M. Alejandra Gomez
Core Design Portfolio 2014 - 2015
machine de phÊnomène space into place
a performative matrix miami intervention
matanzas extension highline annex
st armand’s residence
core design I 06 16 core design II 30 48 core design III 64 82 tropical architecture 102
Core Design I fall 2014 - Levent Kara
machine de phénomène
6 weeks
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Final speculative construct. Exploring movement, measure, scale and hierarchy.
Core 1 began with the analysis of the film The Return as a generator for spatial graphics and constructs. These graphics (Above left) translate the language of the film with ideas of movement, time and space with spatial hierarchy, abstract structure and relationships between elements. Later, these graphics were reinterpreted as spatial constructs (Above right). The speculative compositions aimed to create an implicit thread of meaning by playing with layers and scale. The constructed planes then evolved into a final spatial assemblage (Left page). At this point there was no direct reference to the movie yet it still entailed spatial concepts that were inspired from the parameters of the film.
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The second part of this first project consists in binding the speculative constructs with the concrete representation of space. The drawings on the right discuss distinct experiences on a vertical exploration of space. They play with vertical relationships and deepen the experience with thresholds, boundaries and frames. The lower level is the most private one. To move up, the transition happens through a threshold of light that welcomes a view from the outside. This moment is celebrated in the picture on the left. This outside space then leads one into the biggest public space. This space is big and welcoming to bigger crowds. Finally, this space scales down into a narrow stairway that leads into a smaller public space.
Longitudinal and cross-section of final model showing relationship between vertical spaces.
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Final model shot highlighting constructed piece, the glass curtain and framing elements.
These inside shots highlight the spaces that were discussed before in the drawings. The left image shows the outside view of the bigger public space and the transition with the narrow stairway. This public space is enclosed on one side with an opaque constructed wall and with a semi transparent and dynamic glass curtain on the other side. The picture below to the right shows the movement of this glass curtain and the different layers of glass that compose it. The layers begin on the ceiling top and allow for a play of light with double surfaces. The picture on the right shows the corner of this public space and the lower private space. The private space is much smaller in size and therefore allows for a more intimate relation with the ground as it breaks the scale of the context. Unlike the opaqueness of the public space, this one is compromised of one continuous glass floor-wall-ceiling piece that brings light in. The private space then becomes a very delicate and airy piece in the overall project. The sketch on the left simplifies the overall structure and gives a clear view of how all the spaces are related and work together as a whole.
Inside shot of circulation and transition from outside-inside
Glass curtain tectonics
Corner shot that highlights detail connections
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The Machine de Phénomène project then allowed for an exploration of experiences in a vertical circulatory space and a clear understanding of tectonics and detailed constructed surfaces. The scale of 3/8”= 1’ was used to understand habitation throughout the different sized spaces. For the final model, the movie The Return is used as a generator for probable experiences of the characters throughout the film. The lower private level could be inhabited by the two little brothers, the large public space could reference the dramatic dinning room scene from the movie and the stairway leading up to the higher public space could reminisce the stairs to the tower in the movie where the little kids could look down into the outside.
Final model axo views. Show both vertical and horizontal relationships.
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space into place
6 weeks
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Final plan of intervention and site. Shows densities and idea of promenade through a city.
Sketches of my perception of the urban context in Charleston.
The second project of Core 1 looks at the concept of a site and a focus on place. We visited Savannah, Charleston and Middleton to analyze our perception of a city. The project begins with sketches (Left page) of my imagined identification of the urban context. The graphic study explains my awareness of the different densities and scales one is presented with in a city. This memory map then was translated into a 3D construct (Right). The construct explores a promenade through an urban environment and implies a beginning and a destination. This destination is the place where my intervention will occur. Sketch models of my possible intervention (Below) and plan drawings (Left Page) then suggest the concept of space into place.
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My intervention looked back at project one and it’s understanding of a vertical promenade. This second project consisted of two parts. First, a site would be created and then an intervention would be placed to respond to this urban context. While the site allows for a sense of place, the intervention reveals the making of space. This spread shows different angles of my intervention and how it could be experienced on various levels. The goal was to engage people and become a moment of pause for the city wanderer. Overall, it holds a multiplicity of programmed spaces with different scales to allow for different experiential moments. The bottom level welcomes the city dweller into an open space as the construct hovers over the ground to create a transition from outside to inside space. A glass covered stairway then leads into the main public space and from then on it
Final model of intervention only. Shows the interface with the city and the city wanderer’s promenade
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Longitudinal section of final model. Emphasizes vertical relationship between inside and outside spaces. Shows how the intervention reveals the making of space in the city.
