MARICELA CALDERON
PORTFOLIO
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Urban Pharm
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Inside/Out
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Borders + Boundaries
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Women in Architecture
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Modelmaking
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Artwork
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Urban Pharm Urban Pharm is an adative reuse project located in an abandoned mall in Bangkok, Thailand.The existing site is over 20,000 square meters and includes a 4500 square metered flooded basement inhabitated by tilapia and koi. The fish was added by the local merchants to alleviate a mosquito problem caused by the flooded basement. This community-based action became an inspiration in designing something that that could benefit a neighborhood rather than extract from it. With that in mind plus an extensive research on the history of Bangkok and the site, it was found that the neighborhood would benefit from having an aquaponic fish farm.
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“Architecture’s most urgent mission today is to convert chaos into order, change mechanization from a tyrant to a slave, and thus make place for beauty where there is vulgarity and ugliness.� Victor Gruen
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Timeline 1970 Number of high rise buildings in business districts increased strengthening Thai politics and international connections There was a rapid growth of population as there was an increasing number people migrating from the countryside. The once agricultural land around the city was developed into residential land and the newly developed villages sprung up and eventually integrated to become the city’s new districts. beginning of Bangkok real estate boom
1980 Bangkok kept growing with no fully restricting zone control and proper transportation systems 8% of land area is dedicated to streets as opposed to a city like London who uses a third, causing a lot of traffic Continuing escalation of Thai economy was key in constructing many grand scale buildings
1990 1997- Economic crisis hindered architectual development. Over 70 real estate projects in Bangkok pending, some sold to foreign owners, many left with half built structures. 6
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Bangkok was chosen because of it is a megacity and has ongoing environmental issues related to dense populations: pollution, and lack of green spaces. Also, an opportunity to work with a hydroculture allows us to play with the role nature plays in our everyday life, but more importantly how we deal with nature in a space undergoing rapid urbanization.
Hotels/hostels Restaurants Bars Medical Worship Traditionally, Thai life revolves around water. This waterfront community uses the Chao Phraya River as a natural community center with utilitarian and recreational uses. Its fertility and abundant fish was a reason it was chosen as a site by early settlers for their city. Eventually King Taksin positioned his new capital here. King RamaI founded modern Bangkok and built some of the world’s most captivating temples. Today however, the river faces the consequences of rapid urbanization and lack of development control. More and more people are moving away from the
rural areas and moving into the cities for economic reasons. This has lead to an increase in water pollution of the Chao Phraya River. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration collects 8,000 tons of trash daily. That and the fact that its boats use salvaged diesel truck engines that spew exhaust directly into the waterways has contributed to Bangkok’s largest environmental issue: lack of clean water. According to UNESCO, 70% of industrial wastes are dumped into natural waters used for water supply without filtration. .
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Neighborhood
Located in Bangkok’s central district, the site is surrounded by mainly hostels, restaurants, and commercial spaces. The streets however are lined up with flea market like stands. Originally destined to be a shopping mall, construction began in 1982 but had to be shut down in 1997 because of violated local building codes. The developers had gotten permission to build a 4 story building but what was built was 11 stories. Once the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration realized the violation, seven floors were destroyed and the building has remained abandoned was until this day. A fire in 1999 left the structure roofless and subsequently allowed the basement to flood and attract mosquitos. Angered at the infestation, local vendors released a few fish into the water, eventually multiplying and creating a 500 square meter ecosystem home to thousands of koi and tilapia. The occupation of the building by koi and tilapia was documented and went viral on the internet. The publicity led to multiple break ins.
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Intent The design intent is to repurpose an abandoned and decaying structure into something of relevance to the surrounding culture and environment. By embracing its current state we can celebrate symbiotic relationships. By using simple, visible design strategies these design principles may be easily reapplied to other environments where there has been an environmental or cultural shift. The site’s exposed and unfinished natural environment provides an excellent playground for experimentation with contemporary architectural movements. Physically, it becomes easy to envision the articulation of the various design details including: finishes, MEP, and circulation. The ability to see the skeleton of the building allows the designer to have a clear idea of the site they are inheriting. The most intriguing space in this inherited condition is the urban aquarium located on the ground of its flooded atrium. There are no light fixtures as it has been stripped to its bare bones and the roof allows a dramatic natural lighting. It is reminiscent of a cavern with its vast spacial void. One of the struggles of this project was figuring out an adaption that would be as intriguing as the site itself, something that would not deprive the locals of its unique attraction while addressing broader ecological and economic issues.
