A dedicated young architect with a vibrant blend of Ecuadorian heritage and Italian citizenship. Honored graduate at Politecnico di Torino, holding a Master’s degree in Architecture for Sustainable Design. My affinity for art and hands-on craftsmanship dates back to childhood, a passion that blossomed into architecture during my early high school years. My trajectory has been driven by a profound interest in an architecture that harmonizes with the social environment and the intricate interplay between individuals and their surroundings. In my recently studies I further explored the modern concept of urban regeneration of the territory as a remedy for urban decay with ecosustainable interventions. I particularly like contemporary art and I conceive architecture as a refined play of form.
e-mail:
mirandamariabelen97@gmail.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariabelenmiranda
TABLE OF CONTENTS
RETHINKING POVEGLIA ISLAND
A Harmonious Fusion of Heritage, Sustainability and Innovation.
Team
M.B. Miranda
P. Mossavarrahmani
S. Thorp
R. Zeinati
My contribution to the project involved the development of architectural 2D drawings, created in alignment with the project’s design standards and requirements. This work was complemented by my active participation in defining the design concept and selecting technological solutions, based on thorough analyses and shared agreements within the team. Additionally, I managed post-production graphics and layout work using Photoshop and InDesign, ensuring high-quality visual outputs, and contributed freehand sketches to explore and effectively communicate design ideas.
Italy 2024
Isola di Poveglia, Venice,
Architecture for Heritage, YACademy Design Workshop
RETHINKING POVEGLIA ISLAND
ABSTRACT
The design proposal for Poveglia Island is based on an integrated approach that harmonizes its historical and natural heritage with a contemporary and sustainable vision. The primary objective was to respect and enhance the existing architectural structures and the lagoon landscape, striking a balance between architectural and landscape interventions. The project is conceived as a unified system that encompasses the entire island, from the northern and southern zones to the octagon. A detailed bioclimatic analysis guided the design choices, identifying strategic and vulnerable areas and enabling a thoughtful and sustainable use of the land. This process established a clear distinction between public and private spaces, ensuring their seamless interaction while preserving the island’s identity.The proposal aims to meet the needs of a diverse range of users: students, as required by the brief, as well as visitors and the local community. Public spaces have been strategically placed to foster economic and social activities, reimagining the island as a vibrant and accessible destination. Special attention has been given to universal accessibility, with barrier-free pathways and a fluid network of connections that link the various zones of the island. Landscape design plays a central role in the project. Fluid lines weave through lush green spaces, historic structures, and innovative installations, creating a harmonious and inviting environment. Key features include elevated walkways, multifunctional stepped terraces, and thematic gardens, which not only enhance the relationship between land and water but also address climate change challenges. Additionally, the project involves the restoration of historic areas, such as vineyards and medicinal gardens, which are reinterpreted within a contemporary framework to connect past and future. In summary, the proposal for Poveglia Island offers a sensitive and resilient response to the challenges of the lagoon context. It reimagines the island as a dynamic, inclusive, and evolving space—a living laboratory where nature, architecture, and community coexist in harmony. This vision positions Poveglia as a model for sustainable design, blending historical memory with innovative solutions for the future.
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Northeast area: closely connected to green spaces
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A HERITAGE TO BE REACTIVATED.
Rediscovering the past, shaping the future.
Parco della Pellerina, Turin, Italy 2022-2023
APS M.Sc, Politecnico di Torino M.Sc thesis project
A HERITAGE TO BE REACTIVATED
ABSTRACT
The project originates from the idea of experimenting with space to enhance its potential and certain aspects that have long awaited new possibilities for use. The goal is to reintroduce water not only to the city's imagination but, more importantly, into daily life. The intention is to reestablish the connection between water and the community, offering fresh opportunities for interaction and utilization, while also creating a sensory experience and a space for gathering and socializing. Through direct engagement with water, the objective is to craft a landscape that is not only aesthetically captivating but also functional, sustainable, and capable of enriching the quality of urban life. This will bring about substantial environmental benefits and foster a healthier microclimate. Significantly, there is a strong focus on environmental conservation, with an effort to adopt sustainable practices and technologies that minimize the intervention's ecological impact. This approach aims to preserve and enhance the landscape's quality, establishing spaces that harmonize with nature and promote the well-being of residents and visitors alike. An integral aspect of the new park design is the central water feature, which guides water through a series of aeration elements and cleansing wetlands, effectively filtering and enhancing water quality. This expansive reservoir, designed in alignment with the principles underlying bio-lakes and bio-pools, utilizes phytoremediation as its core system. The chosen water-purifying plants not only play a pivotal role in cleansing the water but also contribute significantly to the overall aesthetic. Water flows from the highest point in two directions, cascading, swirling, and bubbling before returning through the spillway. This ensures a constant renewal of water, drawn from the Dora Riparia and returned just meters away, thus initiating a new purification cycle. The channels at both ends of the basin have been shaped to facilitate water flow towards the adjacent walkable areas and to aid in the collection and conveyance of rainwater.
superficie in legno
punto di immissione acqua dal canale
canalizzazione bordo vasca
canalizzazione bordo vasca
Bacini con piante radicate o zone umide costruite
passerella galleggiante
Specchio d’acqua
Riqualificazione percorsi e aree verdi limitrofe
Bagni pubblici
Piscina Pellerina ponticello 3
Bocciofila
The design choices have taken into consideration the importance of preserving and revitalizing the surrounding environment. The process of crafting the space for the new body of water was guided by an architectural vision that revolves around the fluidity of forms, in harmony with the encompassing landscape. The shapes that define the design of the new water feature draw inspiration from the delicacy and softness of natural elements. The graceful lines pay homage to the elegance of water’s movements and its inherent ability to transform and adapt. These shapes have been reinterpreted in an innovative manner, while still maintaining a connection with the original design, with the aim of enhancing integration with the existing context. In fact, the project goes beyond mere architectural creation; it seizes the opportunity to elevate and celebrate the place itself. Through meticulous analysis of the historical context and the site’s characteristics, an effort has been made to pay homage to the history and identity of the location, seamlessly integrating architectural elements that echo its historical roots.
isola verde
Bar
pavimentazione in legno
all’aperto
ponticello 4
punto di uscita acqua al canale
canalizzazione bordo vasca
canalizzazione bordo vasca
nicchia di sosta
nicchia di sosta
gradone
CASA ALTA.
