Personal Porfolio by Nicolas Santamaria

FOR

YOUR

CONSIDERATION

AN ARCHITECTURAL PORTFOLIO

DETAILS/RENDERS + VISUALIZATIONS/ 3D MODELS PERSPECTIVE SECTIONS ILLUSTRATIONS COLLAGES

Nicolás Santamaría 2018-2021

It is a widespread mistake: people think the architect’s imagination is always at work, that they are continually inventing an endless supply of designs and solutions, that they simply dream-up their stories out of thin air. In point of fact, the opposite is true. Once the public knows you are an architect, they bring the characters, the events and the history to you and as long as you maintain your ability to look and carefully listen, these stories will continue to seek you out over your lifetime. A number of years ago, I decided to embark on a journey that would take me out of my home country and change my entire perspective on life. It is now that I feel confident in my premature academic training to showcase a selection of work focused on the depiction of an ephemeral quality, working out how to make it a reality leading me to projects involving light, views, and storytelling. Growing up loving films, literature, history, and other narrative-based created “spaces” has recently given me a passion for narrative-based illustration and imagining temporal sets or fanciful illusion-creating spaces. When I’m not working, you’ll find me reading and re-reading the wonderful prose of Haruki Murakami, drawing my surroundings in a local cafe or debating the latest social and economic topics with my friends over a beer.

selected works

ARCHITECTURAL PORTFOLIO Imaginary constructions

Nicolás Santamaría 니콜라스

2018-2021

Contents CURRICULUM VITAE 5 ACADEMIC WORK 9 NEGLECT, CONNECTION AND COMMERCE

LEICESTER AVIARY AND RESEARCH CENTRE

MICRO HOUSING

OTHER WORK

Traditional Architecture Group (TAG) - Design Competition

DRAWINGS, AND ARTISTIC EXPLORATIONS

PHOTOGRAPHY 48

CV CURRICULUM VITAE

NICOLAS SANTAMARIA PLACE OF RESIDENCE: London, England, UK EMAIL: santamariaorejarena@gmail.com PHONE: +44 7956224168 LINKEDIN: linkedin.com/in/nicolás-santamaría-1bb7161b1

About Me During my time at university, I took part in organising the charity events for the Squash society, including a 24-hour charity spin that helped raise over £800 for the Alzheimer’s Research Society. For 2 years I took several extracurricular courses that enhanced my experience with art at the Academia de Artes Fabula, where I practised photography, oil painting, and classical art. Some of my hobbies include playing Squash, watching flims, analysing cinematography and traveling around the world.

Key Interests in Architecture: Urbanism It develops the study which makes a city more sustainable analysing the role of the demands and resources of the world. It plays a crucial aspect of architecture as it determines how people interact with a set environment.

Restoration It enhances my perceptions of the world, and it helps me understand the evolution of people’s thoughts and how they’re linked to their cultural past.

Sustainable Design It is a practice that evaluates ideas from ecology, psychology and business, taking primary importance in today’s world, accepting a challenge in developing structures and networks, which can transform cities to be more sustainable.

Education: Leicester School of Architecture 2018-2021 Arts and Design foundation year at Leicester International Pathway College Jan-Sept 2018 Gap year in New Jersey, USA 2016-2017

PYP, MYP and IB at The English School Bogotá 2002-2016

Voluntary experience: Techo para mi pais (Colombia) - Recolector CoSchool (leadership programme/Bogotá) - Team Leader and Activity Organiser DMU Squash Charity Secretary 2019/2020 Mount Everest challenge/ Charity link 2020

Extracurricular roles: Member and first team player of DMU squash 2018/2021 Six Month drawing, painting, photography and Illustation course at Academia de Artes Fábula Member of the Bowling team at the Guaymaral Country Club (Bogotá) (Team player at the Colombian National Championship 2012,2014,2015) Member of the Swimming and Golf team at the Guaymaral Country Club (Bogotá)

Other skills: . Languages Spanish English French Portugese

NATIVE NATIVE BASIC CONVERSATIONAL

. Holder of full/current drivers licence since 06/02/2016 Software skills: Adobe Photoshop Adobe Illustrator Adobe InDesign Sketchup Pro AutoDesk Revit AutoDesk AutoCad Blender Blender Cycles Microsoft Office Pack

