Olga Bracamontes
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Content Academic Work 1 Seattle Public Library : Facade Case Study
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2 Perception
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3 Around the Corner
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4 Canyon
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5 Ola I Kai Wai : Water is Life
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Design Competition 6 Phoenix Canal Corridor
Sketches/Paintings
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Seattle Public Library: Facade Case Study
ADE 521 Advanced Architectural Studio I Instructor: Darren Petrucci Fall 2014 Location: Seattle, Washington
The intent of this case study was to analyze the functionality of the building skin and how it integrates with the building program.
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2 Perception ADE 521 Advanced Architectural Studio I Instructor: Darren Petrucci Fall 2014 Location: Phoenix, Arizona Concept: Strengthen collaboration between ASU Downtown Campus and the City of Phoenix by reorganizing the program in such way that while each entity has its own space, there are moments for closer interactions. By lifting the corners of the building, it will bring different types of spaces appealing to a varied public.
Due to its ‘block appearance’, everybody’s perspective of the University Center is the same, although the program varies within the building.
The objective is to shift everybody’s perspective of the building through perforations and peeling to create a student, businessman, and a citizen’s perspective; all different, yet act as a whole.
Create the new identity of ASU Downtown Campus through changing perspective upon the University Center and reorganizing the program, such that ASU and Phoenix can work individually and collaborate at the same time.
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Bookstore
Cafe
Public Park
Lobby
The corners, along with the public park area, offers the public a perspective into the building. The edge is peeled off from the ground, exposing different programs. Although the University Center is a place for ASU and Phoenix, each corner acts differently.
Law School Taylor Mall
Echelman Sculpture
Hotel Westward Ho
Downtown Skyline PURL
In addition to perspectives into the building, there are six different ‘moments’ that look out from the building. Each moment unique, located in different spaces framing a specific view throughout the city.
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Level 1
Level 2
Level 5
1. Existing coping stone 2. Rebar 3. Existing brick veneer 4. Spandrel beam 5. Perforated corten steel 6. L Plate 7. Expansion bolt 8. Metal grate 9. Ribbon window 10. Beam
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Shape of color applied on corner changes based on point of view
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Around the Corner
ADE 621 Advanced Architectural Studio III Instructor: Andrew Weed Fall 2015 As part of a multidisciplinary studio, we looked at colors very closely to understand their relationhip with each other. Our studio traveled to Mexico City and Oaxaca to explore the use of color through its colonial architecture, culture, and other methods. The colors utilized for my project are derived from color study assignments throughout the semester. This pavilion explores the perception of depth through color. Inspired by Luis Barragan’s Capuchinas Chapel and the work of Georges Rousse, the project merges architecture with the use of color to create different perceptions of space. A series of layered corners create the form of the pavilion, in a way generating a similar effect of light entering the space.
Orange on top of blue
Blue on top of orange
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4 Canyon ADE 622 Advanced Architectural Studio IV Instructor: Michael Rotondi Spring 2016 Location: Glendale, Arizona
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The purpose of this project was to propose a design for the new HYSA school, to be located on the ASU West Campus. HYSA, Herberger Young Scholars Academy, is a non-traditional school for highly gifted students in grades 7-12. We were asked to look at various educational models to assist us with this project and see how we can begin to apply certain key aspects towards a holistic educational model while encompassing the values of the HYSA program. The future of education will consist of the integration of nature and technology to create a balanced learning environment. The aim of this project is to use the garden as a learning lab that allows students to interact directly with its elements to learn. By doing so, the educational system will connect students to the life that surrounds them. The school is beyond interaction with students but also about creating relationships with the community and the environment. The unique interactions that occur will not only teach the students about nature but eventually the students will apply their discoveries to build a better future. It is also intended for the students to learn, collaborate and apply their findings throughout the communities; spreading seeds of knowledge.
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1. Community Garden 2. Classroom 3. Lounge 4. Library/Lounge 5. Utility 6. Storage 7. Staff Restroom
8. Staff Workspace 9. Staff Workspace/ Conference Room 10. Drama/Music 11. Faculty Office 12. Maker Space 13. Courtyard 14. Student Restroom
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Level 1 - Planting and maintaining the HYSA campus Level 2 - Collaboration with the community garden while creating environmental awareness Level 3 - Stewardship
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The three levels of my educational model rely mainly on collaboration, because it is crucial to learn to build relationships with your peers and the community. Level one consists of nurturing and maintaining the school, such as planting throughout the campus. The students will watch the school grow along with them throughout the years and see the product of their caring work. Level two is working with the community garden, by building relationships with community members they help create edible produce for the public and the school. Level three refers to the student stewardship. Students will have the skills and capacity to apply everything learned at the school to help other communities create and/or manage their own community garden.
