Melissa Andrea CortĂŠs Carvajal
Undergraduate Architecture University of Florida
“An inevitable element of Architecture. The necessity of order. The regulating line is a guarantee against wilfulness. It brings satisfaction to the understanding.� -Le Corbusier, Towards a New Architecture.
System and order.
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Selected Works
Year | 1
Year | 2
[Assemble] structure
[Sculpt] ground
[Intervene] existing fabric
[Frame] view
[Investigate]
Folding Outwards
[22]
The Spectacle of the Peanut Brittle
[28]
Vertical Garden: A Painting and Botanical Exhibition
[46]
Year | 3
Year 3| 4
Semperian Pavilion: Musicality of the Skin
The House: A domestic Vessel
[24]
Institute of the Arts: Photography and Dance
[34]
Sketches and drawings
[4]
[62]
The Floridian House: A Prefabricated Machine for Living
[12]
De-constructing the city: Constructing Hotel
[50]
An Architectural proposal in New York through a Speculation of the Mind
[64]
Semperian Pavillion Musicality of the Skin Year 4 | Spring 2010 Critic: Alfonso Perez
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Devoid of any specific program and context, the pavilion is a singular tectonic space made simply at the service of shelter. The idea is to explore Semper’s Primitive Hut, and to incorporate the notions of mound/platform, framework, membrane and hearth into the project. These provide a variation of scales and elements and operate collectively in a hierarchical system. Articulating a sense of interiority within a vast context to create shelter is the driving idea of the project. The pavilion, then, is constructed of a continuous ribbon-like framework as a primary system. The continuity and fluidity of the wrapping line starts to draw the structure of a protective membrane across space. It is a tangible barrier between interior and exterior.
Three dimensional Framework
Continuous Framework
Screening System
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The notion of tectonics is the focus of this project, and its composition is purely a study of architecture as a construction craft. Prefabrication becomes an extremely important concept, so the pavilion is broken into units that work harmoniously within a bigger system.
Based on need, the pavilion can be easily rearranged with one or more units.
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The construction of the pavilion creates a calligraphic expression and provides it with a sensorial quality. The apparent continuity of the ribbon, the spatial joints between pieces, the curvature of the envelope and the delicate tilt of each unit create a harmony and musicality which seduce the senses, so that the occupant is captivated by the pavilion not only as a shelter but also as an architectural object.
10 Hearth
Membrane / Envelope
Framework / Structure
Mound/ Platform
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The Floridian House: A Prefabricated Machine for Living Florida Year 4 | Spring 2010 Critic: Alfonso Perez
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Primary steel framework / structure
Lightwell
Suspended space / hearth
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This project studies the notion of a prefabricated house fit for the Florida landscape while also considering the relationship between man, nature and architecture. Each must engage with the other in order to become a harmonious system. A rectangular space is distorted and split in order to allow for the elements to penetrate. A steel structure acts as the primary system of the house, holding a suspended space that protrudes out into the landscape. This volume separates the third and first floor, isolating the social spaces from the private spaces, and the vertical aperture divides the third floor into two volumes, separating one private space from the other. The suspended volume and the vertical opening, then, become key elements in the dialogue between the spaces of the house, its inhabitants and nature.
Concrete panels / envelope
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As an extension to the ideas studied in the Pavilion, this project continues to explore the notion of prefabricated pieces that are easily assembled in any context in Florida. This project also explores the mechanism of each prefabricated system so that the house can adapt to different temperatures and lighting conditions. Enveloping two sides of the house is a system of fins. Each of these consists of two parts that can be rotated independently, so that they provide a greater number of ways in which light can be manipulated.
15 Rather than being static, the exterior skin can be manually operated and rotated as desired, allowing flexibility of natural lighting and of privacy.
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The system of fins is embedded within a structure of panels. Using a system of wheels, the panels in the living room can be folded up, opening the living room space into the outdoor deck. The boundaries of the house, then, are not permanently defined and are always transforming.
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Entrance / Foyer Interior Garden / Lightwell Deck Living Room Bathroom Storage Kitchen Dining Room Family Room / Music Room Interior Balcony / Lightwell Study Room Bedroom Walk-in closet Master Bathroom Master Bedroom
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1
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The family room/music room is both the eye and the hearth of the house as it celebrates the exterior as well as the interior. It is saturated with sensorial qualities that articulate an intimate relationship between its inhabitant and nature and between its inhabitant and the other spaces of the house. It is here where one can visually engage with the horizontal landscape that constitutes Florida, so that the space becomes an inherent extension of the landscape into the house, and it is also here where sounds are carried to all other spaces, so that one can listen to the other playing instruments while in the kitchen or the interior garden.
