My name is Robert Comas and I am an architect but feeling as a recently graduated one, with still so much to learn about many subjects. Cinema, theatre, sculpture, illustration, history or photography are disciplines with their own entity but they can also complement the study of architecture making this one a fascinating multidisciplinary topic. I’m from Girona -a town near Barcelona, in Spain- but lately the will of leaving my country and explore new opportunities and experiences has grown inside of me. The exchange time I spent in Boston, Massachusetts -invited with four more student by the Wentworth Institute of Technology- on the Mission Hill Workshop helped me on understanding that architecture can be seen in many different ways. And of course, being able to visit the different buildings of the great architects studied during the career -Frank Lloyd Wright, le Corbusier, Louis Kahn, Josep Lluís Sert, Alvar Aalto, Eero Saarinen...- was one of the most great experiences. So, in order to expand this knowledge, I’m currently looking for any job opportunity, exchange or collaboration in the architecture field, as well as in photography, design or modelling. I feel comfortable on working with manual methods such as draw by hand and building different scale models in order to approach to the projects and then to develop digital images and both 3D and 2D graphical documentation to explain them. Although I’m a four years old experience Spanish architect it would be great to learn other ways of understanding and seeing the world. So, feel free to contact me anytime.
curriculum vitae
Name Robert Comas Miralpeix Phone number 628687499 E-mail adress rcomasmiralpeix@gmail.com Place and date of birth Girona (Spain) April 16th, 1989 Website www.cargocollective.com/robertcomas
Academic formation Master degree in architecture · university of Girona. February, 2015 · qualification obtained: 7,32 · final degree project qualification: 7
Further academic formation “o Porto, o Douro e Gaia, propostas para uma nova orgánica” workshop · university of Girona. February, 2010 · teaching assisstants: Fabrizio Barozzi and Nuno Brandao Costa “Girona Charrette Day” workshop with Cardiff University · university of Girona. February, 2010 · teaching assisstants: Nadia Fava and Christian Suau “el viaducte i la ciutat” workshop · univeristy of Girona. September, 2012 · teaching assisstants: Elisabet Capdeferro, Josep Camps, Josep Fuses and Jordi Hidalgo “atelier sull’isola di San Pietro in Castello a Venezia” workshop · univeristy of Girona. February, 2012 · teaching assisstants: Fabrizio Barozzi and Mauro Galantino “Mission Hill” workshop with Wentworth Institue of Technology in Boston, MA · WIT: Boston, MA. July, 2012 · teaching assisstants: Nadia Fava and Manuel Delgado
Professional activity as an architect C2 Architecture · with Cecilia Gierer · www.c2-arch.com · student internship. September 2012 - february 2013 NUMUN Arquitectura · with David Caminero Rodríguez-Barbero · www.numun.cat · collaboration. February 2013 - november 2013 · creation of photorealistic images on the project of a single family house in Caldes de Malavella · collaboration on the refurbishment of a single family house in Caldes de Malavella, 2013. Arquitecturia · with Josep Camps Povill and Olga Felip Ordis · www.arquitecturia.net · student internship. April 2014 - november 2014 05 AM Arquitectura · with Joan Arnau Farràs and Carme Muñoz Ramírez · www.05am.com · junior architect. April 2015 - june 2018 · creation of photorealistic images on several projects · project leader on several projects of single family houses and interior remodelations, 2015-2018 · project leader and construction manager on the remodelation of a small apartment in Barcelona, 2017 · project leader on the refurbishment and extension of the library of Celrà, 2018
Professional activity as a teacher “Girona Charrette Day” Workshop with Cardiff University · guide and teaching assistant of a group of 10 students from Cardiff University · university of Girona. February, 2010 · teaching assisstants: Nadia Fava and Christian Suau “el viaducte i la ciutat” workshop · teaching assistant of a group of 10 students from the university of Girona · univeristy of Girona. September, 2012 · teaching assisstants: Elisabet Capdeferro, Josep Camps, Josep Fuses and Jordi Hidalgo architectural projects VI subject · teaching assistant of the architecural projects VI subject, with students from Wentworth Institute of Technology; Boston, MA · univeristy of Girona. February - June, 2015 · teaching assisstants: Josep Camps, Josep Fuses, Jordi Hidalgo and Manuel Delgado
Other activites Awarded competitions participation in the 57th exhibition of Temps de Flors in the doctor Oliva i Prat street · Girona. May, 2012 · with the collective Mosca, university of Girona students participation in the 59th exhibition of Temps de Flors in the Manuel de Cúndaro street · Girona. May, 2014 · with the collective Mosca, university of Girona students first prize on the I contest Temps de Flors in les Àligues patio · organized by the university of Girona. May, 2014 · with Daniel Costa Garriga and Carlos Suárez Kilzi participation in the Festival del foc i de la llum Lluèrnia · Olot. November, 2015 · with Daniel Costa Garriga, Marta Puig Parnau and Carlos Suárez Kilzi 1st prize on a public competition for the refurbishment and extension of the public library in Celrà · public competition, Celrà. July, 2017 · with 05 AM arquitectura gold mention on the Pinocchio Children’s Library competition · organised by Young Architects Competition. December, 2017 · with Aina Roca Mora
