LUIZA DE MEDEIROS GASS ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO
Introduction to Architectural Design
Gass House The purpose of this project was redesign our own house. The building site is located in a residential neighborhood of Porto Alegre/BR, where houses were built in the 1970’s/80’s. The most of the houses have the same layout and facade style: one floor, two windows, a door and garage door on the facade. However this typology was not offering room enough for a family of parents and 4 kids. Also the site is long and narrow, causing a large dark area inside the rooms.
Building Site
Front Facade
The idea of addition and subtraction of cubes led to the union of four white cubes (plus a brick covered volume for the water tank) and very simple lines, in a contemporary style. The new house has two floors: on the first are located the garage, living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry and barbecue area. On the second floor, there are the kids and master bedroom, as well as TV room and bathrooms. In the backyard, there is a deck/barbecue area and a pool. Besides the building site being long and narrow, the front facade faces South (less sunlight): for this reason it was made an effort to open windows on the lateral walls, allowing more sunlight in all rooms. Its structure is self-bearing.
Planta Baixa de Cobertura
Front View Floor Plan- 2nd floor
Dining Room
Floor Plan- 1st floor
Master Bedroom
East Side View
Backyard
Perpective- Entrance
Perpective- Back Facade
Perpective- Top Architectural Design 1
Corporate Building The 7 story/storey corporate building is located at a corner of an administrative/residential area of Porto Alegre/BR. The building is comprised by 1st floor, containing the administrative department of the building in general; 5 floors with office suites and restrooms; and, the top floor, a rooftop with gourmet party room and open sky area. In the back of the building there is a private parking lot for workers and visitors. It was used blue tiles to cover and emphasize the vertical elements of the building.
Parallel Perpective- Top View
Perpective- Street Facade
Street View- Corner
Street view- Front
Street Facade
Architectural Design 2
Cinematheque: Film Library The need of a new building to store the film collection of the city of Porto Alegre led to the project of a building where not only the collections are stored, but also where visitors are able to watch them. It is properly located on a busy street of the historic center of Porto Alegre/BR. The architecture in this old neigborhood dates from 1700s and several buildings still preserve the neoclassic facades, mixing now with eclectic and modern styles. On the left side of the cinematheque it is located the Public Library of Porto Alegre.
Street View
Longitudinal Section
Transversal Section
Floor Plan
The eight-floor building comprises basement, main floors and technical rooftop. On the main floors there are movie theater rooms open to public, as well as small rooms for groups in need to watch a film from the collection. Also, there are booths, for personal enjoyment of films. the building also has cafeteria and snack bars in different floors. Besides the elevators, it was designed the staircase, generating a mezzanine facing the glassy facade of the building.
Mezzanine/Staircase
Mezzanine/Staircase
Architectural Design 3
Housing Complex Located in a residential street of an industrial area of Porto Alegre/BR, this housing complex replaces an old factory inappropriately located among residential buildings. the new complex features a strip of 25 houses along the front faรงade of the building site; and a complex of leisure area and services, such as, pool with gourmet party room, restaurant, stores and a parking lot for visitors, besides an alternative entrance in the back of the plot.
Street View
Elevation section of the house The houses are 13x98 feet and contain 4 floors: the inferior floor, with a living room, laundry room and the garage; the second floor, with another living room, the kitchen and barbecue area with a balconi; the third floor, with two bedrooms in opposite sides of the house and a TV room in between; and the 4th floor with the rooftop. The units are separeted from one another by a brick covered concrete wall, which also supports the 4 levels.
Pool and Gourmet Area
Elevation section of the building site
Restaurant and Stores
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3 Architectural Design 4
Architecture School Renovation The purpose of this project was the expansion and renovation of the Architecture and Urbanism of the Federal University of RS, located in Porto Alegre. The original project antecipated the installation of extra floors on the top of the 5 already existing ones. Also, it permitted the expansion of extra modules towards the interior of the campus (pic 4). Besides the expansion, it was required to renovate the classroom floors (allowing larger integration between classes and projects exposed, considering the problem of insolation and noise coming from the street), the flow inside the building and at last, the cafeteria (which should be enlarged and turned into a self-service restaurant) The Cafeteria: The new cafeteria is still located on the original spot, on the first floor, but since the main entrance of the building was relocated to the interior facade, now it is part of the big new entrance (pics 5/6/9). The renovation considered the aesthetic aspects of the place: glass windows and doors (pic 8) invite people to enter the restaurant and see the beautiful tree with red leaves in front of a wall with a sticker in shape of the same tree. Also, the expansion allowed the construction of a mezzanine in the back, above the counter and the kitchen, which created room for more tables. The external area, framed by metalic structure, has a deck with outdoor tables, where students from other schools in the campus are able to socialize and integrate with the architeture students (pic 9).