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Folding Outwards Year 1 | Spring 2007 Critic: Levent Kara
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Architecture as a product of its context | The idea of the conception of the seed from its mother plant is the generative concept of the project. Starting with the roof-top plan of Corbusier’s Unite d’Habitation, this project began by carefully extracting points, lines and planes in order to produce a field from an already existing one. The points, lines and planes of this new field suggest certain moves from which a node starts to articulate. The resulting locus is composed of moments that respond to their immediate context and therefore create a strong relationship with it.
Longitudinal Sections
Cross Section
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Unité d’Habitation Corbusier
The House: A Domestic Vessel Gainesville, Fl Year 3 | Fall 2008 Critic: Ruth Ron
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Embedded Organisms found on site
Site Analysis | The given site is Bolen Bluff, a natural ecosystem in the Florida landscape that holds various sub-ecosystems depending on different conditions such as tree canopy density, abundance of fallen debris, and abundance of rainwater. The delicate dialogue between the various organisms found within the site suggest the idea of weaving, and the physical connection of these organisms and the site in itself suggest the idea embedding and rooting. By carving out the layers of the ground, these natural joints become apparent. This generates the idea of carving the ground to expose a structural system woven with the volumes of a mass that appears to be embedded within the site.
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Site Diagram
Digital Era Diagram
Digital Era Analysis | The Digital Era consists of an exchange of information through images. They are a simulation of reality, and the overflow of images gives only an appearance of reality. Therefore, there exists reality and an illusion of reality. Reality is organic and massive. The illusion of reality is abstract and tectonic. This generates the idea of a singular mass embedded in the ground (grounded in reality) juxtaposed by various protruding volumes moving away from the mass (detached from reality).
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Entry Walkway Living/Dining Room Kitchen Bathroom Guest Bedroom Viewer Deck Master Bedroom
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0’ 1’
5’
10’
A wall situated on the east-west axis recieves the occupant, grounds the intervention and acts as a separation barrier between the protruding volumes facing the north side and the apparent mass facing the south.
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Protruding volumes Unified mass
The Spectacle of the Peanut Brittle Factor’s Walk, Savannah, GA Year 2 | Fall 2007 Critic: Kelly Ard
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Canopy
Seam
Envelope
Mapping Historic Savannah | Among the rhythm and measure of the blocks and squares of Savannah, GA, there is a less systematic and more congested edge, and it is factors walk. This occupiable edge houses a line of historic buildings and sits between the grid-like layout of the city and the river’s edge. A sudden change in elevation creates a private path and acts as a void between the city edge and the buildings of Factors Walk, and the ceilings above this private path create a canopy that further define a privacy in the promenade. The river’s edge and the Buildings hold a public path and therefore create a juxtaposition of programmatic spaces. The suspended bridges found in Factors Walk connect to the third floor of each building and act as a seam that defines a continuity of the elevation of the city. These conditions, also repeated throughout various moments within the city, are native to Savannah. Within Factors Walk, these conditions activate the senses of the passerby. They become the generating notions to the Spectacle of the Peanut Brittle.
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Taking advantage of the already existing conditions in Factors Walk, the project focuses of the activation of the senses of those within, without, next to, and below the intervention. The idea is to expose the making process of the peanut brittle and to make it a part of an experiential itinerary. 30
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The stacking of spaces emphasizes the cooling process of the making of the peanut brittle. The bottom floor is for the making, the middle floor is for the packaging and the top floor is for the selling.
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Facing the rivers edge and on the public promenade are windows that reveal and display the process of making as a spectacle.
As one turns the corner, there is a constructed wall that weaves itself with the already existing one and acts as a chimney that releases the heat from the making of the peanut brittle. This release of heat engages the person by activating his sense of smell.
As the person reaches the entrance of the intervention, there is a threshold of light from the already existing built canopy that highlights the entry stairs. 33
Institute of the Arts: Photography and Dance Charleston, SC Year 3 | Spring 2009 Critic: Martin Gundersen / Bradley Walters
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Photography [Plastic Art] + Dance [Performing Art] Movement of the body as an expression Drawing with light
Verticality of Photography
Horizontality of Dance
One important generator for this project is the dialogue between the two arts. On one hand, the dancer studies corporal movements as a means of expression, and on the other hand, the photographer sees the moving bodies of the dancers as a constant inspiration to capture in film. The idea of capturing fluid movements as still images generates the initial conceptual organization of the building, so the narrative between the two arts suggests a horizontal volume as a place to practice and a place to perform dance that is held by a vertical volume as a place to work and a place to display photography. The latter volume penetrates the former allowing for a space for circulation to form in between the two.