Cross section through final model. Shows how the intervention holds a multiplicity of programmed spaces with different scales.
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Sketch done during the trip to Charleston and it continued to explore ideas of promenade.
This spread emphasizes the site and the density it provides for the intervention to inhabit. The site around the intervention offered possibilities of gathering public spaces and a dynamic horizontal promenade leading up to my intervention. This site holds different scales and some unprogrammed voids that help unfold the promenade. The intervention becomes measure to the site and the voids around it help define public gathering areas for people to gather in the city. The sketch above was done during the trip to Charleston and it helped me define the location of my intervention and the programmatic organized actions and conditions I wanted to create for a more experiential promenade.
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Final model emphasizing how the intervention reveals the making of space while the site allows for a sense of place. The intervention meant to be a jewel embedded in a dense and dynamic city, which would become a moment of pause for the city wanderer.
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Core Design II
spring 2015 - Steven Cooke
a performative matrix
8 weeks
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Final model emphasizing view of the tower.
Found objects model exploring idea of site as a unity
Explorative drawing of site as a system
Core 2 began with an analysis of the site as a performative matrix allowing for different experiential moments. These lived experiences happened in three nodes with the notions of a wall, a floor- ceiling and a tower. Each element was studied by itself as a separate identity yet they all had to work as a whole. Throughout Core 2 it was encouraged to work with found objects to explore unfamiliar materials, tectonics and volumetric possibilities that offer distinct experiences. The model above shows this explorative feature that was later analyzed and reinterpreted to create the drawing on the right. The overall construct is thought of as a war museum, specifically a Holocaust war museum where different nodes and moments of pause take place. There is no specific site location therefore the ground is treated in a deliberate and strategic way for it to work as an organized programmatic system.
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Plan drawing exploring possibilities of tectonics and materiality.
Section drawing through found objects model reinterpreting materials and spaces
The Wall
began by exploring ideas with a found objects model (Above left) and with Scarpa drawings (Left page sketches) of precedent studies from different architects such as Eero Saarinen and Maki Fumihiko. The sketches together with the found objects model helped me step out of my comfort zone and pushed me to explore new tectonics and volumetric possibilities. This process culminated in the plan and section drawings on the left page that ga ve a new meaning to the explorative work I did before. This deep analysis gave lead to the final model (Above right). The transition from the found objects to the final is clear. Curved and organic objects had to be reinterpreted considering the materiality of the final. Overall the spatial qualities were maintained if not improved.
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Final wall model showing overall organization.
The final wall model explores multiple possibilities of what a wall can do. On the picture on the left side the wall begins with the person next to it, then the wall pushes outward and creates enclosure as the person can walk underneath it. The wall can fold, break, curve and ultimately one can inhabit the wall. On the picture below one can see how the wall curves and lets light in. The curve hints at a possibility of movement and how the wall can expand or contract throughout the day. The picture below right shows how the wall can be inhabited and offer enclosure. Overall, he wall serves the purpose to direct the person and create experiential moments with a play of light. In this model shadows are sometimes sharp and dramatic and other times are organic, repetitive and inviting.
Final wall model showing curved wall.
Plan and section analysis of wall.Shows how the wall can fold up and affect space below it.
Final wall model showing inhabited wall.
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The Floor-Ceiling
Scarpa drawings with perspectives studying Floor-Ceiling relationships
began by exploring ideas with small found object models (Above) and with Scarpa drawings (Left) of precedent studies from different architects such as Frank Israel and Maltzan Michael. The sketches helped inspire new ideas and the precedent studies allowed for a further understanding of the dialogue and the relationship between the floor and the ceiling. I became aware of the floor and the ceiling as a transition moment where it can create an emotive response. For this part of the project it was encouraged to draw perspective drawings as they convey a better understanding of habitation and relation to the subject. On the right, the perspective drawing analyzes possibilities of interactions with the floor and the ceiling.
Perspective analysis of ground and ceiling conditions.
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Close up shot of ceiling structure its tectonic relations to walls
The final Floor-Ceiling model becomes a complex construct that plays with multiple possibilities of what floors and ceilings can do. There is no definite beginning nor end and it can be seen as a path whose ceiling becomes the floor as one ascends on to the second floor. On the picture on the left it is shown how the ground wraps and reacts to the wavy structure. This structure brings in natural light from the top and creates unique shadows because of its translucent nature. Underneath this structure there is a reflective ground that responds to the ceiling bringing more light into that space. This bath of light calls for a meditation room or for a moment of pause and contemplation. The section perspective below explores ideas of different ground levels and how the ground can fold to become the ceiling.
