Ricardo Orfila Architecture + Parametric Design Portfolio
CV
01
02
THESIS
MARINE HQ
ARCH 5030
ARCH 3020
05
06
07
PAVILION
KASHIGATA
DUPIN CYCLIDE
BUILDING INFORMATION
DIGITAL FABRICATION
DIGITAL FABRICATION
03
04
NEOVIUS
MUSMECI
STUDIO 1
STUDIO 1
08 LOOP DOME STUDIO 2
RESEARCH
EDUCATION: Polytechnic University of Catalonia (2017-2018) Master’s in Parametric Design in Architecture Barcelona, Spain Universidad Nacional de La Plata (2014) Study Abroad Course La Plata, Argentina Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico (2010-2016) Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture San Juan, Puerto Rico
RESEARCH: CIUDADLAB: Berlin (2012) Berlin: Enduring Impermanence was a collective urbanism research project in which we analysed urban and political aspects of the German capital and its repercussions on the built environment. We concluded the investigation with a infographic and video exhibition in San Juan, PR.
PUBLICATIONS: Freeform Surface Rationalization with Triangles This is a chapter of a soon to be published document which talks about the pros and cons, as well as strategies, of surface rationalization while using triangles.
FLUENT IN: English Spanish
SKILLS: ArchiCAD AutoCAD Rhino Grasshopper Adobe Indesign Adobe Illustrator Adobe Photoshop 3D modeling BIM Arch. Modeling Teamworking Problem solving
CONTACT: 1.787.512.9165 rcrd.orfila@gmail.com linkedin.com/in/ricardoorfila
01 Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico ARQPoli ARCH 5030 Thesis Project
Thesis ARCH 5030
The idea behind this project surged after studying the public areas in the district of Hato Rey in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Due to the reliance on the automobile as main transportation method of the area, the public spaces have been predominantly designed for the vehicles and not the pedestrians; most of the public spaces and green areas are spread throughout the district and are mostly used for sports. During daytime, universities and the financial district ensure activity in the area. However, after work hours are done the district is left empty because most people commute everyday from neighbor towns. In the center of the financial district, at the intersection of the Luis MuĂąoz Rivera and Franklin D. Roosevelt avenues, next to the Roosevelt train station and Polytechnic University, we find an empty lot that shares the block with the Jose N. GĂĄndara park and is perfect for an urban intervention the can benefit the daily user of the area. The project intends to provide public amenities such as restaurants, bars, gymnasiums and office spaces while bringing new life to the currently under-used park as well as promoting the public transportation system. In order to densify the population of the area, and ensure night-time activity as well, 64 housing units have been added on top of the public programs with views to the rehabilitated park and the new plaza which connects the main avenue to the park through the building and under the train rails.
Leisure
Empty
Sports
Private
Unusable
Train stations
Train route
Main streets
Main avenues
Highways Low residential High residential Educational Health services Industrial Mixed use Multi-purpose Government
Initial site condition: Small pedestrian circulation areas around the park with an empty lot for intervention
Park area to be preserved and programmable area
Reduced footprint of programmable area in order to allow for a larger circulation area
Programmable area volume next to the train rails
Elevating programmable area volume in order to facilitate direct pedestrian circulation from the street to the park
Living quarters added on top of programmed area in order to increase area densification
Ground Floor +0’
Second Floor +15’
Nivel +15' SCALE: 1/32" =
Third Floor +30’
Fourth Floor +45’ Nivel +45'
Nivel +30'
1'-0"
0
16'
32'
64'
SCALE: 1/32" =
1'-0"
0
16'
32'
SCALE: 1/32" =
64'
1'-0"
0
16'
32'
64'
RE F
RE F RE F
RE F
RE F
RE F RE F
RE F
Fifth Floor +60’
Sixth Nivel +75' Floor +75’
Nivel +60' SCALE: 1/32" =
1'-0"
0
16'
32'
64'
SCALE: 1/32" =
1'-0"
Seventh Vivienda +87'Floor +87’ 0
16'
32'
64'
SCALE: 1/32" =
1'-0" 0
16'
32'
64'
Roof +183’
Nivel +183' SCALE: 1/32" =
1'-0" 0
16'
32'
64'
Basement -12’
Estacionamiento -12 SCALE: 1/32" =
1'-0"
0
16'
32'
64'
East Ele
evation
2 A-7
South Facing Tran
Secciรณn Oeste-Este
nsversal Section
Longitudinal Section Secciรณn Norte-Sur SCALE: 1/16" =
1'-0"
NE Facing Transversal Section
0
8'
16'
32'
West Elevation
North Elevation
02 Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico ARQPoli ARCH 3020 Student Competition Proposal
04 Ducha
02 Inodoro
marine hq
03
ARCH 3020
05
03 BaĂąo
02 04
This project was part of a sustainable design competition that took place in the third year of my undergraduate degree. The idea was to rehabilitate a beachfront abandoned structure in the north coast of Puerto Rico. The purpose of this rehabilitation was to turn it into a satellite office for Chelonia, a marine wildlife conservation organization, due to the amount of green turtles that nest in the beach. The design incorporated compost and water collection systems, solar panels and cross-ventilation as sustainability measures. The requirements for the programming were to have a space for providing first aid to the turtles, a public area for exhibiting marine awareness information, a living quarter for workers during night shifts, a small kitchen, a meeting room for presentations and a small office for local enforcement. The first floor has the turtle treatment area, the police enforcement office and the exhibition area. The living quarter, kitchen and meeting room are located on the second floor.