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Porch
Another generative idea is the historical and architectural context of Charleston, SC. As one strolls the city, there are inevitable encounters with many of the city’s inherent qualities such as the Charleston porch (elevated off the ground), the intimate and narrow alleyways in between building, the numerous churches and graveyards, and the many rooftop and public spaces. Weaving into the promenade of the stroller, these elements compose the character of the city. So, in a way, they become a defining language of the city. The idea is to incorporate this unique character of Charleston into the project. As an interpretation of the porch, there is an elevated carved space facing the East Bay street, and it becomes a moment of pause which allows the occupants of the building to contemplate the urban fabric. Also, the small, vertical space that receives the occupants as they enter the building reciprocates the intimate scale of the historical alleyways of Charleston. In addition, the viewing deck located within the gallery is an interpretation of the rooftops of Charleston, and it allows the occupant to view the work of the photographers and the historic city fabric simultaneously. Finally, the public plaza is a space for outdoor performance, and it become one of the urban edges of the project, addressing not only those within the building but also those outside of it.
Context study | Addressing the urban edges of the project
Alleyway
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Viewing Deck
Horizontality of Dance | Dance is not only about the movement a part of the body, but it is also about the movement of the body across a space. In order to allow for a fluidity of movement within a space, a horizontal volume is specifically designed for the performing theatre and the dance studios.
Public Plaza
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Porch
Alleyway
Viewing deck and public plaza
Verticality of Photography | Photography, the art of drawing with light, manipulates light in order to capture a still image of a moment in time. From this follows the concept of filtering light down a layered vertical space with various opacities and transparencies, and openings and closings. A vertical wall holds the main circulation as well as the dark rooms for exposing film and the gallery for displaying the exposed film. Light is filtered and manipulated to create different experiences: At the gallery, light openings create a rhythm in the long, open space. This space then becomes a light box. In the dark rooms, the filtered light acts as a separation between the rooms, and it creates a rhythm of dark and light (dark, light, dark, light).
40 The gallery becomes a light box during the nighttime. Thus, it transforms into a spectacle to the passerby within the urban fabric of Charleston.
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The spaces held within the wall have layered materials with openings at specific points to allow for different degrees of opacity and transparency. When inhibited, it somewhat becomes a motion picture, revealing and hiding movement of bodies and light for those viewers who are standing from afar.
1 2 3 4 5
Office/ Administration (3735 sq. ft.) Dark Rooms (396 sq. ft.) Outdoor Performance/Gallery Space (2953 sq. ft) Restaurant (2842 sq. ft.) Computer Lab (380 sq. ft.)
6 7 8 9 10
Library (200 sq. ft.) Dance Theatre (576 sq. ft.) Dance Studios (580 sq. ft.) Gallery (1440 sq. ft.) Viewer (400 sq. ft.)
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7 10
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Fourth Floor 4592 sq. ft.
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Third Floor 3020 sq. ft.
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Second Floor 3111 sq. ft.
N 3
2
1
Ground Floor 3851 sq. ft. (int) 10553 sq. ft.(ext)
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Although detached from the vertical volumes, the restaurant is a moment for pause, making it a viewing point for the vertical wall and its play with transparencies and materials. The occupants are able to observe those circulating the wall, those entering the dark rooms, and those in the gallery. This juxtaposition of program allow for new ways of interaction, making the viewer of the art gallery become the viewed.
Dance Studios
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Computer Lab Dance Theatre
Restaurant
Viewer Gallery
Circulation Wall
Vertical Garden: A Painting and Botanical Exhibition Year 2 | Spring 2008 Critic: Martin Gundersen
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This vertical construction is a world exposition of art and botanical gardens. It is a study on the interactions of various spatial nodes within a larger vertical gesture and an exploration of the possible relationships between a natural ecosystem and an urban context. The idea is to intertwine a natural ecosystem within an urban grid by incorporating a vertical garden within the construct. This botanical garden not only displays natural life but it also acts as a spatial bridge between both nodes.
Vertical Field
Organization of nodes
Interaction within nodes
These speculative sectional collages are studies of the vertical field and the possible organization and interaction of the nodes within.
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The interventions occur within a bigger vertical field. A vertical lift is the primary circulation system that moves the occupants from one node to the next. Various escalators and stairs become secondary circulation systems that move occupants between the spaces within each node.
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Two nodes and a vertical space anchoring the two.