Section perspective of final Floor- Ceiling exploring folding floors and ground levels.
Picture of final model highlighting Floor- Ceiling relations through shadows and tectonics.
Picture of final model focusing on stairway and the dynamic floor.
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The found objects model (Above left) helped discover new geometries and possibilities of special qualities. It was then studied with the drawing on the left to allow for light studies and then it was reinterpreted with the final draft model (Above right).
Light studies of tower with a variation of scale in spaces that work in a vertical organization
The Tower
became the hierarchy of the project, the destination in my site. It represented ideas of hope in my Holocaust memorial and therefore it carried studies of light. The Tower began by exploring ideas with a small found object model and with Scarpa drawings (all on Left page) of precedent studies from different architects such as Renzo Piano and Alvaro Siza. The studies of light can be seen on the drawings on both the left page as on the right. A lightwell to the ground was meant to provoke anticipation, dark spaces paid tribute to those who suffered and brighter and outside spaces symbolized hope with fresh air and light.
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The wall in the final site directing people into the war memorial.
The floor-ceiling in the final site playing with different levels for dynamic experiences.
Covered entrance to the tower. The language and structure of the site culminates in the tower.
The tower in the final site offering views to look back at the war memorial.
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Miami Intervention
4 weeks
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Final model highlighting the residential portion. View from Ocean Ct.
Project two of Core Design two takes place in the buoyant Miami Florida. There is a given site (Below) between Collins Avenue and Ocean Drive where a strip of land between two buildings remains untouched. This location offers a lot of potential, as it happens to be located in the heart of Miami Beach. Right now it is treated as a back alleyway or shortcut to the beach between those two streets. The Program for this project included a residential portion, a commercial cafĂŠ and an artist studio that responded to the artistic nature of the site. My take on this project began with a found objects model (right) that respected the path and the directionality of the context given. It had to react to the two masses besides it and the masses also responded back to the intervention.
Miami site highlighting in yellow the place for my intervention and in white the neighboring masses.
source: google maps
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Cross-section drawings exploring ideas of vertical habitation and relation to the site.
Deriving from the lessons of the first project, this project also considered ideas learned from the Wall and the floor-ceiling. On the left page, explorative cross sections played with possibilities of wall interactions and potential floors and ceilings that allowed for dynamic habitations of the site. The sections below explore vertical spatial qualities and play with ideas of enclosure and openness to allow people to inhabit this path while enjoying the Miami weather. Above and on the right, a final draft model reinterprets these ideas in a built form.
More explorative drawings in cross and longitudinal sections
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Final longitudinal section explaining with tone the different programmed spaces.
The longitudinal section (Left page) through the final model explains the organization of the programmatic spaces. From left to right, the toned spaces on the second and third floor are the residential private portion; the light spaces that lead into the curved structure are the public portion which encompass the cafÊ and a welcoming courtyard and finally on the right side of the drawing, the toned spaces correspond to the artist’s studio. The sketch above shows earlier ideas of this section.
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Picture of final model from plan view.
The floor plans on the right explain the organization of the intervention and how it responds to the site respecting the directionality it already has. On the ground level the plan shows how circulation can be a direct path or how people can choose to stop at the cafĂŠ or at the courtyard. The reason for this is because my intervention is meant to be adaptable. During the day the intervention would be somewhat overlooked, as people would use it as a direct path leading to the beach. The cafĂŠ then would serve as a breakfast stop used by few tourists. However, at night the intervention would light up welcoming people to sit down and have dinner. Then it would become more crowded and the courtyard could serve the purpose of a stage for musicians and for people to dance in.
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1- Entry from Collins Ave 2- Entry to Artist’s Studio 3- Open Courtyard 4- Cafe 5- Entry to private Residence 6- Entry from Ocean Ct.
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7- Artist’s Gallery display 8- First level residence
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9- Artist’s Workshop 10- Second level residence
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Fourth floor
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Third floor
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Second floor
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Ground floor
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11- Third level residence
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Entry from Ocean Ct. Highlighting residential space.
Close up of tectonic details. Relationship between context and intervention.
Artist’s studio with big structure display for his artwork. Shows different levels of enclosure and transparencies.
Tall open courtyard that becomes a public gathering space.