Existing Structure Section
+23'-6" 3
+23'-6" 3
+23'-6" 3
±0" 1
±0" 1
South Elevation
2'
±0" 1 l
4'-10"
+9' 2
2'
+9' 2
4'-10"
+9' 2
2'1"
7'
10'1"
2'
7'8"
4'6"
+23'-6" 3
±0" 1
Longitudinal Section
57' 10' 1'6
57' 10'-8"
32'-8"
34'
7'7
4'2
5'-2"
3'2
13' 13
1'5
21'
13'8
W06
W07
W18
7'7
W03
04 Ducha 09 Oficina
W17
12 Cuarto de cisterna
13 Cocina
15 Área de estar
17
W08
16'-11 3/4"
17 Terraza exterior
4'
05
08
04
12
07
39'-6"
11'
W19 13
2'3
06 W05
5'
14 Balcón W04
8"
16 Pasillo 11
14
18 x 5 21/64" = 8'
11
10
12
13
14
15
16
6" 3'-3"
18
7'
8"
4'5 07 Pasillo
05 Salón de Exhibición
01 Oficina de Policía
W22
W15
10'6
7'7
W10
10'-6 1/4"
08 Oficina W25
01
10 W13
6'
8'3 1/2"
W12
1'3
13' 57'
1'1
9
9
8
7
6
5
10 Área de conferencia
09
W01
5'4 1/2"
4
W21 15
03 Baño
02
8"
3
02 Inodoro
2
1
W09
06 Almacén
7'
7'7
34'-6"
34'-6"
34'-6"
18 x 5 21/64" = 8'
11 Baño
3'-3"
03
W16
17
UP
14'6
W20
W02
W11
3'
5'4 1/2"
3'2
8'3 1/2"
W14
W24
W23
2'7
57'
Ground Floor +0’
Second Floor +9’ Segundo Nivel 0
Primer Nivel
+9' 2
2'
4'
8'
SCALE: 1/4" =
1'-0"
03 Polytechnic University of Catalonia ETSAV - MPDA ‘18 Studio 1 - Form Finding Neovius Minimal Surface
NEOVIUS Minimal Surface
The study of minimal surfaces for architecture applications has grown in recent years due to advances in computational design softwares. Minimal surfaces are characteristically defined by being able to span given boundaries with minimum area possible. These qualities make them suitable for architectural applications; the material reduction produces cheaper and lighter structures. The challenge in this form-finding workshop was to generate a minimal surface using the Kangaroo Physics Solver plug-in for Grasshopper. The “Neovius� is a triply periodic minimal surface of genus 9 discovered by mathematician Edvard Rudolf Neovius. It is characterised by having 12 openings centered on the edges of a cube. The singularities present in the Neovius are of valence 8 and 12, on the center of the cube faces and on the vertices of the cube respectively.
Steps: 1 2
3
The approach towards constructing the mesh was to build the basic building block of the surface and then mirror, move and/or rotate it until the first face is constructed. Once the coarse geometry is achieved, the designer is able to connect them in any desireable way and implement the surface minimization.
4
Image source: E. R. Neovius. Bestimmung zweier spezieller periodischer Minimalflächen. Akad. Abhand-lungen, Helsingfors, 1883. JFM 15.0732.01.
5
04 Polytechnic University of Catalonia ETSAV - MPDA ‘18 Studio 1 - Form Finding Musmeci Bridge
Musmeci “ponte sul Basento”
The “Bridge over Basento” or Musmeci Bridgewas designed by italian engineer Segio Musmeci. His characteristic design for the bridge was derived from the study of form and force. Utilizing form-finding techniques like soap film and pre-stressed neoprene allowed him to achieve a particular design made of a continuos surface. Similar to a minimal surface, his continuos surface design maximized its structural strenght while minimizing the overall area. The idea in this workshop was to, given a valley-like topography, create a bridge with similar design in the Grasshopper environment. The design was made using the Kangaroo Physics Solver plug-in and then it was analized structurally using the Karamba plug-in. The structural analysis was composed of identifying the directions of the principal stress lines as well as identifying the highest and lowest utilization areas and those where the most displacement occurs.