Two nodes contain various spaces specifically designed for the display of art. The node on the top is a horizontal space of bigger scale that holds sculptures from various countries, and the node on the middle of the construct holds various smaller scale pavilions. Each of these pavilions holds two dimensional art pieces from specific countries. As the occupants move from one pavilion to another, they encounter smaller scale botanical gardens. The occupants are able to pause and view the various organisms living within these small scale botanical gardens, so that they also become an exhibition within the construct.
De-constructing the City: Constructing Hotel 756 10th AV New York, NY Year 4 | Fall 2009 Critic: Levent Kara In collaboration with: Nathalia Vasquez 50
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[Juxtaposition of Scales]
Screening Systems
Public Spaces
[Juxtaposition of Program]
Swimming
Dinning
Cityscape
New York City has no single definition of its essence or its substance because it is in itself a collage of cultural diversity, technological advances, economic consumption and a history that embodies all these aspects. In its complexity, one can begin to analyze the city if it is unfolded so that each of its components can start to be identified as various entities residing in one matrix. De-constructing and re-constructing the cultural and physical aspects of the city become the main generators for the hotel. Thus, the building proposes new ways of interaction between locals and visitors, building and city, and interior program and exterior nodes. It projects a vertical re-composotion of the city.
Rather than being a transitory element within Manhattan, the hotel becomes a destination for the permanent residents of the city and the temporary visitors. As a result, the various points of public interaction found within become intersections for cultural exchange.
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Cinema / Theatre
Restaurant & Pool
Shopping Centre & Open Green Space
Hotel Lobby
Many programmatic elements of the hotel result from a reinterpretation of nodes of public interaction scattered throughout the city. The carved open space within the building, for example, mirrors the many green pockets found throughout Manhattan. With a play on programmatic densities, the project proposes a physical stratiďŹ cation of the cultural aspects of its urban context.
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The threshold of the building is a key point of interaction between those within and those without. For those within, the city and the public plaza below become a fluid memory of framed views, and for those without, the individuals within the layered interior spaces become events to view.
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Circulation
Program / Public Spaces
Envelope
Skin Structure
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A.M. Crowded bar| OBSERVE
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13:2 6 42
08:3 0 54
08:12 35
Noon. Circulate | ASCEND
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Midnight. Theater | VIE
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ter | IND
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23:2
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“Men are conditioned beings because everything they come in contact with turns immediately into a condition of their existence.� -Arendt, H. The Human Condition.
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Color, texture and contrast compose these speculative collages of the envelope and porosity of the building. The various iterations study two important components within the urban context of New York City: the levels of visibility from within and without, and the hierarchy in the experiences of the viewer and the viewed.
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Acting as a permeable membrane, the skin and its structure wrap horizontally around the building and become filters between the interior and the exterior, the program and the existing context. The various levels of visibility of the skin allow for the weaving of the urban fabric into the experience of the occupant, so that he is simultaneously experiencing the program of the hotel and the urban context of the city. The many levels of transparency also allow for a constant exchange between who views and what is viewed; throughout the day, the individuals within the hotel are spectators of those walking the streets outside, but during the night, the roles reverse and the silhouettes of those within the glowing enveloping structure become the spectacle to the ones outside. This constant fluid connection between the hotel and its context gives it a cultural presence within Manhattan and also makes it socially engaging.
Sketches and Drawings Independent Studies Year | 2010
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Torso study, 2010. Reilly method, gesture drawing, and figure sketching
Hand study, 2010. Reilly method and figure sketching
These figure drawings are a composition of form and light that are derived from the documentation of shadows upon the human form. Using the Reilly Method of drawing, these images study the complexity of the planar surfaces of the human body as it is touched by light. This technique bolsters an understanding of the proportions of the body as well as a revision on the relationship between form and light when drawing. In relation to architecture and space, these studies serve as careful observations of the impact of light upon a bodily mass, so that there will be an deeper understanding of the human role within the design process. This will result in a careful manipulation of shadow by directing light openings (in terms of orientation, trajectory and filter) that will ultimately affect and impact the sensory experience of the occupant. These studies almost become a seductive narrative, describing the rhythm, gesture and movement of the body when touched by light.