Competitions: Architizer ONE DRAWING CHALLEGNE Traditional Architecture Group (TAG) - Measured Drawing and Design Competition

References: Academic Reference: Vasilena Vassileva vvassilev@pplusstudio.com

AW ACADEMIC WORK

NEGLECT, CONNECTION AND COMMERCE

LEICESTER AVIARY AND RESEARCH CENTRE

MICRO HOUSING

NEGLECT, CONNECTION AND COMMERCE REVITALISING LEICESTER’S WATERSIDE

Architecture Studio 5 / Unit DNA / 2020-2021 Tutors:

Sylvester Cheung / Frank Breheny

Unit DNA encourages its students to search for architectural form through the analysis and interpretation of art. We were encouraged to find our own architectural identity by looking into the works of artists like Olafur Eliasson and Arturo Soria to interpret their concepts and ideas into the chosen site. The Waterside plays a key role in the historical development of the city of Leicester as it has evidenced the rapid change from a medieval city to modern industrialisation. The site sits in between the historical city centre and suburbial housing developments. Being neglected over time, the site has many challenges to overcome that come from the city’s needs and from the chosen studio pathway, which aims to revitalise the artistic community after the effects of COVID-19. The proposal explores the idea of an economical housing community that offers flexible working spaces on the building’s ground floor, allowing artists to live and work within the same space. The idea comes from the fact that over the past 15 years, the housing price increase in Leicester (189%) has been higher than regional (154%) and national (158%) rates of growth. It is also important that the housing plan responds to the needs of specific groups such as older persons, gypsy, travellers, and students that make the majority of the city’s population. Also, taking into account that the local economy is characterised by a strong and diverse small business community. In response, the building is composed of three types of flats 1, 2 and 3-bed flats, all to be pre-built and under 60sqm. The idea is to provide economical and modular housing where each flat will own a 4x4 space on the ground floor where the owner will have the liberty to create what they want with it. Also, the building is composed of a core with an inner courtyard/garden space where the artists can interact and elaborate their ideas. The design of the building is inspired by classical English Tudor housing found in the English countryside, and it is intended to give the site a glimpse of a historical past that has undoubtedly been forgotten today. Urbanistically the site’s main challenge is its lack of connection to the city as there are no roads or ample pedestrian footpaths that allow connectivity with the city. In contrast, the urbanistic proposal of this project is inspired by Soria’s Linear city as it aims to decentralise Leicesters city centre while giving importance to surrounding areas. To do this, there will be the construction of a new road that connects the suburbs to the site; this will be done by taking down three of the existing suburbial homes and aligning them to the new route. Also, a New Tram Line is proposed, and it is intended to connect the surrounding areas of the city with the city centre.

1- Local Wildlife Sites and Biodiversity Enhancement Sites According to the Leicester City council and as stated in the ‘LEICESTER WATERSIDE SUPPLEMENTARY PLANNING DOCUMENT’; The landscape of the Waterside is dominated by the River Soar and Grand Union Canal which converge at Soar Island. The river and canal provide habitats of high ecological value and are designated as Local Wildlife Sites. However, the network of footpaths is fragmented and access to the waterfront is limited.

2- Heritage and Townscape Assets Reflecting the area’s long history and importance, the Waterside contains a significant number of nationally designated and locally listed heritage assets. Both local and national policy puts the emphasis on the enhancement of heritage assets and the positive contribution to local character and distinctiveness that should be made through new development. The area around All Saints Church is designated as the All Saints Conservation Area. In broad terms, there is a general presumption against the demolition of buildings that make a positive contribution to the characteror appearance of the Conservation Area.

Anthisesis of Neglect, Connection and Commerce: The themes of these illustrations represent the opposite of Neglect, Connection, and Commerce. While commerce may still be a symbol of connectivity of the flats with the allocated spaces on the ground floor, neglect seems to have disappeared. Whether it be inside or outside the buildings, all these people, these modern idols, have something in common: they seem to be waiting for someone to take them out of their boxes ‘flats’ and interact with them... It is though through the relationship the residents have with the space that they discover new worlds and new beginnings.