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STEP 1
RATIONALE 5
Ola I Kai Wai l Water is Life
Watershed determined life
Privatization of watershed
+ MUD 590 Advanced Urban Design Studio I & II Instructor: Chingwen Cheng/Darren Petrucci Fall 2016 - Spring 2017 Location: Honolulu, Hawai’i Participant of “Make the Ala Wai Awesome” Student Design Challenge by The University of Hawai’i Team: Catherine Ruggiero, Chandler Willie, Kristin Antkoviak, Leah Gibbons, Li Chunpeng, Nicholas Knoebel, and Nicholas Weller Over the past year, our transdisciplinary studio has been working with Hawai’i Green Growth, a public private partnership, to look into a nexus of systems that will address the organizations’ goals for 2030. We traveled to Hawai’i twice to meet with various stakeholders, ranging from public to private organizations. The intent of these meetings was to learn more about the indigenous culture, Hawai’is current situation in regards to food, water and energy, and understand what the future of Hawai’i could be. As participants of the design challenge held by The University of Hawai’i, our group proposed four key design strategies where each strategy engages indigenous knowledge to create the foundation of a regenerative, contemporary ahupua’a where private rights have public responsibilities. In addition to these design strategies, we have also created a toolkit document that guides community process toward watershed restoration and a video that is an accessible narrative of our project.
Private rights have public responsibilities
EXISTING CONTEXT High flood risk and concentrated value.
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Indigenous Practices
Industrial Development
Responsive
Degenerative
Contemporary Ahupua’a Waterhoods Regenerative
By using indigenous Hawaiian knowledge and practices that were implemented to create prosperous, vital, responsive Ahupua’a systems, current degenerative industrial practices can be transformed into those of a contemporary Ahupua’a to be prosperous, vital, and regenerative.
STEP 2
EMBED INFRASTRUCTURES Remove Ala Wai sidewalk and realign inside Ala Wai Canal. Remove lower part of ManoaPalolo Stream and realign with its natural course through golf course.
STEP 3
GUIDING PRINCIPLES Spirituality•Reciprocity•Responsibility•Vitality•Prosperity These principles form the core of our approach to ecosystem restoration; flood mitigation; community education and engagement, cultural connections; community access, mobility and recreation; and economic health and resilience.
NEW ADAPTIVE INFRASTRUCTURE Wetland detention and filtration system in golf course, and urban stormwater storage/ parking in new development.
STEP 4
STORM EVENT New infrastructure increases resilience to storm events.
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Waterwalk View along the Ala Wai: The existing sidewalk is reconceived as a floating boardwalk connected to a 4’-0� retractable storm wall in the Ala Wai Canal. The original location of the sidewalk is replaced by a new stormwater filtration bio-swale.
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Watercourse View from hotel along the Ala Wai: The lower Manoa-Palolo stream is redirected through a new wetland golf course that flushes the stagnant end of the Ala Wai, and creates a more natural edge to the canal. This edge, combined with the new development opportunity where the river used to be and floating Waterwalk on the Waikiki side, creates a pedestrian circuit connecting both sides of the Ala Wai Canal.
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Waterview Aerial View of the Ala Wai Waterhood: A new public private partnership is established by the Waterview development, the Watercourse public golf course, and the Waterwalk along the Ala Wai Canal creating a robust cultural/infrastructural amenity for the water management and storm protection of Waikiki and the surrounding neighborhoods.
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Watercourse The watercourse wetlands and ponds help restore stream flow, control flood waters, purify water, and create opportunities for cultural engagement and tourism. It also provides space for community members to engage in ecological and cultural education, stewardship, monitoring, and recreation.