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“Shadows and Surfaces”, 2010
A Response to the Labyrinth of Experience and Pyramid of the Memory: an Architectural Proposal in New York City through a Speculation of the Mind New York, NY Year 2 | Spring 2010 Critic: Levent Kara [Theory II]
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Part I [ Unfolding the City ] “Men are conditioned beings because everything they come in contact with turns immediately into a condition of their existence.”1 New York City has no single definition of its essence or its substance. It is in itself a collage of cultural diversity, technological advances, economic consumption and a history that embodies all these aspects.How, then, does one begin to understand the city? In order to do so, it is imperative that what composes the city be de-constructed and unfolded in such a manner that each of its components can begin to be identified as different entities that rest in one matrix. It is especially important to do so in New York City because as a collage of culture, technology, economy, and history the unfolding of its elements will begin to uncover the relationships of experience to the urban conditions of it. Before proceeding, however, it is crucial to define parameters that serve as reference. How, then, is a condition defined? According to the dictionary definition, it is an essential quality, a property or an attribute.2 Two of these essential qualities to this city in particular are the Subway System and Times Square and its sidewalks. Both of these urban conditions are unique to the city and therefore play an important role in the subject’s experience in the city. “The experience of architecture is wedged in a gap between two architectural surfaces, two edges of the pyramid and the labyrinth, two types of pleasure, one conceptual, culturally conservative, and rule bound, the other sensual, transgressive, even violent...”3
1 Arendt, H., The Human Condition, 4th ed. (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1965), 9. 2 Webster’s New World: College Dictionary, 4th ed., s.v. “condition”. 3 Hays, M. K., Architecture Theory Since 1968, (Cambridge and London: The MIT Press, 1998), 216.
65 I. The labyrinths of experience in New York City
a sense of location and a sense of being by referencing his body
As the city is unfolded, the two found urban conditions are defined
to the nodes he sees and understands. This relationship between
and related to the labyrinth, which concentrates “on the senses,
the subject and the Subway System of vectors and nodes becomes
on the experience of space as well as on the relationship between
stronger as the subject approaches the underground volume he was
space and praxis.”4 The result is different experiences triggered by
able to sense before having a glimpse of it. Once underground, the
the perception of the subject and his understanding of the conditions
nodes also become points of interaction. Here, subject and object
at different scales.
collide, so that now subject is in the felt volume. Now he feels the
i. The sensory possibilities of the Subway System
“materiality of [his] body coincide with and struggle with the material-
The Subway System, for example, weaves itself to the Manhattan
ity of space.”6 He is in the space and all his senses are activated by
grid at the scale of the city. It is visible to the subject only as a system
its presence; he hears the wind blowing due to the movement of the
of vectors traced on a map, so the sensual possibilities are reduced
subways, sees the rushing people, smells the iron structure, touches
only to sight. At this scale, the Subway System appears as the pyra-
the smooth seat, and tastes the essence of New York transportation
mid, a fixed system or a form in itself that is set against the grid of
system.
the Manhattan blocks. So in order for the subject to find the sensory
ii. The Sensory Possibilities of Times Square
space, the labyrinth must unfold “against the projections of reason,
Times Square is a locus point at the scale of the city. Once again,
against the absolute truth, against the pyramid…”5 To do this, he
at this scale the subject is only able to perceive the urban condi-
must approach the Subway System at a different scale, at the scale
tion particular to New York City through means of representation. He
of the block or street, where he is able to identify the Subway as a
sees the map and finds a point where Times Square and its densi-
node found at the corners of every other block. The entrances to the
ties must be located; he cannot grasp the role of the Times Square
Subway System become reference points in the matrix of subjects
Plazas within the city. Again, he must break this notion by allowing
and objects. They can be seen by the subject and can be immedi-
the space and its sensory characteristics to embrace the subject.
ately related to the “felt volume” underground. So as he walks the
As the subject approaches Times Square, he is able to perceive the
streets, he is able to understand the presence of the underground
density of this node, so at the scale of the block of Manhattan, the
Subway System and its relation to the city, and he is able to produce
abundance of elements in Times Square is inevitable. Cars, pedes-
4 Tschumi, B., “The Architectural Paradox”, in Architecture Theory Since 1968, (Cambridge and London: The MIT Press, 1998), 218. 5 Ibid., 223. 6 Ibid., 223.
66 trians, public vendors, buildings, posters, and lights all surround the
reconstruct these through the filters of memory. He remembers his
subject, and though these activate his senses, he is not yet a part
interaction with the city through syntax of symbols and images, for
of it. The subject is only a spectator, wwbut nonetheless this “space
“the richness of a work…lies in the vitality of the images it arouses.”9
is real, for it seems to affect [his] senses long before [his] reason.”7
So the interaction of subject and object is not only a momentary
II. In reference to Image and Language
physical encounter, but also it is a permanent encounter with the
“The language of art is the language of symbols that can be identi-
memory of the subject. “Meaning lies not in forms, but in the images
fied with our existence. If it lacks contact with the sensory memo-
transmitted by the forms and the emotional force that they carry.”10
ries that live in our subconsiousness and link our various senses,
Experience now encompasses the relationship and interaction be-
art could not but be reduced to mere meaningless ornamentation.
tween object, subject and consciousness, which bridges the first two.