Enclosed portion of Artist’s studio that allows for a gallery display.
Entry from Collins Ave with seating for people to rest and admire Artist’s display.
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Final model close up that focuses on café and residential portion. It highlights the contrast between the lower public spaces and the higher private rooms. While the café is completely open- following Miami’s culture of people boasting about money and status- so people can see who sits at the café, the residential portion is more enclosed to give privacy to the owner. However, the housing part of this project still considers open and larger scale spaces that allow for parties or gatherings, which are common in Miami Beach. Therefore my intervention not only responds to the site but also to the culture in this specific city.
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Core Design III fall 2015 - Nancy Sanders
matanzas extension
8 weeks
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Stereotomic construct plays with forms of the coastline changes and tectonic interventions.
Plans of Matanzas inlet and its coastline changes. (Left) Sections of Fort Matanzas that show its habitable characteristics. (Right) source: etc.usf.edu
Core 1 began with the analysis of an ambiguous territory located in Florida’s last natural inlet that houses a national monument, Fort Matanzas. This project explores ideas of horizontality and grounding conditions with an extension to the fort. First, two hybrid constructs tell stories and ideas of the site. The pictures above are map drawings (Above left) of the interchanging landscape and section drawings (above right) of the fort. One of the hybrid constructs had a stereotomic nature (Left picture) while the other construct was more tectonic (Next spread). Both complemented each other as one abstracted the fort and it’s mechanics (Next spread) while the other played with forms of the liquid landscape (Left picture) and possible interventions that invade and break the massiveness of the forms. The drawing on the right was an interface between the section drawings above and the construct on the next spread. It allowed me to reinterpret the formal components of the fort with my own notions of its purpose and spatial characteristics.
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Tectonic construct reinterprets formal and abstract components of Fort Matanzas.
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Site graphic suggesting a new proposal for the National Park. It highlights movement and nodes of pause .
Once we visited the National Monument, I analyzed the park on the site graphic on the left. Circulation was the biggest issue. My proposal suggested the reinterpretation of arrival space with a bridge. Then my extension would welcome people and offer activities to celebrate delay and create anticipation leading to the fort. After visiting the fort people would be allowed to take longer boat rides directed to destination points to explore the landscape. In the site graphic, the top main circle highlights my extension to the fort. Lower circles suggest destination points for people to explore the landscape. The dark curved frame marks the one mile radius from the fort which gives measure to the distance the cannons could shoot at.
Mix media model-graphic showing different water levels and ground elevation.
First draft model iterations of my extension to the Fort Matanzas. They focus on framing views of the landscape.
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The section model above cuts through different scaled spaces and shows how the offices on the ground floor serve as the core that holds the meeting hall at the top. The right portion of this model shows the different ground levels that reference the shifting sand-scapes of the inlet. Also, these different levels allow for the building to receive water when the tides are high. Therefore the intervention engages with the site by taking into account the possible changes of this amorphous landscape. On the left, the plan view of the section model highlights the simple and clear organization of two dominant walls piercing through the building and organizing its directionality. The constructed surfaces reference ideas of piercing moments where light wells can bring natural light in.
One point perspective of framed views of Fort Matanzas from the extension.
Perspective highlighting the intervention’s horizontal relation to the landscape.
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Close up shot of tower and the open space between the extension and the fort that allows for a moment of pause to understand the fort’s scale and materiality.
The extension to Fort Matanzas included a look out tower that allowed for a visual connection to St Augustine. The fort’s purpose was to protect the Spanish in the Castillo de San Marcos in St Augustine from any French attacks. Before going up the tower, a theater that is embedded in the fort would inform visitors of the Spanish history of this site.
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1- Tower 2- Theatre 3- Fort Section through tower, theatre and fort that explore ideas of verticality in a horizontal landscape.
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The extension to Fort Matanzas included Park Ranger Offices, Restrooms, a Meeting hall and an Archive. The longitudinal section below explains the programmatic organization with the services on the ground level, the meeting hall on top taking advantage of 360-degree views and with the archive on the ground to the right with a directional purpose leading to the fort. On the picture on the right it is evident the two dominant walls that pierce through the building organizing its directionality. The darker wall welcomes people and references the materiality of the fort to create anticipation while the glass wall on the right would become an engraved archive that informs and indicates visitors towards the fort.
1- Meeting Hall 2- Lobby 3- Services 4- Archive Longitudinal section expressing the intervention’s horizontality in the landscape.
