BRET J. MAJA Educational Experience May 2022
Expected Graduatio
May 2022
Jan. 2020 - Current
Graduate Certificat
Design Build E
Architectural A
Dirt Works Studio
Statement Passionate Architect ready to contribute his skill sets and enthusiasm to the building industry. Advancing studies in tectonics thought (2) Design build studios and (2) Furniture design courses forming an interest in the process of making and construction. Also with a deep interest in sustainable design + LEED looking to do better by our planet and make a net positive impact. My work aims at being Meticulous and thoughtful in order to create a positive experience for people and our world. The world is one big design problem and we can slowly fix it one detail at a time.
August 2019 - Current
Technical Skills
Graphic Skills
Revit
Photoshop
Rhino
Illustrator
AutoCAD
InDesign
EASE
Lumion
May 2020 - Sept. 2020
Klover Architects I
Sept. 2019 - Aug. 2020
May 2016 - June 2019
[Section Title]
Preformed ex ing permit dra focus on site p and building p
Raising Canes
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Hazelwood Ce
Professional Experience
Enscape
Cell: (314)-484 4855 Email: Majaroconbret@ku.edu
London/ Paris
Diploma
Vray
Contact
4x Mentor to u architecture. A design help, a
European Study Ab
Spring 2017
Skills (Relative Opinion)
3 semesters w on the design and Polaris Pa
Mentorship
Summer 2019
University of K
Prepared and by noting cust
Panda Express
Trained staff o as well as safe strategies
AROCON
on M. Arch
Achievements/ Awards Ongoing
Kansas
tes
Honor Roll x3
August 2019
Portfolio Competition (4th Place
Education
Acoustics
with the Dirt Works Studio working n and construction of the Passerine avilion
October 2019
s for 3 weeks
entral High school
xtensive work in Auto CAD producawings for various projects. Strong planning, construction documents, permit preparation
d cooked food orders for customers tomizations and portion sizes
on proper cooking procedures ety regulations and productivity
Participated and represented the University of Kansas in a AIA competition Charrette.
February 2017
Flo Valley Art Show 4th Place
Received fourth place overall at a student art show at the Florissant Valley art Show
Hobbies + Interest Wood Working
e
Intern Architect
School wide portfolio competition for the third year class
AIACSR Competition
underclassman in the school of Assisted them with programs, and reviews
broad
University of Kansas
Over time I’ve gained interest in woodworking and the process of creating objects with this material. I’ve completed pieces both from small and large scale and have gained a lot of knowledge and experience in craftsman ship and detail
Fitness
With school being intensive as it is I’ve found that i need to take care of myself both physically and mentally. I like stay active and play various sports recreationally like basketball and rock climbing.
Drawing
In high school i took many fine arts classes which led me to my love of drawing and eventually architecture. More specifically I enjoyed drawing still lifes and portraits of people.
23 February 2021 Letter of Recommendation for Bret Majarocon Please accept this letter of recommendation for Bret Majarocon in support of his employment at your firm. I have come to know Bret this past year, having served as an instructor of his in my fourth-year “Urban Dwelling” design studio in the Fall of 2020. Bret has initiative, is curious, hard-working and creatively approaches studio problems. Bret has taken a particular interest in aligning his architectural studies with issues related to sustainability, the natural environment and public policies that impact public life in urban spaces. In the “Urban Dwelling” design studio, Bret directed his studies to explore how his building design work could support culturally diverse interests, human well-being and be adaptive to environmental-passive systems. Bret leads by example, producing thoughtful work, exploring outside the boundaries of the assignment. As demonstrated in his past project with me, he diligently stayed focus and thoughtful about each step he took—testing, editing and refining ideas in a way that others learn from. He holds high standards in his work and is self-directed by ideas but also adaptive to meet evolving needs of the project. While in my studio Bret was a lead designer and maker in Professor Chad Kraus’s Dirt Works Studio where simultaneously to taking studio in the morning with me, he was going to a building site in the afternoon to help construct the Passerine Pavilion. The design and craft of the work is stellar and I know that Bret was an essential member of that design and construction team. Experiences like these transform our students from making ‘paper’ architecture to those that have empathy for the maker and abilities to think about materiality and build-ability at a higher level. I know that Bret’s passion of making has been also extended in his woodworking course with Professor Tom Huang, where he has designed thoughtful small-scale elements and furniture. Bret has further extended his commitment to making by earning the Certificate Studies in Design Build Fabrication. To my view, these experiences brought insight to his design studio work in ways in which he imagined and