LEICESTER AVIARY AND RESEARCH CENTRE Architecture Studio 4 / 2019-2020 Tutor:

Vasilena Vassileva

The Leicester Aviary and Research Centre is intended as a unique experience; a place for visitors to engage with extraordinary nature and foreign bird species. As visitors make their way across Bede park and through the gardens that connect the Leicester Aviary and Research Centre with the old Braunstone Gate railway station, they will see a bright, luminous building that appears to be both strong yet light, and which seems to invite them to take part of an unforgettable experience. I wanted the architecture to convey a sense of openness and multi-cultural mix for a building that provides an insight into the different nature that surrounds the world. The structure is composed of glue-laminated timber, making it very resistant while also providing extraordinary lengths. The 13-meter high structure allows several trees from different parts of the world to be imported into the site; creating a microenvironment that will enable various bird species to inhabitate the area. Imitating an origami, the wooden structure is covered with, fibreglass and a Teflon membrane. This is a waterproof material that creates a temperate environment, helping satisfy all natural creatures and vegetation that is needed for the Aviary. The building also hosts a floating island in the middle of the river Soar. The island depicts an 84-meter long microenvironment for local bird species. Unlike the tropical Aviary on top of the railway, the island serves as an open aviary for British bird species. To reach the upper floor, visitors can use the two lifts in front of the exterior garden, which leads to the main aviary space with its terrace on the sides and the rehabilitation centre. The large overhanging roof protects the façade from the weather in winter and provides shade in the summer. The roof is shaped to shelter from the cold in winter and to encourage breeze from the south in summer. The Leicester Aviary is surrounded by two gardens and the main exhibition space on top of the railway. The 1400 square metre garden is planted by foreign plants like bamboo trees and tropical palm trees. On the outside visitors are welcomed by an exterior park space that helps reduce the carbon emissions coming from the Braunstone Gate and the western blvd roads. This happens because of a small ‘forest’ located in front of Braunstone gate avenue. The ‘forest’ is a 200 square metre space situated 1.5 meters below ground level to protect the visitors from the main road, creating a natural barrier.

The project transforms what used to be an industrialised part of the city into a green park and bird conservation centre. Situated above the old Grand central railway, the building imposes itself as a powerful beacon of green and ecological architecture. In the illustrations/renders, the city is depicted as a place that values the importance of parks and animal conservation.

Realistic 3D model Render Vray for Sketchup, post production Photoshop

The image invites the viewer to join in the visualization of a realistic render of a life model. Set next to the panorama of the city, the scene was designed to showcase the proportions of the design and the impact it would have in this specific part of the city.

MICRO HOUSING Technology and Environment Studies / Autum 2020

Tutor: Jie Liu

The design of an environmentally friendly live – work prototype that might follow a micro, or modular, or portable, or temporary structural strategy and will serve as an exemplar for ideas informing how we might dwell and work now and in the future. The architectural response to this localised urban phenomena is to develop design proposals for a micro or modular unit that can support both living – as this report raises the question of where people earning as little as £3 per hour might live – and working – so that a machinist might perform their role without the risks of working in factories where fire escapes are blocked, or they are forced to use old technology and intensive labour practices. The overall aim is to speculate on how architecture might be used to imagine alternative futures. This project does not fall within an existing architectural ‘genre’ and so for research purposes will utilise aspects of micro – architecture, modular architecture, temporary architecture, and portable architecture. The proposal explores a live-work unit that encourages the production of gardening. The idea comes from an internal vertical garden that can accommodate lowweight fruits and vegetables while also having a self irrigation system. The vertical garden explores the division between live-work spaces as it aims to promote food production as a source of income and an economical way of living.

OTHER WORK

Traditional Architecture Group (TAG) - Measured Drawing and Design Competition

DRAWINGS, AND ARTISTIC EXPLORATIONS

PHOTOGRAPHY

Traditional Architecture Group (TAG) Measured Drawing and Design Competition

First design for the palace of Justice

Second design for the palace of Justice

Current Palace of justice

North side of ‘Plaza de Bolivar’