The experience of art is an interaction between our embodied
i. Image and Language in Reference to the Subway
memories and our world.”8
The sensory elements that collide with the subject’s physical body
As the subject walks through the city, the interaction of his senses to
when inside the subterranean “felt volume” remain in his memory
the spaces leaves a residue of images in his memory. Later, he will
as a system of symbols and images. These he understands and
Fig 1. Memory of the senses; distorted and blurred images, sounds. Fragments.
7 Ibid., 223. 8 Pallasmaa, J., “The Geometry of Feeling: A Look at the Phenomenology of Architecture”, in Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture: An Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965-1995, (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1996), 450. 9 Ibid.,449. 10 Ibid.,449.
67 then distorts as memory allows for certain images to have more im-
his memory registers the event of being in the subway through his
portance in his mind. He fragments these sensory events and then
senses. So the subject and the object are in a dialogue through
regroups them; through his memory and his consciousness, the
which the subject understands his own being.
amount of rushing people he sees is duplicated while the sound of
ii. Image and Language in Reference to Times Square.
the subways is lessened, the smell of the iron structured is faded,
Once again, the sensory elements the subject perceives in Times
and the texture of the seat is gone. This is how the subject under-
Square register on his mind as a system of images and symbols that
stands his position in the subway system; so through his conscious-
are later distorted. So the reconstructed images on his mind are of
ness and memory he distinguishes the existence of a system of vec-
intense lights surrounding him and the rest –the cars, the pedestri-
tors of transportation that weave themselves to the New York Grid,
ans, the public vendors, etc.- is only a blur of colors reflected by the
the existence of the Subway Station entry as node within this grid,
intensity of the lights. The space “furnishes dispersed images and a
and the existence of his body as a point within the system. So his
body of images at the same time. In both cases… imagination aug-
understanding is reduced to a system of vectors, planes and points.
ments the values of reality.”11 Again, the subject uses these distorted
The distorted event is what identifies the subject with his existence;
sensory elements to identify and understand his existence.
11 Bachelard, G., The Poetics of Space, trans. Orion Press Inc., (United States: Grossman Publishers, 1964), 3.
u r 路 b a n C o n d i t i o n ( 没 r b n ) (Con*di"tion) (?), n. fr. L. conditio a d j . [F.,
1. Of, relating to, or located in a c i t y . 2. Characteristic of the city or city l i f e . [ L a t i n urbnus, from 68 urbs, urb-, c i t y . ]
(better condicio) agreement, compact, condition; con- + a root signifying to show, point out, akin to dicere to say, dicare to proclaim, dedicate. See Token.] Teach, 2 : something essential to the appearance or occurrence of something else 3 a : a restricting or modifying factor : qualification 4 a : a state of being <the human condition> 1. Mode or state of being 2. Essential quality; property; attribute. 4. That which must exist as the occasion or concomitant of something else; that which is requisite in order that something else should take effect; an essential qualification; stipulation; terms specified.
essential qua
[e s s e n t i a l s y s t e m
q
and vecto
my subjective experie
s u b w a y s y s t e m s v e c t o r s
ality/property in the city of new york
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q u a l i t y] e =xcity.c e context. s s dor + mass
ence in the city
times square plazas/sidewaks:
node. cars, people, buildings, lights surround me. chaos. density. [node=mass] I have a sense of being being. being a part of; being in beetween; being in; being on. sense of space. i am able to percieve surfaces, m a s s e s ,
Subway system. repetition, rythm, movement, interaction. i am alert; my senses are activated. [ v e c t o r s ]
can my traces chang are your edges defining my are we in a my senses a state.
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Times square plazas/ sidewalks Mass
es change you, city? ining my perception? we in an interacting field of exchange? you affect enses and my concepts and i affect your physical e.
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Part II [Inserting the Market of Thought and Memory in the City] I. The Processes of interventional Strategies: Proposing Architecture through a Speculation of the Mind The suggestion of rhetorically unfolding the city as a way to deconstruct and then reconstruct its elements is similar to Eisenman’s concept of “cactis.” He suggests the creation of new meanings and realities by redistributing elements. Architecture is something like a language, for it has a symbolic dimension, a symbolic structure that it has acquired throughout history, and in order to recreate a vocabulary of architecture, one must introduce “…an absence in the is of architecture, an absence in its presence.”12 The idea of absence juxtaposed to presence is used in the process of generating possible suggestions of architecture on the site. The concept is introduced to the project as the absence of the subject in the object and the presence of the object in the memory through means of signs and images. It is about the absence of the subject in the object before visiting New York City, and the presence of interpretation through images, projections and associations. At this stage of the design process to suggest new possibilities and new vocabularies for architecture is possible because the site and New York City in itself is the pyramid of the mind and not the labyrinth of experience. Here, “forms do not follow function, but refer to other forms, and functions relate to symbols.”13 So the suggestion of new possibilities is a response to images and symbols already recognized by the mind through the filter of memory. The images in
12 Eisenman, P., “Architecture and the Problem of Rhetorical Figure”, in theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture: An Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965-1995, (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1996), 178. 13 Tcshumi, B., “Architectural Paradox”, in Architecture Theory Since 1968, 222.
