began to come out of a carving process. The diagram started to read as a stone which contained softness inside. Private spaces were pushed back to offer site views to the social areas at the front.

The wood, represented as red in this diagram, becomes the materiality of the interiors and terrace, which sometimes spill out reaching for views or as stairs that take the inhabitants from the lower levels to the upper terrace.

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FLOORPLAN ITERATIONS If I was to name what is to soul of my design process, that would be “iterations�...

Generating fast ideas, devoloping them just to try out different possibilities and throwing them away without feeling attached to any, failing one and many times until I can reach a good solution.

MATERIALS STUDY

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CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS AND DETAILING The construction documents were meant to serve as a narrative document that could easily be understood by the local builders. Expressing the idea was more important than being technical and specific about it.

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The construction process had many lessons learned. If you really want things to happen the way you designed the project, you really should be part of the construction administration.

Materials changed, assemblies changed, details were not written at all. The following photo was slightly edited in order to show our real aspirations.

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This project was full of frustrations along the way. In retrospective, I got caught in the romanticism of my first project and failed to better guide and understand the client.

Originally, the project had a good budget to be a nice one story house with an upper terrace; better materials and detailing. But the clients would keep on making changes to the project on any other site visit, by the end the house became a three story hostal with low end finishes and little care for quality construction.

Me and Rosario put so much energy into each phase, from preliminary design to construdcion documents and specifications, that at the moment it hurt a lot to see all that being disregarded. A year after, the clients, really proud and happy with the project, kept on sending us pictures and thanking us to push the project to be better than what they dreamt of. That gave me and Rosario a good kind of satisfaction.

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LUIS SABATER MUSA M. Arch | B. Arch e. lsabaterm@gmail.com m. 513.293.8193

EDUCATION

TECHNICAL SKILLS

University of Cincinnati M. Arch | Summa Cum Laude | Cincinnati, OH. 2014-2017

Vectorworks Autodesk Revit Rhinoceros Sefaira for Sketch-up Autodesk Autocad Adobe Photoshop Adobe InDesign Cinema 4D w/ Vray

Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra B. Arch | Magna Cum Laude | Santo Domingo, DO. 2008-2013

WORK EXPERIENCE

LANGUAGES

University of Cincinnati Teaching Assistant – Cincinnati, OH. 2015-2017 Worked as Teaching Assistant for the Graphics Communication Skills class for First and Second Year undergraduates.

Spanish (Native) English (Professional) Italian (Intermediate)

Terry Boling Architect Co-op – Cincinnati, OH. Summer 2016 Worked on the Leavitt Residential Building; a four story new construction apartments building in the historic neighbourhood of Over the Rhine. My primarily role was drafting the Construction Documents and coordinating information with the contractors during Construction Administration.

ACTUAL INTERESTS

Leroy Street Studio Co-op – New York, NY. Fall 2015 Worked on three high-end residential projects. Participated in the conceptual design process, design development, mill work packages and marketing material.

Mahlum Architects Co-op – Seattle, WA. Spring 2015 Worked on the Lynndale Elementary School. Participated in the project from conceptual design through construction documents. Also ran different preliminary design proposals for Mount Vernon elementary school.

CVYA Entry Level Architect – Santo Domingo, DO. 2013-2014 One year internship. Worked on a variety of projects, from urban design, to health care projects to educational. The bulk of the time I put was for the new building for the Engineering School of INTEC, from preliminary design through Construction Documents.

ABOUT ME I am a passionate design and detail oriented architect with a process characterized by research, questioning and iteration. I consider myself to be highly efficient and outstanding at time managing. I enjoy working on a project from start to finish, and my current goal is to learn enough to become a project architect and manager.

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Construction Administration Project Management Building Performance Architectural Detailing

ACHIEVEMENTS UC SAID – Award for Distinguished Design (2017) UC SAID – Graduate Assistantship (2016-2017) UC SAID – Merit Scholarship (2016-2017) Perform – 1st Place Design Competition (2015) PUCMM – Outstanding Thesis (2013) PUCMM – Merit Student (2012)

PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES Terry Boling | Principal at Terry Boling Architect m. 513.375.0304 | e. terry.boling@uc.edu Shawn Watts | Principal at Leroy Street Studio o. 212.431.6780 | e. swatts@leroystreetstudio.com PJ Bauser | Associate Principal at Mahlum m. 206.816.1180 | e. pjbauser@mahlum.com Gustavo Valdez | Principal at CVYA o. 809.472.1508 | e. gvaldez@cvya.com

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