1 Establish direction and placement of bridge mesh
2 Select upper bridge anchor points
3 Select lower bridge anchor points and target location on landscape mesh
4
Original soap film study model by designer. 1966.
Establish strength for bridge surface minimization on warp and weft directions
5 Final design Original rubber, rope and metal study model by designer. 1967.
Principal Stress Lines 1
Displacement Diagram
Section
Principal Stress Lines 2
0[cm]
3.02e +3 [cm]
Utilization Diagram
-1,591%
1,192.7%
05 Polytechnic University of Catalonia ETSAV - MPDA ‘18 Building Information - Shells Pavilion
Pavilion The idea in this workshop was to design a structure with three ground supports that can withstands a load of 150 kN/m2 being applied to a squared perimeter. It later had to be analysed using the Karamba plug-in. The structural analysis was composed of identifying the highest and lowest utilization areas and those where the most displacement occurs. The idea for the design was to create a concrete shell that would cover the whole perimeter creating arches between the support points. The structural analysis showed that the highest displacement was of .871cm.
F = 150kN/m2
Displacement Diagram
Section
0[cm]
8.71e -1 [cm]
Utilization Diagram
-10.5%
14.1%
06 Polytechnic University of Catalonia ETSAV - MPDA ‘18 Digital Fabrication - 3D Machining Kashigata
Kashigata The “Kashigata� refers to ancient Japanese molds usually used for confectioning sweets. Traditionally they are carved out of wood and have detailed designs. For this exercise, the challenge was to make a design that could be attained while utilizing a CNC milling machine with either a V-shaped, U-shaped or flat tip. In this exercise, the design proposal was driven by the shape in the surface of the water when water ripples meet. For this, two sets of concentric circles were intersected and bent along the center; once the curves were set, they were passed onto RhinoCAM where the tools for drilling were selected and the curves converted to paths. The V-shaped tip used produced different thicknesses and drilled deeper in some parts and shallower in others. The design was drilled in just 40 seconds.
V-Shaped Drill
©MPDA BarcelonaTech
07 Polytechnic University of Catalonia ETSAV - MPDA ‘18 Digital Fabrication - 2D Machining Dupin Cyclide
Dupin Cyclide
Design team: MartĂ Sais Mateus Sartori Ricardo Orfila
The main idea of this project was to rationalize a 3D surface with double curvature in the shape of a Dupin Cyclide into 2D triangle strips using CAD software. Once the surface was rationalized into strips, these were to be laser-cut and then put together to obtain the Dupin model. Three different methods were used for the surface rationalization. One rationalization was obtained by using the MeshMachine component from the Kangaroo Physics Solver; this one produced an isotropic mesh with 26 singularities. The second rationalization was a top-down designed mesh that had 21 singularities. The third was obtained by performing an anisotropic remeshing using the EvoluteTools application which produced a mesh with 14 singularities.
Shortest amount of strips possible
The striping of these three meshes was made with two different plug-ins in the Grasshopper environment. One was using the Ivy plug-in and the other using the Fox plug-in. The goal for the striping was to obtain the smallest amount of the longest, straightest and even-lengthed strips. Once the final striping was chosen, they were added flaps, numbered, nested together into four boards and sent to the laser cutter. The material used for the final model was plakene. Straightest strips possible
Longest strips while avoiding singleton strips with less than three faces
SINGULARITIES
Isotropic Mesh 5 vertices 7 vertices
13
SINGULARITIES 6
5
2.65709
SINGULARITIES
Designed Mesh
5 vertices 7 vertices
7
5 7
4.10960
4.18396
FACE VARIANCE
FACE VARIANCE
0.00034
0.00035
0.002963
AVERAGE 0.73372
AVERAGE 2.05595
AVERAGE 1.03559
NUMBER OF TRIANGLES
FACE VARIANCE
NUMBER OF TRIANGLES
Anisotropic Mesh Method 01
19.0
20.0
20.0
AVERAGE = 10.95
NUMBER OF TRIANGLES
Designed Mesh Method 01
Isotropic Mesh Method 01
2.0
Anisotropic Mesh
4
6
13
7 vertices 8 vertices 4 vertices 5 vertices
5.0
AVERAGE = 11.636364
2.0
AVERAGE = 11.541985
Designed Mesh Method 02
Isotropic Mesh Method 02
AnisotropicMesh Method 02
19.0 16.0
1.0
AVERAGE = 9.754839
1.0
AVERAGE = 9.540373
27.0
1.0
AVERAGE = 9.754839
25 ANISOTROPIC MESH
20
Angle Average
ANISOTROPIC MESH 02 15
DESIGNED MESH 01
BEST OPTION
DESIGNED MESH 02
10
ISOTROPIC MESH 01
5
ISOTROPIC MESH 02 0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
VAR (triangles per stripe)
VARIANCE (variance number of triangles per stripe)
Isotropic Mesh Method 01
2.0
20.0
AVERAGE = 10.95
The length of the strips was determined by the number of triangle faces that each strip had. The straightness of the strips was determined by the angle deviation from face to face of each of the strips. The chosen striping method had the smallest variance in lenght and the third best performance in terms of angle deviation. The final model was composed of 132 strips.