detailed architectural cladding and elements such as windows. Bret’s insight and maturity have deepened his design work. Bret has advanced design sensibilities and abilities to visualize concepts to renderings in exceptional ways and was awarded a Folio Award in his 3rd year and has served as a mentor to our foundation students. His willingness to share his abilities and insight through mentorship workshops is a testament to his character to serve others and to strengthen our school’s culture. During my 30 years as a professor, I have seen many exceptional students of architecture, a number of those have asked me for well-deserved letters of recommendation for special programs and scholarships. Of all that I have had the opportunity to work with, I rank Bret as one of the top 5%. I highly recommend Bret to you. I believe that his abilities, integrity and intelligence will serve your firm well. Please do not hesitate to call me at 785.766.0069 or email at scriss@ku.edu if you have any questions or wish to discuss further. Best Regards, Shannon Criss, Professor of Architecture
Table of Contents
06 16
West Fifth Square Mixed- use residential housing + Community Center
Urban Forest Mixed- use office building tasked with the promotion of Mass Timber innovations
26
The Passerine 3rd year Design Build Project of an ADA accessible viewing pavilion
34
Personal Index Compilation of various personal projects finished throughout school
Academic Portfolio
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Full Bleed Rendering
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Project I - West Fifth Square
I - West Fifth Square Project Type : Mixed Use Residential Square Footage: 75,000 s.f Site: River Market at Kansas City, MO Sited in an area run and defined by small businesses and ethnic groups, the river market area is that of a confusing one with the growing number of privatized residential
buildings. Also isolated from the greater KC area by highways, West Fifth Square attempts to bring the isolated river market community together through its programming and building form. With 25 residential units, a library and a fitness center; this building brings new functions and life to an area trending in wrong directions.
Workflow Rhino AutoCAD Vray for Rhino Adobe Suite Lumion Enscape
Academic Portfolio
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Urban Plan - River market KC, MO
Early steps in the project included trying to understand this community and area from a urbanistic and practical point of view. Understanding what came before and currently trending in the area. Three things came to mind immediately which was the isolated nature of the community, the ethnic and small shop population that dominates the community, and the higher end apartments that are being built in this area. These higher end apartments are privatized and gated off taking away valuable public land from this community. A community developed by various ethnic groups who work and maybe even live in the
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Urban Problem + Solution
area. These ethnic groups have influenced the area through the inclusion of more ethnic grocery stores, restaurants, and of course the city market. But all this takes a back seat to the major issue surrounding the community which is how isolated it is from the greater Kansas city area. Because of Natural and built environmental barriers, the River Market is divided from surrounding communities and areas. From an urbansitic point of view, I wanted to give back to the River Market and provide a building that is rooted within the community and helps uplift and bring people together.
Built and Natural Barriers The River market community is isolated on three sides by built infrastructure. This creates a built barrier between adjacent communities and the River market. The Missouri River also runs north adjacent to the area acting as the fourth barrier to fully contain and separate this community.
Isolated Community Surrounded by built and unbuilt barriers, the River Market area is that of a isolated community that has lost its connection to the river and to the greater Kansas City Area.
(Lack of) Bike lanes & Green Space Bike lanes in the community come few and far between. These “bike lanes” are that of wider vehicular streets with a lack of dedicated lanes. Green spaces are also scarce creating pockets of heat islands around the community.
Academic Portfolio
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1I Extrusion
Extrusion of the site all the way to the edges.
3I Hollowing Out
Hollowing out the interior courtyard in order to create more public green space for residents of the community.
5I Terracing
Terracing of the roof planes and floor plates match the surrounding context and to mitigate the slope of the site.
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Urban Parti + Programming
2I Urban Paths
Acknowledging the surrounding urban paths and reinforcing their connections through my site.
4I Programming
Programming the structure accordingly for mixed use and understanding the safety factors between private and public.
6I Step back
Stepping the first floor back on 3 sides to create more usable urban space along 5th St. and Main St. Alley.