Warszawa, Poland 2021-2022
IDEAS B.Sc, Warsaw University of Technology
Architectural Design - Single Family House
Boernerowo,
CASA ALTA
ABSTRACT
Three interdependent volumes clad in light-colored bricks and fronted by large windows without borders make up the facades of Casa Alta. Designed to be located in Boernerowo in Warsaw, the house is articulated in space, generating concrete volumes that make up the passage spaces and their different atmospheres. Inside, the three volumes are arranged around two open areas of the house, the living room and bedrooms on different floors thus constitute an open space characterized by different openings. The supporting structure is in reinforced concrete which remains visible in the interior while the external cladding is in light bricks. The dark and patinated concrete contrasts the joinery of the pillars, flooring and cornices which instead introduces a softer and more natural tone to the interior. Sustainability criteria are taken into consideration and the use of renewable energy is envisaged: the study of solar radiation as a key factor for optimizing domestic energy resources, in fact the orientation of the facades and interior spaces are based on the cardinal points. For example, to the North there are the service spaces that have few openings as the more thermally dispersing side while the living rooms face South thus ensuring correct lighting and allowing energy gain during the sunniest winter days and avoiding at the same time the summer overheating. Another factor of considerable importance is the natural ventilation of the internal environments, in this regard the living rooms rise above the ground, limiting contact with the humidity of the ground. In addition, both in the lower part and in the upper part of the house, spaces have been designed that accumulate heat and the inclination of the roofs favor the evacuation of rainwater which is collected in specific points to be reused for irrigation of the garden. Finally, the flat roof is transformed into a green roof that allows, among many other benefits, to purify the air, reduce the temperature of the external environment and regulate the temperature inside the house. The arrangement of the blocks and the protrusion of the roof protect the large windows from solar radiation providing shade and try to keep the privacy of the most exposed areas protected.
South elevation, scale 1:100
Maria Belen Miranda
south elevation,
THE TELESCOPES
Team
O. Elkasas
I. Gravili
M.B. Miranda
My contribution for the following project was based on the common agreement of the project’s design and the choices of the technological solutions adopted based on the related analysis carried out in this regard; rendering with Lumion software; post production graphics and layout work with Photoshop and InDesign; freehand sketches.
Pré-Saint-Didier, Italy 2020-2021
APS M.Sc, Politecnico di Torino
The sustainable architecture project Atelier
THE TELESCOPES
ABSTRACT
The main goal of the design idea is to emphasize the territorial evocations while trying not to obstruct the panoramic views that characterize the site, in particular the view of Mont Blanc to the north. The location of the project area, longitudinal to the ground contour lines, was conceived as a strategy: an architectural element that fits almost seamlessly according to the terrain. The building is conceived as a set of volumes that vary in both height and depth, grouping around an internal courtyard that stimulates perception and creates an open space. The sequences of the rooms open towards the internal courtyard with mostly glazed facades. The glass walls provide a visual exchange between the inside and the outside, allowing users to experience the building, the surrounding landscape and the internal square as fluid spaces. The architectural composition aims to recall the “telescope effect”: a large front window that expands the view to the outside. In this way, we also try to establish mandatory views that the user finds himself in the environment looking outwards.
technological section T (°C) = 20°C U = 0.144 W/(m².K) Rw = 70 dB
portfolio, Maria Belen Miranda
Casting of
THE MANIFESTATION OF EMPTINESS.
Team
I. Gravili L.G. Mariella
M.B. Miranda
My contribution for the following project was based on the common agreement of the project’s design and the choices of the technological solutions adopted based on the related analysis carried out in this regard; 2D drawings; rendering, post production graphics and layout work; freehand sketches.
Bardonecchia, Italy
2020-2021
APS M.Sc, Politecnico di Torino Urban planning project Atelier
THE MANIFESTATION OF EMPTINESS
ABSTRACT
The architectural intervention was born with the intention of redeveloping a square which by its nature and position is a strategic and nerve center for the life of the community. The main goal is to improve and strengthen the opportunities for meeting and sharing in the square. The area of the square was in fact designed as a flexible space capable of adapting to the different needs of the Administration and therefore of the citizens. Flexibility is understood as activating the space in a different way throughout the day, the month and according to an annual program of events. The square wants to regain its function as a large container used as a social space, a meeting place through events, markets, fairs, musical reviews, concerts, historical parties and theatrical performances. The fluid and sometimes angular lines that mark the course of the entire architecture are an explicit reference to the skyline of the peaks that rise around the square.
The building is designed in harmony with the square in front of it, as a visual cone, in fact, emphasizes the view on it by focusing on the elements that characterize it. Among the most important features of the building are the large windows and the majestic roof covering. The large windows have been designed to capture as much solar radiation as possible, illuminating the interior and retaining its heat, especially in the colder seasons. Instead, the roof so imposing and sinuous in its forms was designed as a shelter, not only for the building itself, but also for the open spaces below it.