73 figure 3 are possible interventional pieces drawn in section using the idea of memory through language and image. They suggest possible events that arouse sensuality through the manipulation of image and representational objects of the object (or place) itself. Thus, this entire process of reconstruction of elements “…first fragments and recombines the fragments like a new word.”
14
Figure 3. a. under and over; b. on and up; c. up under up. Sectional suggestions for a possible site intervention using the idea of memory through language and image.
14 Eisenman, “Architecture and the Problem of Rhetorical Figure”, in Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture.
Figure 2. Libeskind, D., “Chamber Works” (image), in The Perfects Acts of Architecture, (New York: MOMA, 2001), 142. Catalyst for process drawings: ideas of density, chaos, nodes, system, etc.
74 II. The Contextual approach of the Project: de-constructing densities
structed in a different order. So what happens when the systemic-
As Eisenman explains, “in order to be architecture must always re-
ness of the grid is altered by a dense, chaotic node? What happens
sist being, it must dislocate without destroying its own being.”15 So
when this chaotic node is introduced into a sparse space? This is a
architecture must be in a constant state of change; it must construct,
“paradoxical intention to solve congestion by creating more conges-
deconstruct and reconstruct itself in order to continue the making of
tion.”17 Let the density of any block of Manhattan be introduced into
culture. This is precisely the approach for the project; it is about the
the park of the site, and let the openness of the park be introduced
realignment of the subject’s perception and the speculation of new
to the block of the site, so that the densities of program are reversed
compositions of programmatic densities. He understands the grid of
in the site. Now that the grid of the Manhattan blocks is broken, what
New York and its systemicness as perceived with the Subway Sys-
programmatic events can occur in the open space of a usually dense
tem; he also understands the density moments of the city as sensed
block of Manhattan? How is the labyrinth affected? What the subject
in Times Square. The subject is able to perceive and even under-
understands of the city can be reconstructed through the residues
stand both conditions through the immediacy of experience and “this
left in his memory, and thus the process of creating architecture is a
immediacy bridges sensory pleasure and reason.”16 Then through
continuing invention of dwelling.18 Let the warping of memories and
time, memory takes these sensory images and its understanding of
the reconstruction of densities of memories be the generator of a
them and warps them in a manner that they can begin to be recon-
new language, a new meaning and possibly a new culture.
Figure 4. Deconstructing and reconstructing densities of program and of space: Density removed from the block and introduced to the park site; Open space almost becomes a void or a negative space.
15 Ibid., 177. 16 Tcshumi, B., “Architectural Paradox”, in Architecture Theory Since 1968, 227. 17 Koolhaas, R., Delirious New York, 2nd ed. (New York: The Monacelli Press, 1994),177. 18 Eisenman, “Architecture and the Problem of Rhetorical Figure”, in Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture.
75 III. The end product: Architecture as a product of the reconstruction
hattan, redefines the organization of green space versus built space
of experiences of the mind and the body
in the city and attempts to do so while dealing with the paradox of the
i. In reference to Language
labyrinth and the pyramid.
The final proposal de-constructs and then reconstructs densities of
ii. In reference to Image, and Memory and the Sensory Experience:
program and of space throughout the site. Reciprocity is key; density
The final project suggests a new programmatic event amongst the
is removed from the block and introduced to the park, and open
density of the block: a public plaza. Programmatically, this plaza uni-
space almost becomes a void or a negative space. This reconstruc-
fies street, block and context because it is open to all. It is also a joint
tion of densities allows for the introduction of open park/plaza space
space between what is a School of Arts and a Commercial building.
to the block of the grid, the introduction of density of program and
The sensory experience of the subject is influenced by his sudden
also the introduction of a physically defined space to the park. This
encounter with objects (and programmatic events) and other sub-
results in a continuity of program and a systemicness of space, so
jects. He finds himself among a system of spaces, windows, walls,
park and block are no longer separate entities but rather a flow of
and among a system of subjects, so â&#x20AC;&#x153;the reality of the public realm
spaces with inserted negative space that allow for the market pro-
relies on the simultaneous presence of innumerable perspectives
gram to move from the park to the block and vice versa. Thus the
and aspects in which the world presents itself.â&#x20AC;?19
final suggestion of architecture breaks the scale of the grid of Man-
Figure 5. Public Plaza in between buildings. Collision of program. Breaking of densities. Negative space. Show and hide objects and subjects. Perception of views, smells, movement, etc. Inciting sensory experience.