Progromaticaly the River Market lacked some amenities and building services that are needed for basic living in the area. Examples of this includes the lack of a school, emergency stations, a gym etc. I took these absences into account as i decided how to program my building and more importantly understanding how can i program my building to help create a positive effect in this area. The inclusion of a library and a fitness center helps bring two new functional additions to the river market area that focus
on both mental and physical health. Both of these functions are open and available to the residents and also the public. 5 Multi- purpose rooms are also included in the program. Each room also has operable curtain walls that open out into the east alleyway. Through the use of operable demising walls, each of the rooms can combine with one another to hold bigger programs such as art studios or dance classes. When all 5 rooms combine we have a space big enough o hold more community wide programs like a food drive or art gallery.
Programming Axonomectric
Academic Portfolio
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Underground Parking Proposed 120 car parking garage for residents and public use
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Heat Stacks Chimney stacks apart of a stacked ventilation system
N-S Urban Section + Amenities
Residential Common Room Private gathering spaces for residents
Bike Lane(s)
Community Gardens
Dedicated lanes that cross the site E - W through the interior Courtyard
Proposed 120 car parking garage for residents and public use
Occupiable Green Roof Outdoor green roof acting as the buffer between the library and residents
Academic Portfolio
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Circulation Here we can see the public/ urban paths created by the building form along with the required numerous forms of egress
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E-W Urban Section + Diagrams
Night Light Perforated brick allows light to spill out of the structure and illuminate the surrounding alleyways and city park. This creates safer environments for the public and the surrounding homeless.
Heat Island
Air Flow
A interior courtyard and green roof systems help mitigate the heat island effect of the pre existing parking lot.
Heat stacks between residential units help keep spaces well ventilated. Solar glass facing east allows the stacks to heat up and either release or dissipate the heat through the interior masonry walls.
Academic Portfolio
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1| Ground Floor
Laundry Mat Library One Bedroom
Multi-purpose Rooms Two Bedroom
Public Lobby Residential Lobby
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Site Plan + Floor Plan
2| Second Floor
3| Third + Fourth Floor +44'
+60' +44'
+53'
UP
+48'
UP
UP
+43'
+38'
UP
+54
UP
UP
+38'
UP
+48
+33' +32'
Library - 19,622 s.f
Residential - 17,696 s.f One-Bedroom = 708 s.f (12) Total: 8,496 s.f Two-Bedroom = 1,150 s.f (8)
20 new living spaces will be added to the river market
Total= 9,200 s.f
Stacks - 6,030 s.f Study Rooms = 70 s.f (5) Total = 350 s.f Conference Rooms = 200 s.f (7) Total = 1,400 s.f
Fitness Center - 13,845 s.f Fitness Studio - 915 s.f (2) Total = 1,830 s.f Locker Rooms - 480 s.f (2) Total = 980 s.f Juice bar - 280 s.f
The fitness center can be used as an amenity for the residents and also the public. This will bring a new public program to the River Market
Adding a library to the program gives the area a new amenity for public use. This can start to add more Educational spaces to the community
Multi Purpose - 2,880 s.f Flexible Rooms - 480 s.f (6)
These rooms are flexible in that they can open up to the alleyway for more public use and open up to each other to hold bigger public functions like food drives and galleries
Academic Portfolio
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Project Renders
Academic Portfolio
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II - Urban Forest Project Type: Mixed - use building (Office, retail, educational Square footage: 48,000 s.f Site: Crossroads at Kansas City, MO Sited in the Crossroads District of Kansas city directly adjacent to Kauffman center, The urban Forest attempts to take people out of the urban context and take them
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Project II - The Urban Forest
Through a journey about timber. The site itself is split up in half allowing 50% of the site to be apart of the built environment and the other 50% to be apart of the natural environment. Through the use of a mirrored program from building to park, the entire site is used to bolster the notoriety of mass timber construction and celebrate one of the worlds oldest and versatile materials.
Workflow Rhino AutoCAD Revit Adobe Suite
Academic Portfolio
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Urban Forest Early ideas stem from the idea of taking the individual out of the urban environment and transporting them into a urban forest with forms and programs.
Mirrored Program The program and form of the building gets mirrored onto the urban forest. This splits the site in half and allows for a more natural experience within the urban forest.
Built vs. Natural Relationships Create North - South relationships between the formal building and the urban forest. This is done through a central street down the middle, trees all along the site, and a mirroring of architectural features along the axis.
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Concept Sketches + Diagrams
Baltimore St.
Wyandotte St.
W 16th St.