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Architectural Design 5 Hidroviary Terminal Building
Porto Alegre and Rio (river) Guaiba
Regional Hidroviary Terminal + Metallic Structure Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state in Brazil, is bathed by the Atlantic Ocean and has several lagoons within it, as well as Guaiba River, actually a lake, around which the city of Porto Alegre was developed. The city is also the capital of the state and contain one of the largest ports of the country. Its geographical position enables a permanent traffic between Porto Alegre and Buenos Aires, transporting steel-industry products and mainly agricultural produce. With the installation of the hidroviary transport system as an option for workers and tourists, there was the need of creating a Hidroviary Terminal, directly connected to the railroad system already existent.
HIDROVIARY TERMINAL BUILDING
UNDERGROUND PASSAGE
View from the buildings
TRENSURB TRACKS
TRENSURB TERMINAL
Cais do Porto
PUBLIC MARKET
Besides the entrance on the street floor, it was created an underground connection from the train terminal (TRENSURB), leading the passengers to the other floors of the building.
Final Idea- volume
Idea 1
Idea 2
Considering the position of the building site, the flow of pedestrians and the purpose of the building, it was developed a building in shape of a ship, leading the flow from the lower side, passing by the commercial area, to the higher side of the volume, where the gates are located. Comprised by 3 floors, the terminal building, which external volume has the shape of a ship, holds the administrative and technical facilities on the basement; restaurants, stores, as well as the main entrance and the National Arrival/Departures gate, on the first floor; and the International Departure/Arrival gates, balconies and an anchor restaurant on the top floor.
The project consists in metallic structure and glass with metallic sheets for covering: the structure has been built using a system of prefabricated pillars, beams and hollow core slabs. Both first and second floor are covered by laminated safety glass with a greenish reflexive adhesive film. The floor stone is Itaunas granite. Also, the terminal building is located in an old waterfront and touristic area of the city, collaborating with the renovation and re-urbanization of that area. View from the docks
Restaurants Hall
Elevation Section
Dearture Lounge
View from Parking lot
Park location
Brigadeiro Sampaio Park Architectural Design 5
2014 World Cup Visitors Center of Porto Alegre The building located in Brigadeiro Sampaio Park was designed to be a Visitor Center for 2014 World Cup in Porto Alegre/BR. The venture was supposed to combine culture, service and tourism equipment, in a site close to the Historic Center attractions and the Usina do Gasometro (Gasometer Thermal Power Plant), also connected to the Tourist Tram (Tram Museum) path. Its function would be receiving tourists at the time of the 2014 World Cup and stimulate visitors to visit the historic center. The project should antecipate a future transformation of the building into a cultural exhibition hall/museum facility type, related to the World Cup theme and/or sports in the capital of the state. Another task would be the rearrengement of the pedestrian flows and the equipments in the park, considering the main spots as well as the rugged terrain. The park was redesigned in stripes, playing with up and downhills on the terrain. Each stripe has a portion of the pedestrian path, in an angle adapted for disabled people, leading people to the main building. Across the largest stripe, also the main axis, there is another building comprising the snack bars and shopping stores. In the next stripes, close to the northern corner, there’s a leisure area with sports court, playground, and picknick/barbecue area.
Floor Plan The building program includes exhibition hall, auditorium, visitors reception/information desk, restaurant/bar, travel agency, office, banking, car parking lot and tour buses plataforms.
Longitudinal Section- Small Building
Facade- Main Building
Tranversal Section
The concrete structure, also following the shape of stripes, has reinforced concrete walls, which work as its pillars. Both lateral sides are covered by laminated safety glass with an adhesive film containing images of landmarks of Porto Alegre.
Architectural Design 7
Fish Warehouse + Wooden Structure The fish warehouse, located in an wetland area bathed by two lagoons (Lagoa da Rondinha in the North and Lagoa da Cerquinha in the South), was built on stilts. The main goal of this project was working the sustainability, according to the natural environment of the site, using natural wood, reusing/recycling materials and water, vegetable gardens, etc.
Lagoa da Rondinha
Lagoa da Cerquinha
Brazil
Rio Grande do Sul
Balneario Pinhal
Building Site
References This project was designed under the concept of organic lines and natural shapes. The building site entrance, right off the highway, leads to the building, which naturally invites pedestrians to walk up to the roof and enjoy the beautiful view of the lagoon. The walk from the entrance to the building, allows visitants to enjoy the nature, passing by several native trees and the organic vegetable gardens. The same path leads visitants towards the old existing pier. The building features one floor and the rooftop: reached through a ramp from the grassy ground, the first floor allows a nice round walk starting by passing by the fish store, where native people sell their fish; the small commerce, where they sell their manufactured produts from waste fish; and the restaurant, where they prepare fresh fish meals; at the end of this walk, starts a new ramp up to the rooftop, and on this continuous ramp, visitors are able to see the horizon, the laggon and the sunset. The fish warehouse, in this poor area of the region, has as its main purpose to attract visitors to the fishing business and contribute for the employment in the town.
