Architecture portfolio Marcos Alberto Borjas
Preface What I find most interesting as an architecture student is the transition from the user to the creator of spaces. The objects I observe become an important source of inspiration and development, leading me to ask what could be revealed within design. This work sample reflects what I encountered.
Table of contents Reach 11
6-7
Virginia Scheme
8-9
Kansas Scheme
10-11
Arizona Scheme
12-13
Source
14-15
Information
16-21
Civic Identity
22-23
Information
24-27
Archery
28-29
Information
30-41
Site & Form
42-43
Information
44-47
Living Room
48-49
Information
50-55
Postface
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reach 11 3 Rest Stops - Hillsville VA, Garden Cit KS, Shonto AZ In the near future, people will no longer be driving their own cars. A leader in autonomous car industry is currently offering “road trip� packages that create a unique traveling experience; including an autonomous vehicle, suggested itineraries, and places to stay overnight at various locations. This studio prompt proposes a system of rest stops that invite travelers off the road and provide a portal into different landmark sites across the United States. The primary inquiry for this project was how to reflect a sense of local character endemic to each respective site while concurrently tying the transnational system of rest stops to an overall architectural identity. Both conditions struggle to resolve between competing specific and general criteria; each site exhibits its own discrete features, yet at the same time the entire system demands overlapping congruity. As a result, the guiding design mechanism became a governing set of rules and principles that extract the physical and emblematic features respective to each specific site in order to generate new architectural building types. The following series of drawings demonstrate the observations deduced from three specific sites across the United States and the new architectural building types that were subsequently derived.
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source 1 Rest Stop - Shonto AZ The second phase of Reach 11 focuses on the development of the Arizona rest stop. The idea was to create a symbolic relationship with a belt conveyor located across U.S. Highway 160. The region is a prominent area for mining, and therefore the properties of coal were incorporated into the design as the contextual basis for the proposal. The coal’s sharp edges were assimilated through slanted forms that were elevated off the earth by a reinforced concrete pedestal. The heavy mass indicates the building’s attachment to the ground while the activity of mining is represented through a light scaffolding walkway surrounding the perimeter. Industrial processes often use temporary structures; therefore, the interior showcases a series of boxes and CLT frame supporting the roof. The exterior cladding is made of black corrugated metal. The color was chosen directly from the coal as a significant property while long narrow openings depict the absence of light in underground coal mines. The morphology of coal was deformed through the design process to the point where it features would no no longer be evident at first sight. Rather, the relationship between the design of the rest stop and its contextual basis is seamless and exists unperceived to the general public as a method of exploration.
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U.S. Hwy 160
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U.S. S. Hwy 160 S.
U.S. Hwy 160
Struucture
Room o s
Foun u dation
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civic identity NYPD Tower - Brooklyn NY The primary question for this project was to define what makes a civic tower. The program asks to include a food court, library, and offices for the NYPD. Civic buildings are defined by their relationship to the citizens and areas they serve. On the other hand, a courthouse is also symbol of “civicness� because it represents the will of the people in a single building. For this proposal, an open-air ground level/ public plaza becomes a civic space for citizens and exposes the intimate central core of the building to the exterior. The ground level to extends to the sidewalk and the plaza is guarded by a series of bollards. Once underneath the footprint of the tower, the public can visually penetrate into the highest space of the interior section through a pyramidal atrium, which becomes visible at night with light reflecting off a set of mechanically controlled curtains. The tower is meant to defy the existing relationship of high-rises with their surrounding context by eliminating the usual barriers where only certain groups of people are permitted or invited into the premises.
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Housing
Pierpont Offices
US Bankruptcy Court
Apartments
US District Court
Civic Constituent
Open-air ground level/ public plaza
Food Court
Library
Non-profit organization offices
NYPD Offices
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archery Blacksburg Archery Center - Blacksburg VA Archery has not been prominent in the Blacksburg area. This proposal seeks to introduce the sport to town residents by creating a series of large openings that penetrate the front facade. Everyday passerbys on South Main Street would get a glimpse of the activities happening inside through an array of lenses punctured in the building’s skin. Surrounding the perimeter, a plinth mediates the slope of the landscape. The plinth extends as a surface surrounding the archery center and allows people to meander into the outdoor shooting range without necessarily walking through an entry. The idea is to facilitate the connection between the program and potential user, or everyday passerby. The interior includes an indoor shooting range with a concave ceiling that amplifies the sound of arrows hitting their targets. The targets are mounted onto parallel tracks that allow people to adjust the distances to their targets and eventually replace them from wear. Furthermore, sets of apartments are located above floors. Tinted windows allow the residents to gaze over the archers in the outdoor shooting range. .
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SITE & FORM VT Culinary Institute - Roanoke VA The Virginia Tech Culinary Institute is a series of modular units containing a restaurant, lecture hall, practice kitchen, and library. The repeating modular pattern is inspired by the industrial character of Roanoke, a city in which construction and building materials were once mass-produced. The rapid development of the region demands for the emergence of a new architectural solutions. Therefore, it became crucial for this project to reflect the past but not necessarily replicate its former or existing status. As a result, the proposal seeks to modify and reinterpret various architectural elements that are endemic to Roanoke. In the new set of units, the windows are enlarged and disproportioned in relation to the surrounding area, which produces a sense of openness in the interior spaces. Furthermore, the ground level places opaque doors at the entrance of the units instead of using a typical storefront entry in order to intrigue pedestrians and provoke their imagination of what lies in each unit. The primary materials used in this project are brick and satin black painted steel. Both components are commonly used in Roanoke, but also symbolically denote the industrial history of the area.
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living room Social Housing - Roanoke VA Our team proposal for Professional Practice presented a social housing unit in Lansdowne Park. The focus of the project was to provide a generous space for the residents included in the program. During discussions with the clients, people were generally unsatisfied with the living conditions of their social housing situation because they felt that the units small and unaccommodating. As a result, many of the residents spent less than a year in the neighborhood before moving somewhere else. Because of the unsuitable living environment only a few people established the long-term relationships that would be necessary in the formation of a community. The project aims to facilitate interaction between residents by offering a flexible two-story living space that can be used for social gatherings. Furthermore, colored doors in the exterior provide a sense of recognition between residents, and help neighbors identify their own entry. Although architecture does not necessarily provide a direct solution to the larger complexity of problems that exist in the community, the team hoped to generate a proposal that would allow social connections to emerge.
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Postface What I currently aspire is to learn and be exposed to the various means of creating architecture. During the design process, what I enjoy the most is thinking of the many possibilities that a building could take form. My project are simply driven by the excitement of the moment, that I believe is the soul of my work.