Academic Portfolio
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Cooling Towers Two Towers on the North side of the building brings in cool air and uses an evaporative cooling pad/ Sprinkler system to further cool incoming air.
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Wind Flow Frames These frames utilize the venturi/ bernuli effect to increase wind pressure above the stacks to pull air out of the building at a quicker rate.
N-S Building Section
Heat Stacks A stacked ventilation system that spears all five floors allowing hot air to be carried up and out.
1| Ground Floor
2| Second Floor
3| Third + Fourth Floor
Academic Portfolio
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Model + Mirrored Program
Material library The Material Library was a means for people to see first hand different species of trees and hardwoods both in their natural and milled state. In the park area various species of trees are planted to see trees naturally. Inside the structure the material library gives people the opportunity feel and get a sense for how the milled version of lumber differs from the natural.
Wood Fabrication The material process is explored with the wood shop and park relationship. In the structure there is a full sized community workshop for wood and metal work. In the park there is a natural tree farm with groups of trees being harvested every 5 years. Te harvested trees go through the wood shop for fabrication. This allows people to see and learn about the fabrication process of timber.
Outdoor Learning The lecture hall mirrors itself onto the park with the addition of a outdoor learning area. This is a setting designed to hold smaller lectures or meetings outdoors in the confinements of a acoustically sound urban forest.
Academic Portfolio
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Project III - The Passerine
III - THE PASSERINE Project Type: Design- Build Pavilion Site: Wells Overlook Park at Lawrence, KS A collaboration between 16 3rd year students, we were tasked with designing and building an ADA accessible viewing platform for Wells Overlook Park. The structure is that of a bird jetting off the side of the hill
giving it a prominent silhouette in front of the remarkable view. The structure also uses recycled materials from the rocks in the gabions to the road signs on the roof. To complement all of this there is a separate ADA path through a prairie garden to honor the prairie that was once here before.
Workflow Revit - Central Model Adobe Suite Lumion
Academic Portfolio
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Picnic Shelter + Timber Tower The existing Timber tower was the cause of this project as the client(s) wanted a way for non able- bodied individuals to experience the impeccable views the park provides.
Site Looking North The site staked and prepped for construction to come. This view north has sight lines toward a few existing landmarks but more importantly has a view of campus.
Site Looking East The view(s) east hold the majority of the landmarks that the client wanted expressed in the form of waysides along the guard rail.
Nature + Prairie Wells Overlook isn’t that big but carries a lot of opportunities for nature walks. The park also once was covered with prairie but eventually became obsolete due to invasive species.
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Wells Overlook Park
Academic Portfolio
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Iterations
Academic Portfolio
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Project Renders
Renders Done by Aaron Michalicek
Academic Portfolio
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AUGUST 2020
FOUNDATION WALL The shape and orientation of the structure is that to maximized views north and east in order to integrate information panels along deck
DECK AND COLUMNS The Columns are designed to support the valley and cantilever of the butterfly roof while using the gabions along the foundation as bracing. Deck cantilevers to give sensation of “flying”
GABION FABRICATION A wall of gabions is formally used as a “line” that leads up and grows to the point of the entire pavilion. The gabions both widen and get taller as it grows into the pavilion also providing seating.
FLITCH BEAMS Flitch beams were used to help support the scale of the roof. Also a want for timber elements within the roof pointed us to the use of a flitch plate system integrated with cedar planks to match the color palette of the project.
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Construction Process
RAFTERS Cedar rafters are used to match the rest of the roofing supports and caps for the gabions
ROOFING SYSTEM Polished recycled street signs are used to give the roofing material a reflective finish. This was inspired by pictures or prairie birds.
GUARD RAILS / WAYSIDES Information panels line the north and east sides of the decking. These wayside panels give information on the neighboring landmarks and historical sites
PRAIRIE GARDEN Decomposed granite is used as it is a ADA accessible alternative for gravel. It is formally used to create a closed path through a prairie garden
ONGOING Academic Portfolio
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[Section Title]
IV - Personal Index Various collection of personal projects completed over my academic years; showcasing my interest in wood working and drawing. projects range from charcoal portraits to full sized pieces of furniture.
Academic Portfolio
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Shelf
Academic Portfolio
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Desk
Academic Portfolio
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Cutlery
Academic Portfolio
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Personal Drawings
Academic Portfolio
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[Section Title]