ANGLE DEVIATION (angle deviation average)
ISOTROPIC MESH
Method 01
10.17
15.40
Method 02
51.93
9.88
ANISOTROPIC MESH
Method 01
11.45
15.99
Method 02
89.63
9.83
DESIGN MESH
Method 01
11.43
22.37
Method 02
51.93
15.80
©MPDA BarcelonaTech
08 Polytechnic University of Catalonia ETSAV - MPDA ‘18 Studio 2 - Spherical Elastic Systems Loop Dome
Original photo by Andrés Flajszer
loop dome This was the core project of the Studio 2 course in the MPDA. The task was to create a spherical elastic system in the shape of a 6 meter dome while using bending-active techniques. The materials available for this project were either glass-fibre reinforced polymers (GFRP) or plywood due to their high resistance to bending forces. The challenge was to create a lightweight, affordable and/or easily assembled structure while maintaining the best surface fairness against a half-spherical cap and design the membrane covering for it. The students divided in seven groups ranging from 2 to 6 members and each made a proposal; the three proposals that best met the requirements were built. The Loop Dome was designed in collaboration with Victoria Eckhardt.
Design team: Victoria Eckhardt Ricardo Orfila
Challenge: spherical cap to rationalize
The idea behind the design was to bend a single GFRP rod in order to create a closed loop system. Experiments were conducted with physical and digital models in order to determine the optimal bending radius and loop configuration that achieved both structural resilience and surface fairness. Physical models were made with smaller diameter GFRP rods and the digital models were made with Grasshopper in Rhino. The structural analysis tested the dome’s resistance and deformations against wind; it was made with the K2Engineering plug-in for Grasshopper. Due to the amount of loops and material restrictions, the membrane was designed with a beach ball pattern composed of two identical but mirrored pieces placed 18 times in alternating fashion around the dome and a single nonagon shaped piece for the top. Due to the different elasticities of the material in the warp and weft directions, special considerations had to be taken when determining the correct scaling of the pieces and the appropriate nesting of them in the roll for cutting and welding. The final design was done with 179m of GFRP rod and a 28m x 2.2m roll of elastic membrane. It was assembled in only 3 hours with a team of seven members and it had a final weight of 128lb. This designed benchmarked in lightness of structure, its affordability and easy assembly. Rationalization strategy through loops
Assembly team: Mateus Sartori Alfonso Melero SebastiĂĄn SĂĄnchez David Gransewicz Camila Calegari Victoria Eckhardt Ricardo Orfila
membrane on structure
Membrane Details
Piece identifier membrane
Welding markers for top nonagon Control marks for lateral welding
membrane mesh with structure
A
Cut lines
Fold lines Sockets for strapping with structure
B A B
B
A
A B A B A C
B
A
B
A
B A B
40 mm
welding detail
membrane piece location map for welding
Original photo by AndrĂŠs Flajszer
Assembly Map
©Andrés Flajszer
research ciudadlab berlin
“BERLIN: ENDURING IMPERMANENCE presents the findings of a research team composed of Professor Oscar Oliver-Didier and a group of students from the School of Architecture at the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico. Prof. Oliver has developed an initiative to investigate the complexities inherent to the contemporary cityscape named CIUDADLAB. This nonprofit collective addresses the modes and representations that daily impact and inform our customs, identities and desires that are so greatly embedded into our built environments.” “On this occasion, 16 researchers travelled to Berlin, Germany in order to evaluate a place whose crisis of permanence have been felt on all fronts: crisis with the built environment’s memory, with the way in which emptiness (physical, demographical and economical) is dealt with as a city strategy, and with a charged ideological and political realm that, although relatively common and widespread in other places, are aggravated here by the historical situations that constantly haunt this European Capital. The lessons were many –and the weight of the past is heavy– but it is our understanding that important urban paradigms of the future are being developed in Berlin.”
- BERLIN: ENDURING IMPERMANENCE As part of this collective investigation, my contribution consisted of investigating the reasons behind the fluctuating aesthetics of the German capital, the political ideologies behind them and the repercussions on both the physical and cultural environment. Throughout we discovered that, after the fall of the Wall, the initial government strategy was to bring ‘starchitects’ to rebuild what used to be West Berlin and portray an image of power and prosperity in order to attract people. However, this capitalist attempt was not a succesful as imagined and the real public attraction was the artist movement that surged in the outskirts and what used to be East Berlin. https://issuu.com/oscarjoliver/docs/berlinciudadlab