Volume- First idea
Volume- Third idea Entrance
Volume- Second idea
Volume- Final idea
Building on the building site
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Detail- Roof 2
Detail- Floor 3
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Detail- Guardrail
Detail- Foundation
Floor planfirst floor
1 Detail- Mandala Garden: elevation and floor plan
4 Elevation Section
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Wooden structure
Architectural Design 7
Lagoa da Rondinha
Fish Terminal + Wooden Structure Part of the revitalization of this poor area was building a fish terminal, where inhabitants could fish, clean the fish, store and dispose parts of the fish, also where they could socialize and enjoy the nature. This building was only for fishing purposes, not for turism. This building, as the fish warehouse, follows the organic concept of lines and shapes, leading the workers from the entrance to the end of the pier, in a line passing through the building. Consisting in only one floor, also built on stilts, the building contain a room for cleaning the fish, another room with refrigerators, to store the fish, a room for disposal of parts they wouldn’t sell, a repair room for broken boats and leisure lounges. On the roof, reused water tanks and solar panel for hot water. On the backyard, there is a playground for worker’s kids play while parents are working. Also, there are vegetable gardens, leisure areas under the trees and a parking lot.
Lagoa da Cerquinha
Building Site
Corner Top view Final Architectural Project
Nursery School For the Nursery School, it was chosen one of the sites provided by the city in a marginal residential neighborhood of Porto Alegre/BR. The building site is surrounded by one-to-three floor houses, most of them built in the last decade. On the east side of the site, there is an area of preservation, containing native woods. On the north border, there is another plot, not in use. One block away, on the northeast, there is a municipal park, where kids would be taken during the school day.
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Corner View
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Building Site
The project of the school took in consideration a real plot, program and budget from the municipal government. The program was distribuited over the building site according to its uses: the fist portion (interior of the site), for safety purposes, was designated for the kids use; the second (in the middle) is used by kids and public; the third portion (on the corner of the street) was left for adult use (pics. 1, 2, 3). It was proposed a building in which the different height and shape of the volumes would represent the use and activities: the largest and tallest is the main entrance of the school, also comprising the big multiuse room; the small ones, in pairs, are the classrooms; and shortert, long and continuous volume is the administrative area (pic. 4).
Class Room
Multiuse Room
The Nursery School is a one-floor building, which comprises 6 class rooms and a big multi-use room. The halls, the class rooms, the playground and backyard were all design for kids to have more space to play and run and use their creativity in several activities. Every classroom has its own external play area, covered and uncovered.
Classroom backyard The use of warm colors brings cheerfulness to the environment, where the main users of the space are kids. The floor contain Red, Orange and Purple tiles, as well as white. The walls contain the same colors vertical brises. Although the structure is a plain white, the pipes were painted purple. The hallway is all covered by glass doors and windows with adhesive perfurated film, in order to protect from the excessive sunlight but allow luminosity.
Hallway
The project considered some sustainable aspects, such as reuse of water, solar panels for energy, organic vegetable garden, solar shading structures on the ceiling and windows.
Classrooms Hall
Winter: sunlight hits the ceiling and goes through the open brise-soleil, allowing luminosity and heat to get to the hall.
Classrooms Hall
Summer: sunlight hits the ceiling and cannot go through the semi-closed brise-soleil, not allowing the direct sunlight overheat the area. The brises are semi-open for luminosity.
The nursery school has a large playground and another green area for picnics and fruit/vegetable picking, which should be part of the lessons about nature for the kids.
Garden
Classroom
The openings on the wall, close to the ceiling, allow the warm air provenient from the windows to exit the room, keeping it cooler.
Playground
Playground Top View
Rivershore
Existing area
Amusement Park
Urbanism Project
Revitalization of the shore of Rio Guaiba The purpose of this project was the revitalization of a degraded the area located by the lake Rio Guaiba, bringing tourists and residents to enjoy the lake during the 2014 World Cup and afterward. It was brought more vegetation to the area, through several parks and flowerbeds, changing totally the landscape. Also, important equipments were placed all over the site, such as the Opera House, amusement park, marina, bike path, concerts area, acquarum, water pools and restaurants. The revitalization allows visitors to, easily, reach the shore, through underpasses (under the busy highway that splits the area). There, people will be able to walk along the shore, sit on the Piano Stairs, enjoy the view from the Renovation three piers
Marina
Opera House
Dal Molin Arquitetura
Integrated Clinic and Medical School
Front facade
This project consists in renovating and converting an old existent factory into a medical center. The medical activities needed to be moved from the 3 different existing buildings into only one, sharing rooms and similar needs, and enabling the cut the costs of the college. At the corner of the building site, there would be the public entrance for the clinic: all the clinic rooms and activities would happen in that portion, considered the front of the building. In the back, there would be the students entrance, leading them to the classrooms and labs.Also it would be built a pathway on the side of the building, allowing the students to walk from the other buildings and parking lot to the new building, protected from climate conditions.The program needs could only fit in the existent building by adding volumes to the building and modifying the relief of the plot.
Pathway Tunnel
Existing Building renovated
Glickman Schlesinger Architects
Drawing Renders