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Materiality
Reclaimed Steel Glass Concrete
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Aquaponic Process
Plants that grow well in aquaponics
Plants common in Thai cuisine basil onions coriander strawberries cucumbers chilis/pepper tomatoes yardlong beans shallots lemongrass kale
Plants take in converted nitrates as nutrients. Nutrients are a fertilizer, feeding plants.
This project is significant because it is tackles issues that are important to Thais like their water culture. They are in a water crisis and there is room for experimentation in small scale projects. There has also been talk and concern about a shortage of food caused by this and farming organic produce could be beneficial. By designing something with much more character and integrity this thesis project can humanize the site and reserve from its fate as an abandoned shopping center. It will add value to the community rather than extract from it. This project will also tackle global issues of environmentalism. It is a small step, but it is part of something larger.
Water circulates through whole system
The bacteria culturein grow beds and fish tanks then break down into Nitrates
Suspention feeders with shellfish recycle organic nutrients and excrete dissolved inorganic waste Seaweed absorbs inorganic waste and produce oxygen through photosynthesis
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Light +Shadow Diagrams
In order to introduce more natural light throughout the building, the concrete floors have been sculpted in a descending manner that takes advantage of the eastern and western sun.
Existing
Morning
Noon
Evening
Previous Variation
Final Variation
In order to multiply that effect, the floors have been cut in terraces in order to recreate that effect in more areas. This method created too many shadowed areas.
By terracing in the other direction, more natural light was introduced to each floor. Farmable area is now distributed thoroughly.
Average
3900 sqm 800 sqm
250 sqm
2,145 sqm
126 sqm
1,330 sqm
55 sqm
884 sqm
41 sqm 4372 sqm farmable land
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41 sqm 5,170 sqm farmable land
Concept Diagrams
Mutualism Symbiotic relationship where the program and community are constantly influencing and benefitting eachother. People benefit from the fresh food they produce while also allowing the fish to live in clean water. In the long term, the whole structure should be adaptive to the communities changing needs.
Expression By giving each program a relationship to farm space we place the importance on the understanding and sensitive relationship between man and nature.
Flexibilty + Development By lightly touching the site, the new materials introduced become ethereal and provide a high contrast between old and new. A large portion of the site remains untouched for future developments.
Scale Shift Breaking away some of the concrete and exposing the structure allows you to look at multiple floors and programs at once, making the space seem smaller than it is the more you get to know it.
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harvest zones and classrooms
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market
loading zone
theater
office
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20m
5m
20m
Existing store front is now the entrance to the market while the loading area is also repurposed for its original use.
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Street Access Floor Plans
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According to James Corner, the contrasting elements in landscape architecture, nature and manmade, provides room to celebrate their differences while also creating a holistic and phenomenological experience. By embracing these elements we choose to not ignore the ecological processes that are inevitable and crucial to our existence. We are not ignoring the damages, instead we learn from them and make the most of them. We are able to then educate the people on preventing these types of architectural failures and ways to deal with them. By addressing environmental consequences we could begin to develop new or uncommon methods to fix them. Designing a space that is conscious of its history and context will retain its allure and current utilitarian use for the locals that created it.
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Models
In a previous phase, areas deemed unfarmable were enclosed in an organic structure meant to hold all the other programs. These were meant to (take up) these areas on multiple floors as they naturally stacked upon one another. These intrusive structures were modeled using Grasshopper for Rhino.
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Inside/Out Inside/Out is a design-build community-based project in Houston’s Fifth Ward. The title refers to the way the built structure will function once it is reconstructed within an existing building, supporting it from the “inside-out”. Our client is a Reverend and his family who wanted a place for youth to go to after school. In collaboration with the Community Design Resource Center (CDRC), community partners, and stakeholders, we were able to design and build this structure at our college.
