Portfolio Rachel Roberts
Gallery 1
La Puerta 5
Structure Installment 10
Bus Station 13
Pavilion 17
Hiding City 21
Table of Contents
Minimalist Gallery King William District San Antonio, Texas
The concept for the Minimal Gallery came from the stacking shapes that I found to be most minimal. With this combination of stacked shapes, the spaces plug into each other for easy circulation and space definition.
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To keep the project minimum, there are two massive rectangular structures along with a cantilevered mass perpendicular to the two masses below.
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The first floor to the gallery has two parallel structures that allow for easy circulation, directing guests through halls, the cafe, education spaces and art display areas. The two main gallery spaces are located on the second floor where at cantilevering ends, guest can get a remarkable view of the neighborhood events taking place along the Blue Star property.
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Cafe
Gift Shop
Administrative Office
Workshop
Gallery Space
Circulation Space
Materials given to this poject are precast concrete and stained concrete. The silos used at the main entrance of the building are recycled from the Blue Star property.
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La Puerta
Bridging Plazas Barcelona, Spain
The concept of La Puerta unites three grid types that occur in the city of Barcelona. The medieval roman city is transformed to create the pavilion that one will have to encounter when walking along the bridge. The grids of the Barceloneta and the I’Eixample expansion creates the basis for the two connecting plazas. People can experience the transformation of the city grid growth through images projected on the fabric walls of the pavilion.
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The location of the pedestrian bridge is at a busy intersection for both the people and infrastructure. You can feel the break between the dusty crammed roman city and the open salty air of the modern port when transitioning from one to the other.
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A. A. The Eixample district in Barcelona is a strict grid pattern with wide avenues allowing for wide road space, sunlight and ventilation. Home to many Barcelona residents as well as commercial shopping stores.
B. During the late 18th century when the inner city was reaching it’s maximum capacity, residents were forced to build homes along the coast. It now serves as a place to enjoy the beach, nightclubs and fine dining. C. The gothic quarter of Catalonia is made up of chaos, crammed streets and endless amounts of history. Having ongoing attempts to separate itself from the rest of Barcelona, the gothic quarter has a personality of its own.
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People can experience these transformations of growth through images projected on the fabric that makes up the roof cover for the pavilion.
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Structure Installment Alamo Heights Community Garden Alamo Heights, Texas
The garden structure installment located in the heart of the city of Alamo Heights was designed and built to provide a meeting spot and shaded seating for the garden’s users. Two structures were designed and located on opposite locations of the site. Both structures were constructed of standard framing lumber with natural-color stain. The trellises providing shade are composed of galvanized steel tubes.
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Conceptual Stage:
The mix of geometry and connections mirrors the characteristics of a garden. Growing organically in which ever way it chooses to do so.
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Broadway Station Metropolitan Bus Station San Antonio, Texas
The concept for the bus station on broadway came from the idea of levitation, where an object can give the impression of floating in the air with out any support from below. An object does not use support and catches attention from viewers.
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The site being located in the downtown area of San Antonio uses its’ materials of brick to blend into the surrounding spaces and steel framed glass to allow for the look of levitation when glowing at night.
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This project transformed over time going from individual bus companies having their own terminals, to the restaurant being the levitating object floating in the air. The bus station recides and blends into the rest of the surrounding buildings on site.
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A
B
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C 15 ft
60 ft
43 ft 40 ft 39 ft
40 ft
28 ft 27 ft
16 ft 15 ft
16 ft 13 ft
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Pavilion
Leonel Castillo Community Center Houston, Texas
As an intern for Harris County, I worked alongside with members of Neighborhood Centers to design two proposals in which one would be chosen to be built for the community center.
The Leonel Castillo Community is dedicated to providing education to Houston natives, giving informative news about the local urban neighborhoods and hosting various types of events. Located just north of downtown Houston, the Leonel Community Center was once an elementary school and has since turned into a multi purpose building to serve the public of all ages. Neighborhood Centers Inc, the community development organization who founded the rennovation and birth of this community center were in need of an outdoor structure.
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The project considerations consist of; sunlight, preserve the view of the Houston skyline, perserve the hispanic culture of in the community, take advantave of the slope on site for seating, durability, maintenance and budget.
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Proposal 1. This pavilion is open for air flow, but aims to present two views. One view is on the south end facing Houston’s skyline, the other stages performances giving a view up uphill facing the community center. The painted cinder blocks weave through the platform to allow a view of the skyline if sitting on the hill slop, but also as a sound barrier as cars on I-45 pass near by.
Proposal 2. The simpler of the two, this pavilion gives an elegant modern look to the historic neighborhood area. Located just off the bike trail, anyone who is exersizing can stop to get out of the sun, sit and enjoy the great view of downtown. Viewers can bring chairs or a blankets and grab a seat on the hill to watch the events taking place at the community center.
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The site on which the pavilion is to be built, was also a need of a retaining wall. The City of Houston is currently constructing an ongoing bike trail that weaves through the entire downtown area. As interns, working with the City of Houston and Community Center’s development committee, we were able to design the retaining wall and watch it be built in phases from start to finish.
Concrete cap
Existing parking lot foundation
Thick sand bedding Reinforcement pin
Lime slab subgrade Fill
Crushed aggregate Limestone
In-situ soils
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City for a Risky Future_No Future
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Hiding City A City Underground
“
A primary reason that people believe that life is getting worse is because our information about the problems of the world has steadily improved...� - Ray Kurzweil How To Create A Mind
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The Infrastructure Explained Located at the edfe of a landfill, infrastructure is hidden below ground where a city inconspiculousy exists
The Site The construction began on the solid ground at the edge of a landfill. Permanent buildings for the city are set in a solid center long along the landfill’s edge. The Hiding City is now most dense along the line, but now branches off on all sides.
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Precedent The hiding city is based off of the high-tech architecture and design principles of Richard Rogers. The Hiding City is not seen from the exterior by any means, making the inside-out design methods idea. Section drawings by Richard Rogers can be compared to the section drawings for the Hiding City. Unlike section drawings of this city, seeing this city in plan view does not showcase the complexity of the infrastructure.
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Growth In a world of war and chaos, there was no where else to go but down. Using tunnels and drilling methods, the Hiding City grows to accomodate the growing population for it’s citizens.
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City in Plan View The dense city branches out into the trash where the buildings are strategically placed so infrastructure goes unnoticed when it pops up to receive natural light.
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RLR
G r a i nWo r k s Woodworking became a hobby of mine that was taken up following my graduation from the University of Texas at San Antonio. RLR GrainWorks showcases handmade cutting boards and cheese boards. I purchase rough lumber from local hardwood stores in the greater Houston area and mill the lumber in house.
No two boards will ever be the same.
(Image to the left) Tow cheese boardsmade of cherry, maple and walnut . Sizes very per requiest or function. Single top hole for hanging
# R L R G r a i nWo r k s
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Thank You