19 Bachelard, G., The Poetics of Space, 57.
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Melissa Andrea CortĂŠs Carvajal
1807 SW 78th street Gainesville, Fl, 32607 (352) 514-8174 melancortes@gmail.com
EDUCATION
AWARDS + HONORS
SKILLS
University of Florida Bachelor Degree in Design, with a major in Architecture, Cum Laude College of Design, Construction + Planning School of Architecture Fall 2006-Spring 2010
Florida Medallion Scholars Award Fall 2006-Spring 2010
Software Skills | Advanced knowledge: Windows and Macintosh based platforms AutoCAD Rhinoceros V-ray for rendering Adobe: Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign Microsoft Office General knowledge: Sketch Up Grasshopper
Deanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s List Fall 2007 and Spring 2008 Ranked in the top 10% during the admissions process (pin-up) into the professional program for upper division. Spring 2008 Cum Laude upon graduation Spring 2010
Other Skills | Advanced knowledge: Hand drafting Physical model building in wood, metal, plastic, plaster, and various types of paper Laser cutter Carpentry machinery Graphic design General Knowledge: Photography Other artistic media: Watercolor, chalk pastels, etc. Languages | Spanish [Native Speaker] English [Fluent] French [Intermediate level] Catalan [Intermediate level]
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EXPERIENCE
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
INTERESTS
Teaching Assistant | Bradley Walters University of Florida Fall 2008
Bible School | Iglesia Hispana Gainesville, FL Summer 2009 Helped with the development and organization of the week-long event, and was one of the leaders of the group who built the different props for all the activities throughout the church.
Documentation of Travel | Traveled, where possible, to various cities of historic richness and architectural merit throughout the United States including New York City, Savannah, Charleston, Miami and Saint Augustine, and achieved an understanding of their social, historical and cultural contexts through various media including photography, sketching and analytical drawing as a means of documenting.
Sales Associate | TJ Maxx August, 2008- August 2010 Cashier | El Indio May 2009- Present
Volunteering Group | Solar Decathlon UF Gainesville, FL Spring 2010 Helped the UF Solar Decathlon team with various tasks such as the painting and sanding of panels for the construction of the house.
Languages and Literature | Using the knowledge of languages and literature as communication tools and as doors to the understanding of other perspectives pertaining to the culture, society, and beliefs of other groups. Graphic Design and drawing | Using graphic design as a medium to successfully communicate ideas not only in architecture, but also in other contexts. Currently experimenting with the usage of hand drawing as a means to understanding the proportions of the human body.
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A Response to the Labyrinth of Experience and Pyramid of the Memory: an Architectural Proposal in New York City through a Speculation of the Mind Bibliography Arendt, H. The Human Condition. 4th ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 1965. Bachelard, G. The Poetics of Space. Translated by The Orion Press Inc. United States: Grossman Publishers 1964. Eisenman, P. 1987. Architecture and the Problem of Rhetorical Figure. In Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture: An Anthol ogy of Architectural Theory 1965-1995. ed. K. Nesbitt 175-181. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1986. Hays, K. M. 1998. Architecture Theory Since 1968. ed. K. M. Hays. Cambridge and London: The MIT Press. Koolhaas, R. Delirious New York, 2nd ed. New York: The Monacelli Press. 1994. Libeskind, D. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Chamber Works.â&#x20AC;? In The Perfects Acts of Architec ture. ed. L. Morris, 124-153. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2001. Pallasmaa, J. 1986. The Geometry of Feeling: A look at the Phenomenology of Architecture. In Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture: An Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965-1995. ed. K. Nesbitt, 448-453. New York: Princeton Architectural Press. Tschumi, B. 1975. The Architectural Paradox. In Architecture Theory Since 1968. ed. K. M. Hays, 214-229. Cambridge and London: The MIT Press, 1998.
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To my family and boyfriend- I would like to thank you all for the great support, not only through my academic career but also through all the hardships of life. Without you, I would not have accomplished what I have so far. To my professors- I would like to thank you for all the knowledge and appreciation of architecture instilled in me. To my friends- I would like to thank you all for giving me a helping hand when needed. It was all greatly appreciated.