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Inside/Out
Adapting a Shotgun Storehouse for the Greater Fifth Ward
enlarged plan
Inside/Out is simultaneously an exhibition about Houston’s Fifth Ward community and a structure-in-waiting. The title describes both the way in which the design research is organized and the way in which the built structure will function once it is re-constructed within an existing building – supporting a dilapidated shotgun storehouse from the “inside-out”. The exhibition is a cross-disciplinary effort between the Interior Architecture program (INAR) and the Community Design Resource Center (CDRC) at the University of Houston, in collaboration with numerous community partners and stakeholders. The exhibition showcases research developed during the Collaborative Community Design Initiative, an effort organized by the University of Houston’s CDRC in 2013-2014. This research provided the context for a design/build studio co-taught by adjunct professors Jason Logan and Josh Robbins in the INAR program. Working with community partner Olivet Missionary Baptist Church in the Fifth Ward, the INAR 3501 spring studio considered the adaptive re-use of a “shotgun” storehouse into a public reading room and e-resource center. On the outside of the structure, visitors will find a selection of the research used in the studio to frame both the history and the context of the Fifth Ward. This out-side information influenced the design development of the inside structure throughout the semester. Inside the structure, visitors will find design process documents, models, and fabrication drawings developed during the three phases of the spring 2015 INAR design/build studio. These documents track the evolution of the design and how it is integrated into the project site. A “Projective Map” on the outside of the structure links the INAR project to the larger Fifth Ward community development strategies proposed by the CDRC. In doing so, the structure stands as a both a prototype for a way of making, and a prototype for sustainable commuMAP LEGEND nity development.
Circa 1976 Figure Ground
Circa 1976 Figure Ground When the design studio began in late January 2015, twelve third-year INAR students visited the site on Farmers Street where the shotgun storehouse is located and Building Foot Prints
GREATER FIFTH WARD , HOUSTON TX
began researching the history of the Fifth Ward neighborhood. Their historical research was later used to develop a time-line that places the community research from the CDRC within a broader historical perspective of the neighborhood. The students were then asked to individually develop concepts for an economical structure that would simultaneously stabilize the existing building from the interior and provide a new spatial environment that could both accommodate much needed archival storage and act as a community center/event space. Conceptually similar to a medical stent, which supports a vein from the inside, students initially worked within three structural themes for supporting the building: Thickening, Bracing, and Buttressing.
Greater Fifth Ward, Houston TX
Support Inside/Out would not have been possible without the generous support of two grants: A University of Houston New Faculty Research grant, and a Rice Design Alliance “Initiatives for Houston” grant. We would also like to thank former director of the Interior Architecture program, Gregory Marinic, and Director of the Community Design Resource Center, Susan Rogers, for their support and guidance. Additionally, Olivet Missionary Baptist Church, Pastor Robert Thomas, and the Thomas family for their trust and support; the invited critics and Insight Structures, for their input and guidance throughout this process. Finally, thank you to the spring 2015 INAR 3501 students, whose hard work, patience, and creativity have made this project possible. Students Christopher Al-Jumah Beatriz Arellano Maricela Calderon Jessica Garrett Grace Kim Kana Kim GREATER Kevin Pham Tania Rodriguez Priscila Rivera Martin Rodriguez Sara Skinner
Current Figure Ground
Current Figure Ground
MAP LEGEND Building Foot Prints
FIFTH WARD , HOUSTON TX
Based on common affinities found within the first studio review, students were grouped into three teams. The three teams worked for two weeks to synthesize the ideas that each member brought to the project. At the conclusion of the fourth week, each team presented to the client and a panel of critics. Rather than selecting a “winner”, comments were taken from the review to establish a more detailed set of constraints for the upcoming midterm review. The list of comments included:
Faculty
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Jason Logan is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Houston College of Architecture, where he teaches undergraduate Architecture and Interior Architecture design studios. Jason is also a co-founder and principal of Logan and Johnson Architecture LLC (LOJO). Jason received a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Houston.
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The structure should be open and flexible, allowing for multiple programming formats. A “front porch” is desired to shelter the entry and establish a social space that connects with the sidewalk and Farmer Street Large sliding doors that open onto a deck in the side-yard would allow for more intimate assembly formats, and could promote cross-ventilation through the structure. A shipping container, which will be used to store the structures components on-site temporarily, will be repurposed as an office, restroom, and kitchenette. The shipping container can be used to frame the garden and public gathering space in the side yard. Due to budgetary constraints, all schemes would use conventional framing lumber for a majority of the structure. More expensive sheet materials such as plywood would be minimized within the structure (at the connection nodes) to remove any complex cuts during fabrication. All midterm schemes would look at how the manipulation of a simple truss or brace along the length of the structure could create opportunities for natural day lighting and new interior spatial volumes.