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OLA I KAI WAI I WATER IS LIFE
WATER IS LIFE FROM RIDGE TO REEF Indigenous Hawai’ians understood water is a source of life and treated it as such. Currently, water is treated as an inconvenience, nuisance, and danger. It is channeled, contained, controlled. Regenerating the Ala Wai Ahupua’a requires treating water as a valued source of life. RATIONALE Private rights have public responsibilities
Privatization of watershed
Watershed determined life
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current land value
Industrial Development
Responsive
Degenerative
3 WATERVIEW
polluted lake
-Public-private partnerships that funds other design strategies -Lower-level parking garages flood to store stormwater -Living roofs and walls provide flood mitigation and utilized by community members for recreation and small-scale food production -Footprint creates inviting ‘stormwall’ between the golf course and neighborhoods to the west -Mixed-use, meeting many community needs and creating community resource -Indoor and outdoor spaces for education and cultural events, community and student engagement and meeting spaces -Connects Waterhoods with Watercourse and Waterwalk
golf course stagnant Ala Wai
STEP 1
STEP 1
EXISTING CONTEXT
Stream redirected into golf course wetland connecting to end of Ala Wai Canal.
High flood risk and concentrated value.
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Indigenous Practices
WATERVIEW
ALA WAI CANAL
Newly created land for development to help fund overall design strategies.
existing sidewalk floating sidewalk + bioswale
By using indigenous Hawai’ian knowledge and practices that were implemented to create prosperous, vital, responsive Ahupua’a systems, current degenerative industrial practices can be transformed into those of a contemporary Ahupua’a to be prosperous, vital, and regenerative.
Waterview Section
-Local centers for watershed restoration, regeneration, and community engagement -Local communities prioritize and coordinate watershed restoration efforts -Creates natural experiments in watershed restoration; Waterhoods pursue different restoration and community engagement strategies, monitor results, and learn from each other
WATERHOOD TYPES + SOLUTIONS
CONSERVATION
realign natural stream course
Contemporary Ahupua’a Waterhoods Regenerative
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-riparian buffer areas -ecocultural & restoration tour -educational facilites & progr
STEP 2
STEP 2
EMBED INFRASTRUCTURES Remove Ala Wai sidewalk and realign inside Ala Wai Canal.
New mixed-used towers organized and oriented to optimize views of golf course and Diamondhead.
Remove lower part of ManoaPalolo Stream and realign with its natural course through golf course.
Develop linear cultural park between towers with subterranean floodable parking garages.
new urban development and value
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
LOW DENSITY -large rain gardens -bioswales -green roofs -distributed community agriculture
STEP 3 NEW ADAPTIVE INFRASTRUCTURE Wetland detention and filtration system in golf course, and urban stormwater storage/parking in new development.
MIXED-USE/COMMERCI limited flooding extent
The Ala Wai Ahupua’a was a prosperity system for all life that, through spirituality and the resulting values and actions of reciprocity and responsibility, perpetuated vitality throughout the system and fostered regeneration of the system as a whole. Spirituality: the awareness and experience of belonging to the
larger, interconnected community of life, of the purpose and meaning of life within this context, and the development of personal and community values and actions out of these Reciprocity: mutual exchange, dependence, action, or influence Responsibility: the state or act of being responsible, answerable, or accountable for something within one’s power, control, or management Vitality: life force and capacity to live and develop with meaning and purpose Prosperity: the condition of thriving, growing and developing vigorously
-green roofs -parking lot reduction/conve greenspace -investment opportunities for community programs
STEP 4 STORM EVENT New infrastructure increases resilience to storm events.
MEDIUM DENSITY 2
-rain barrels & cisterns -green roofs -small rain gardens -community gardens -pervious pavements
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These principles form the core of our approach to ecosystem
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restoration; flood mitigation; community education and engagement, cultural connections; community access, mobility, and recreation; and economic health and resilience.
HIGH DENSITY DESIGN STRATEGIES We propose 4 key design strategies: planning can begin within 12 months:
1 Waterwalk: Boardwalk + passive flood protection = amenity armament (12 - 48 months)
2 Watercourse: Golf course + wetland = recreational ecology (48 - 72 months)
3 Waterview: Retention + development = infrastructure fund (48 - 72 months)
4 Waterhoods: Storm-watershed + neighborhood = distributed
watershed management (12 months - ongoing)
Each of these strategies engages indigenous knowledge to create the foundation of a regenerative, contemporary ahupua’a where private rights have public responsibilities.