Other awards Patronat de l’Escola Politècnica Superior award of University of Girona · Girona. June, 2016 · best final degree project in Architecture, 2014-2015 course
Languages · catalan - mother tongue · spanish - mother tongue · english - B2.1 level. First Certificate in English by ESOL Examinations of University of Cambridge. June, 2007 · german - A1 level. Modern Language Office, university of Girona. June, 2012
Computer skills · Microsoft Office · Autodesk AutoCAD (both 2D and 3D) · Autodesk 3ds Max + VRay - 3ds Max course in L’Estudi academy, Salt. July, 2010 · Autodesk Revit - Autodesk Revit official basic course, Girona. July, 2018 · Adobe Photoshop · Adobe InDesign
Other activities · digital photography course - university of Girona. July, 2011
portfolio
december 2017 Pinocchio children’s library with Aina Roca Mora Young Architects Competitions awarded with a gold mention
Consolidate the paper factory riverside The project is understood as an oportunity on consolidating the useless space near the Collodi’s river. As an element of conection -visual and real- the library is located in the edge of the existing paper factory riverside. This new intervention is placed near the old paper factory -element added to the main proposal- but always respecting its volume and the void that must be around it in order to understand the whole complex with no distractions. To achieve that, the new Pinocchio Children’s Library is buried: as a contention element that bears the factory, it also creates a huge open space that surrounds the preexistence and permites to develop activities on it. One single entrance for three main spaces The main access is through the library’s new facade. Although all the elements that compose the whole cultural complex can function with independence one from the other, the aim of creating a unique reception space help us on redirecting people to the different parts of the program. As in a fairy tale that introduces you to a new world, the bridge that allow pedestrians to cross the river -understood as a magical frontier- get them to a new reality, a huge space from which they can go to wherever they want. Structural whale ribs The greatest doubt resided on how create a new element that could embrance the remaining functional program and at the same time create a breathtaking space for the kids to learn. To shape this element we proceed with a unique structural element that -as usually happens in the factory architecture- is repeated to infinity. Piking up some ideas from classical and modern illustrations of Pinocchio’s tale, we proceed on creating a skeleton -a sea creature skeleton- made with arches that could generate a great void that easily works as a library. Two functional zones In order to maintain the void under the archs, we decided to put the auxiliar spaces to the back so they do not interfere with the main ones. So, all the services -workshops, offices, stairs and bathrooms- are hidden behind a wooden wall that contain all the books for the kids and get light from the ceiling -and also enriching the section-. This strategy allows us to focus ourselves on the main space, where the library is located, that is developed in two levels. The upper one gets nearer to these structural ribs and the lower one permits a more silent working space, but always visually connected due to double spaces that hierarchizes the void.
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Consolidate the paper factory riverside
One single entrance for three main spaces
Structural whale ribs
Two functional zones
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conceptual images by Gustaf Tenggren
april 2017 sacred architecture in Tanaf with Aina Roca Mora Kaira Looro competition not awarded
The aim of the project is to create a shadow, through which the light and the air can dance and where people can stay quiet under it. Where are the animals used to go when they need to rest? Under the shadow of a tree. The extension of the branches and their leaves create a changing shadow on the floor that protect their skin from the sun. To achieve this, the project is divided in four conceptual elements: A platform, which separates the sacred space from the ground, provide a bench in all his perimeter and changes the section of the earth line. Could be done by concrete and shells of Casamance. This distinction in the pavement separates the interior from the dust and mud of the outside and gives a texture to the floor of the building. A roof, where his constructive branches will allow us to put on them a material that creates the shadow on the floor. One roof that projects a homogeny space under itself, there, everything can happen. This roof is done by wood beans which are supported by wood structural pillars. One pillar in the middle of the plan, provides of hierarchy the interior space. Four fabric and mobible partitions that permits this unique and single space to be four different things at the same time. This system provides a hierarchy to the whole project. These fabric walls are held by the same structural beams and can be moved depending on the requirements of the moment. These possible four spaces have a formal representation in the roof, working as a reclaim of what happens under it. A skin, like the one that surrounds us and separate the inside from the outside. Built using a constructive system that allows the air and the light cross throw it, but provides the interior with privacy and a new landscape to contemplate. This skin will be changeable, giving the whole building the possibility to have different entrances and places to sit.
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A PLATFORM It separates us from the ground, dust and mud
A SHADOW Sun, go away!