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Close up shot of the long house extension to the fort with emphasis on the two piercing walls.
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1- Bridge towards long house extension 2- Lobby 3- Services 4- Archive 5- Theatre 6- Fort 7- Stairs to Tower
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Plan view picture (Left) showing relation to the landscape and the proximity to the water. Above this shot is a front view picture of the long house extension; this would be the approaching view for visitors. On the left page, the plan drawing explains the approach to the long house and its open floor plan organization. The services are compacted in the center to allow for free circulation and include two stairways that direct to the meeting hall. The archive serves the purpose of a bridge, as visitors would cross through the water to arrive at the fort. The theatre is embedded into the fort to take advantage of the fort’s dark and gloomy nature that allows for a better experience while watching a movie about its history.
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highline annex
4 weeks
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Site map highlighting the site for the intervention in yellow and the neighboring buildings in white. source: google maps
Initial draft models organizing the given programmatic spaces.
Project two of Core Design three is located in the dense urban fabric of New York next to the Highline. While project one focused on horizontality, this project stresses verticality. The building would be an annex of the Pierpont Morgan Library housing and exhibiting works of art in forms of manuscripts and artwork material. The intervention responded to the context with a direct entrance from the highline and another approach from the ground level plaza. The vertical summary of spaces had to include excavations into the ground to house a theatre, an extension into the plaza, galleries for artwork, a library and chambers for restoration purposes.
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Inside shot showing vertical relationship between different floors.
Inside shot highlighting ground stairway and light structure that penetrates through all floors to serve as a lightwell and for displays of art.
Inside shot focusing on the chambers and their relation to the garden trough materiality.
Picture showing the back view of the intervention. It captures sectional qualities and the systematic design.
Axo view of the intervention showing horizontal and vertical spatial relationships throughout model.
Axo view highlighting rooftop and the volumetrics of the main public space that houses the most important gallery displays.
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Picture of intervention in site showing Highline approach.
1- Theatre 2- Lobby from Plaza 3- Lobby from Highline 4- Café 5- Reading Room 6- Garden 7- Gallery 8- Gallery 9- Library 10- Conference Room 11- Rooftop Plaza 12- Conservatory
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Longitudinal section through model highlighting the multiplicity of vertical spaces. The hierarchy appears to be on the reading room and the café on the highline level that responds to the elevated park’s public nature.
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1- Theatre 2- Lobby from Plaza 3- Lobby from Highline 4- CafĂŠ 5- Reading Room 6- Garden 7- Gallery 8- Chambers 9- Gallery 10- Conference Room 11- Conservatory
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Cross section through model highlighting the programmatic spaces negotiating the limitations of the vertical slot.
Picture of intervention in site showing plaza and Highline approach.
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1- Theatre 2- Ramp from Plaza
3- Lobby 4- Plaza
5- Cafe 6- Entry from Highline
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Fourth Floor
Basement
Ground Floor
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Second Floor
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Third Floor
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7- Garden Retreat 8- Reading Room
9- Artist Studio 10- Artist Gallery
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12- Author Exposition 13- Art Gallery
14- Restoration Lab
15- Offices 16- Conference Room
Rooftop
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Eighth Floor
Sixth Floor
Fifth Floor 11- Art Gallery
Seventh Floor
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16- Conference Room 17-Observatory
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Close up shot highlighting porosity of the Highline approach and its welcoming public spaces.
Close up shot showing the garden that acts as a retreat for quiet and meditation in the loud city that never sleeps.
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These shots show the viewer’s perspective from the Highline approach and a close up shot of the intervention’s entrance from the Highline.
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Tropical Architecture summer 2015 - Michael Halflants
The project I worked on in Tropical Architecture played with ideas of passive cooling. The location of the narrow site was in Clearwater beach, Florida, facing West. Because of its location and proximity to the water, I wanted to respond to wind directions that change according to the varying temperatures in the land and in the water throughout the seasons. The sections above show how most of the house is concentrated at the front part. This allows for wind shadows during the wintertime. This lets the building become transparent to air movement. However, during the summer the breezeway on the second story encourages air to come through. The airflow receives the hot air from the first floor; it rises and escapes allowing for people to enjoy the outside weather. I also wanted to include a breezeway for people to experience the environment and criticize nowadays over use of air conditioning.
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Back view of the house highlighting the breezeway that brings natural ventilation
Corner view of the house highlighting the shading devices that bring shade to gathering spaces.
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M. Alejandra Gomez gomezgomez@mail.usf.edu