Using this list, the three teams developed schemes within a more focused set of parameters, allowing the midterm review to consider a wider range of concerns, from more practical issues of budget and fabrication, to phenomenological conditions of light, space, and experience. At the midterm review, a final design scheme was selected by the client and critics. The design was chosen for its simplicity and legibility as a structural, formal and spatial interior structure that allowed for a variety of programs. Following the midterm review, the studio operated as a single design team. Each student had specific tasks assigned to them as the studio transitioned to a collective design development effort. Weeks 8-12 of the semester were used to develop the fabrication details, drawings and digital protocols for the fabrication process. In the final four weeks of the semester, students began to fabricate all of the components for the interior structure in the University of Houston’s Keeland Design Center. Following the college’s 2015 graduation and awards ceremony in the atrium, installation began on the structure and exhibition. At the conclusion of the exhibition, in early September, the structure will be disassembled, transported, and stored on-site until additional funding is raised for the reassembly of the structure within the existing shotgun storehouse.
JASON LOGAN
JOSH ROBBINS Josh Robbins is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Houston College of Architecture, where he teaches undergraduate Architecture and Interior Architecture design studios. Josh is a Project Designer with Logan and Johnson Architecture LLC (LOJO). Josh received a Master of Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Houston. Interior Architecture @ UH The Interior Architecture program at the University of Houston investigates the discipline by positioning the program in the reuse, adaptation, and transformation of existing buildings. By identifying opportunities for growth and expansion within existing structures, Interior Architecture provides an inherently sustainable approach to urban growth. Repurposing buildings, rather than demolishing them, reduces the waste stream and supports smarter strategies for growing our cities from within. Considering the forces of abandonment, obsolescence, and the social agency of Interior Architecture, INAR students work to develop projects that advance urban regeneration at an interior scale.
BURDETTE KEELAND JR. Design Exploration Center
INSIGHTStructures
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Redeveloping the Urban Fabric
Food Security
Creating neighborhoods where the healthy choice is the easy choice begins with the basics, access to healthy food.
Neighborhood
The strength and stability of a neighborhood impacts the health of residents through social engagement, ownership, and empowerment.
Public Space
Education
Safety
A healthy community is a safe community, and safety is influenced by how well a neighborhood is cared for.
Education is the foundation for our future, ensuring quality school environments and life long learning opportunities enhances economic success and community health.
Neighborhoods designed to promote healthy lifestyles have quality public spaces and the infrastructure to make it easy to walk or bike as part of a daily routine.
Priorities
Strategies Weave
Weave together programs that create Stack economic opportunity and build on strengths, history, and culture of the Introduce high-density and mixeduse development. neighborhood.
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Grow
Connect community gardens, schools, and corner stores, with new farming and garden sites to improve food security.
Thread
Improve pedestrian bicycle infrastructure along Lyons Ave. to encourage ctive modes of transportation.
Patch
Enhance existing park and trail infrastructure with public amenities.
Link Create new pedestrian networks that link existing parks, civic centers, and trails throughout the neighborhood.
Fill
Develop new housing on vacant lots that accommodates both younger and older residents.
Productive/ Social In the historic block configurations typical of the 5th Ward, the backyard was used as a productive space for cooking, cleaning, and any other household chores to be done throughout the day. In the evenings, residents would move to the front porches of their densely spaced shotgun houses to tell stories, share news, and recharge for the coming day. The communal urban typology promoted a healthy, social neighborhood, and laid the groundwork for the studio.
Social Zone
Productive Zone
Social Zone
Redeveloping the Lyons Avenue Corridor Using design strategies developed by the CDRC, the studio redeveloped the Lyons Ave. corridor to accommodate a variety of new housing types as well as pedestrian spaces and paths. By using a combination of dense mixed-use program and zones for public space, a more active and pedestrian friendly street edge is possible. To the North and South, new infill housing that combines units designed for younger, as well as older residents is built around a new network of paths, trails, and gardens to restore the neighborhood.
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Design Narrative Diagrams
Empty lot
Existing Site Conditions
Empty lot
Farmer Street
Breezeway
Ventilation Strategy
Due to the recent demolition of adjacent structures, the existing building possesses several opportunities related to interior/ exterior space, and passive cooling strategies not typical of historic shotgun structures in Houston.
Farmer Street
Opening the Entry
Farmer Street
Shipping Container
Deck
Screening the Back Door
Farmer Street
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In the existing building, the ceiling joists and the ceiling substrate act as a structural diaphragm. The stabilizes the building, but it creates a uniform interior spatial configuration that is indifferent to the conditions of the plan and the surrounding context. By conceptually twisting this structural diaphragm at the entry, the space is opened to the roof rafters, exposing a 16’ tall space and the opportunity for natural daylighting.