1 WATERWALK - Floating walkway connects people to water and nature, provides recreational space, actuates a floating stormwall - Wetland and floating vegetation improve water quality and create habitat - Bioswales with native vegetation capture and clean stormwater and connect users to Hawai’i’s ecocultural roots - Creates economic and social value for local businesses and community - Platform for community engagement in ecocultural and scientific education, stewardship, monitoring, and recreation
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-green walls & roofs -rainwater capture -permeable parking lots & conversion to greenspace -permeable sidewalks 8 6
1” = 300’ Watercourse Key: 1 Waterview 2 Golf Clubhouse 3 Pond 4 Diverted Stream 5 Wetlands 6 Boardwalk + Bioswale 7 Canoe launch 8 Retention Basin
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2 WATERCOURSE - Restores stream flow and wetlands across beautiful, functional, world-class wetland golf course - Wetlands and ponds control flood waters, purify water, and create opportunities for cultural engagement and tourism - Provides space for community members to engage in ecological and cultural education, stewardship, monitoring, and recreation
RESORT
-reinvented landscaping: rain gardens, bioswales -ecocultural tourism support -educational programs
4808 Existing Condition
Modified Area
View along the Ala Wai: The existing sidewalk is reconceived as a floating boardwalk connected to a 4’-0” retractable storm wall in the Ala Wai Canal. The original location of the sidewalk is replaced by a new stormwater filtration bio-swale.
rism rams Flood Event
New Watershed Infrastructure
Waterwalk
View from hotel along the the Ala Wai: The lower Manoa-Palolo stream is redirected through a new wetland golf course that flushes the stagnant end of the Ala Wai, and creates a more natural edge to the canal. This edge, combined with the new development opportunity where the river used to be and the floating Waterwalk on the Waikiki side, creates a pedestrian circuit connecting both sides of the Ala Wai Canal.
Existing Condition
Modified Area
IAL
ersion to
Flood Event
New Watershed Infrastructure
Watercourse View of Diamond Head from the Waterview development: The relocation of the Manoa stream affords a new real estate opportunity that capitalizes on extraordinary views of Diamond Head with the newly designed Watercourse golf amenity in the foreground. Revenue from this private development is used as capital for the building and maintenance of the Waterhood strategies.
Existing Condition
Modified Area
Flood Event
New Watershed Infrastructure
View of Diamondhead from Waterview
Aerial View of the Ala Wai Waterhood: A new public private partnership is established by the Waterview development, the Watercourse public golf course, and the Waterwalk along the Ala Wai Canal creating a robust cultural/infrastructural amenity for the water management and storm protection of Waikiki and the surrounding neighborhoods.
Existing Condition
Modified Area
“Make the Ala Wai Awesome” Student Design Challenge Submittal Board
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New Watershed Infrastructure
Waterview
existing canal zones 01natural
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area of focus 02 rural
03 suburban
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concept phasing proposal .03 urban densification of 6
key city challenges
Phoenix Canal Corridors
Competition: This is Phoenix Fall 2016 In collaboration with Kevin Murney Location: Phoenix, Arizona
walkability
mixed use development is centered around intersecting nodes of mass transit and canal corridors to create connected, vibrant, and dynamic city communities
lack of public spaces
.02 mass transit networking links
We propose to focus the future urban development and identity of Phoenix to be organized around existing canal infrastructure. Creating continuous paths along the canals would provide alternative transit corridors overlapping with the street grid layout of the city, to better serve and connect inhabitants. Mixed-used development could be planned at strategic intersecting nodes of canal and street corridors to create well connected and dynamic community centers. Canal corridors could additionally serve as linear parks winding through the city to provide much needed shaded and passively cooled public outdoor space, that is easily accessible and inviting to exploration and discovery.
canal corridor light rail route and surface street buses at intersecting nodes of major streets and the canal community
mass transit
lack of density
.01 continuous path of canal
corridor is freed of surface street interruption via bridges and tunnels, to serve as both a public linear park and a travel corridor to link PHX and its inhabitants
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city is a surcae street grid layout containing low density megablocks which divide canal corridors
Phoenix block grid layout
typical canal block
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7 Sketches/Paintings
“Drawing is thought extended through the fingertips.” ~ Sue Gussow Sketching has taught me to be patient and observe my surroundings carefully; it is through this that I can highlight and depict what I see in a place, essentially creating a picture. I have learned to see beyond what an object is but rather read as a myriad of lines and shapes. My drive for drawing has grown since my first study abroad trip in Europe in 2012. Being able to sketch in cities that I’ve seen through pictures for many years has been truly rewarding. In addition to sketching with ink, I’m working on exploring different mediums such as acrylic, watercolor and oil pastels.
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