The history of the Colombian Palace of Justice goes back to 1948 when the original neoclassical style building caught fire during the events named ‘Bogotazo’ (a set of riots that lasted five days and destroyed most of Bogota’s historical past). After the circumstances, the building was replaced by a modernist style construction located south of the ‘Plaza de Bolivar.’ Built-in the 1960’s by architect Roberto Londoño it was later destroyed on the 6th of November of 1985 when the rebel group M-19 financed by Pablo Escobar attacked the facility killing everyone inside it. After the horrifying events of 1985, the building was again replaced by a similarly modern structure designed by the same architect as the one before in 2004, and it is the same building that stands today. After the attack, the current design of the Palace of Justice had a clear intention of imposing order and oblivion to project strength and stability in a city that has historically been consumed by the tragedy of political violence, corruption, and the long civil war that has displaced around six million people from their home. Considering the rich history surrounding Bogota and the Palace of Justice, the proposed design makes an homage to the grandeur of the previous building while maintaining the cultural integrity of the neoclassical-style buildings that surround the Plaza de Bolivar. Using a similar facade to the building of Congress located on the Northside of the Plaza, the redesign of the Palace of justice aims to unify the structures of the Plaza by adding a new construction that respects and values de heritage of its predecessors.

East side of ‘Plaza de Bolivar’

The new redesign of the building is intended to be seen as an act of mourning, paying tribute to the victims of the 1985 catastrophe inflected by the guerrilla.

Full Illustration of the New Palace of Justice Sketchup, post production Photoshop

Notice the colonnade and the main entrance of the building. Though it is designed as an act of mourning, it is also designed to impose. The New Palace of Justice is designed to demonstrate strength and stability while honoring the situations of its past.

DRAWINGS, AND ARTISTIC EXPLORATIONS

During the six-month course at Academia de Artes Fabula, Bogotá, I used different mediums to create art, starting by perfecting charcoal, graphite, and pastels, moving onto acrylics, and photo collages. When using charcoal and pastels, I chose a more traditional way of representing art by illustrating realistic portraits of life models and some family members. Studying the history of art, I understood the importance of perfecting traditional forms of illustration, allowing me to portray reality through drawings and sketches. Influenced by storytelling, the drawings are focused around a story, a central idea that encapsulates the meaning of the illustration. Growing up, I always found myself comfortable in the gray area of situations, meaning I always pursued a life of balance, spicifically of the modern and classical ways of living. Accordingly, my drawings, paintings, and illustrations all surround themselves within that gray area where life finally finds its balance. Drawing attention from personal experience, they’re focused on the balance and integrity of life.

Reinterpretation-Death and Life, Gustav Klimt: For the representation of this academic drawing of a skull, a background inspired by Gustav Klimt was chosen to contrast the academic purposes of the drawing. In the original painting, Klimt makes a modern dance of death, introducing notes of reconciliation and hope: instead of feeling threatened by the figure of death, humans seem to disregard it. Similarly, the colourful background of the reinterpretation offers the viewer a less severe version of death. Using vibrant colours it plays with the disregard of modern death.

Even though most of them are academic representations of reality, they intend to show an ephemeral version of truth playing with human perception.

Allegory of a long lasting summer (triptych, to the left): Men and women drift as in a trance with no control over the direction they take. The women on the water yield with sensuous abandon to the embrace of the waves. The family is blinded by the joy of their holiday while the father realises the loneliness of a future reality.

The Tropical kiss (collage, to the right): Photomontage of tropical Macaws found in the Colombian Amazon, over Gustav Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’.

The following drawings were all made during the six-month course at Academia de Artes Fabula. Focusing on improving technique rather than the story, the three drawings show an academic approach to life drawing and portraiture.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Bogotá, Colombia: In the case of the pictures of Bogotá (to the right), these were taken from different sides of the city’s international city centre. They invite us to reflect on the density of the Latin American capital, considering that it is located 2600 metres above sea level and is the home of over 8 million people. Because of the Altitude, Bogotá is characterised by its cold and rainy weather. Unlike other parts of the country, Bogota shares an average temperature of 12 to 15 degrees, a climate that is more similar to the temperatures of the UK during autumn or spring. Being on the middle of the Ecuator, Colombia, enjoys all thermal floors from glacial, moors, cold, middle warm and warm temperatures.

Trip to Chile: In the case of the pictures of Bogotá (to the right), these were taken from different sides of the city’s international city centre. They invite us to reflect on the density of the Latin American capital, considering that it is located 2600 metres above sea level and is the home of over 8 million people. Because of the Altitude, Bogotá is characterised by its cold and rainy weather. Unlike other parts of the country, Bogota shares an average temperature of 12 to 15 degrees, a climate that is more similar to the temperatures of the UK during autumn or spring. Being on the middle of the Ecuator, Colombia, enjoys all thermal floors from glacial, moors, cold, middle warm and warm temperatures.

FIN...