The twist of the ceiling surface is increased to screen the back door and create an area for storage shelving. A shipping container will be placed at the back of the site to anchor the deck and side yard.
Openings are created on the East and West facades to take advantage of prevailing gulf winds. On the West facade, the opening is enlarged to provide a connection to the side yard and garden.
Opening to the Deck
Deck
Farmer Street
Deck
In the rear of the building, the same twist is done in the opposite direction to promote circulation from the entrance out onto a deck in the side yard. Like the entry, the space is opened to the roof rafters, exposing a second 16’ tall space and another opportunity for natural daylighting.
Creating the Porch & Garden
Shipping Container Garden
Farmer Street
The front facade of the building is recessed five feet to create a covered front porch facing Farmer Street. A garden along the southern edge of the property will take advantage of the ample sun exposure, and it will help to define the side yard.
Parametric Process
Solve Intersections To maximize fabrication time and cost, complex intersections are resolved using milled plywood brackets.
Develop Surface Simultaneously braces the existing shotgun structure and develops a new interior environment based on site and program analysis.
Merge Overlapping Brackets Accommodations are made for brackets that overlap.
Divide Section Profiles Soften Edges of Brackets Thicken Frames
Radiuses are added to reinforce corners that are prone to shear by distributing loads more evenly.
Section profiles are offset based on structural requirements.
Prep for Installation Offset pilot holes and organizational tags are added to prep brackets for assembly.
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1'-0" typ.
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+ 7”
Storage
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1'-3 1/2"
CL
10'-6"
15'-3 1/2"
0’-0”
28'-2 1/2"
54'-6"
3"
3"
55'-0"
Exterior Deck
Office & Kitchenette
Side Yard
Restroom
Community Garden
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FARMER STREET
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0’-0”
+ 14”
+ 14”
13'-2"
14'-2"
Porch E-Book Store
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Models
1/8� scale model of a previous phase
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1-1/2� scale model of a 10 frame portion
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Borders + Boundries Borders + Boundaries was an investigation of border issues in eastern Europe, particularly the cities split into sister cities. In a joint studio with graduate students from TU Graz we were assigned a sports academy comprised of: sport fields, spa, childrens’ center, and more.
Within our studio we were about 14 different nationalities, making it a truely international program. We were split into groups of 3-4 and were tasked to design the master plan on a site shared by two countries, Austria and Italy.
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Part I: Artificial Connection
In order to bring the cities together there has been an importance placed on designing the masterplan in a way that gives each program a relationship to the river. By doing so, we are celebrating the border and minimizing its significance as a separator. To further accentuate the river, its form has been used to generate a grid by which to interact with the landscape. An effort has been placed in creating voids and interesting
effort has been placed in creating voids and interesting spaces around the river. By pushing, pulling, and extruding, we have created a system that allowed us to introduce an element of artificiality. The orthogonality juxtaposes the surrounding trees in nature. We were inspired by the success of the Munich Olympic campus whose flexibility of spaces allows for life to exist after
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Part II: Individual
The first section of the master plan includes the soccer academy, train station, and a social plaza. Because of the nature of any sports campus, we had to consider the fact that 90% of the time the fields would not be used. By making an effort to treat each void, including the social plaza, we are able to give life to all parts of the program.
1 2 3
1 Train Station waiting room tickets restrooms administration shop 1 shop 2 storage cafe
2 Football Academy
conference room/theater library entrance/reception administration restrooms medical teaching room laboratory storage
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Women in Architecture Women in Architecture was an installation exhibiting the accomplishments of female architects and designers of the last 100 years. In collaboration with various professors, architects, alumni, and students, we put on en exhibition inside the AIA in Houston, TX. I was part of the fabrication team.
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Opening Reception43
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Model Making
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An interior installation done through a digital fabrication seminar led by Michael Gonzalez.
Double section model of a drawing gallery from a 2nd year project.
Acrylic model of an interior installation inside a Houston skybridge connecting two commercial buil`dings. Based on 2001: A Space Odyssey 45
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Artwork Each painting is an experiment
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gouache on paper
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11”x14”
All acrylic on canvas
16”x20” 49
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24”x24”
All acrylic on canvas
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