TYPICAL COURTAINS One homogeneous space or four possible spaces
A SKIN Separating the inside from the outside
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june 2016 site landmark in Sagres with Carlos Alberto Suรกrez Kilzi ARKxSITE competition not awarded
The site The Sagres parish was always linked to the military and naval activity, since its strategical situation makes it a unique control point between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Nowadays the area keeps its relevance as an important naval reference thanks to the St. Vincent and Sagres Lighthouse, but the site is also an important natural environment with its impressive topography formed by large cliffs at the point on which the vast plain lands drop dramatically to meet the ocean. This strong natural scenario which allows the visitor to contemplate the immensity of the Atlantic Ocean from an elevated perspective could be the frame for an inmersive experience with the nature and history of the site through an itinerary that connects the different landmarks in the area following natural paths linked by a simple element related to the place generating a clear route to follow, and with the different landmarks connected through it as “stations� in the route. Building with the site Even though the prominent natural surroundings of the Sagres area, there are some landmarks that define the personality and character of the place. Those landmarks are rooted in the landscape following the topography and being located close to the cliffs facing the ocean. Having that in common, the typology changes following the function, so the lighthouse will grow in height and the fortess will do the same but low and horizontally. The Site Landmark, being a place in consonance wit the area and with the will of having a low visual impact would introduce a third typological organization, growing deep and horizontally into the cliff, at its edge and facing the ocean, as other constructions do. Site Landmark The building comes from the idea of the preservation of the visuals in the site, a functional place that follows the existing paths diving into the cliff becoming an extension of the course but providing a different visual and sensorial experience avoiding the visual impact that a surface construction would have. So the landscape and its conservation, as well as the alternative experience, have the priority in the proposal. As a part of the path that is rooted directly into the cliff and invites you getting in, the visitor would also find a place to rest with a functional area. The experience is completed with a hole that opens towards the sky and allow the visitor to rest under the shadow of a tree just before going out through the corridor to contemplate the vastness of the sea. So the site becomes a new landmark which acts as a recovery and informative station within the route that goes from the Sagres Fortress to the Saint Vincent Lighthouse and back.
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february 2015 three doors (final master degree project) teacher: Josep Camps Povill grade: 7 awarded with Premi Patronat Politècnica (best final degree project 2016 in architecture)
A new facility building is planned for the main campus of the Universitat de Girona, specifically in the place that currently occupies the central auxiliar modules. The architectural proposal must read the urban guidelines of the place in which is located, as well as recognising the university’s own potiental to evolve.
urban analysis |
urban proposal
| architectural proposal
The response given to all these previous analysis is here formalized in small interventions that modify the perimeter of the campus -the perimeter-, recognise their main access points -three doors- and give the importance that must be in the central forest mass -the forest-; as well as in all the internal roads that rationalize the topography of the place where the university area is located.
urban analysis
| urban proposal
the perimeter
| architectural proposal
| three doors
| the forest
the perimeter
| three doors
| the forest
the perimeter
| three doors
| the forest
the perimeter
| three doors
| the forest
the perimeter
| three doors
| the forest
the perimeter
| three doors
| the forest
the perimeter
| three doors
| the forest
the perimeter
| three doors
| the forest
the perimeter
| three doors
| the forest
urban analysis
| urban proposal
the perimeter
| architectural proposal
| three doors
| the forest
the perimeter
| three doors
| the forest
door C
door B door A
the perimeter
| three doors
| the forest
door A
door B
door C
iconicity representativeness
functionality campus perimeter consolidation
public space playful activities
urban landmark
limit
square
the perimeter
| three doors
| the forest
the perimeter
| three doors
| the forest
the perimeter
| three doors door A
| the forest
the perimeter
| three doors door A
| the forest
the perimeter
| three doors door B
| the forest
the perimeter
| three doors door B
| the forest
the perimeter
| three doors door C
| the forest
the perimeter
| three doors door C
| the forest
urban analysis
| urban proposal
the perimeter
| architectural proposal
| three doors
| the forest
the perimeter
| three doors
| the forest 60
the perimeter
| three doors
| the forest
the perimeter
| three doors
| the forest
the perimeter
| three doors
| the forest
In order to proceed with this last part, it is necessary to understand that the same urban strategies proposed previously can be reused and help on the architectural project planning. Therefore, the strategy of location, very important when facing a context with so many inputs like this one, is of vital importance. So, the site chosen to develop the architectural project has been the central part of the campus -door C-, where the auxiliary modules are now placed. They welcome very diverse activities and in many cases are disused, which contrasts with the strong student activity that arises around them. Looking for the relation with what previously has been explained, it is tried to arrange the different pieces through three main concepts, the ones that have already been aplied in the campus analysis, although it is here when they take more value and are transformed into architecture.
urban analysis
| urban proposal
| architectural proposal
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may 2014 traรง with Daniel Costa Garriga and Carlos Alberto Suรกrez Kilzi photos by Daniel Costa Garriga temps de flors Girona 2014 first pize
Idea In commemoration of the 100 years of the birth of the catalan poet Joan Vinyoli, the intervention tries to express the idea of the literary and creative flow of the poet through its tool: the pen. In this formalization of the idea, a large pen produces a thick and colorful flowering in contact with the earth, leaving a stain or vegetal trace that represents the written formalization of the ideas, sensations and experiences that gave shape to the poetry of Vinyoli. Assembly The proposal is to build a 3 meters tall feather with natural materials, such as wicker and pampas grass, and anchoring a cane to the ground -functioning as the limb nerve of the feather- with a metal base. To this cane will be added the wicker yarns and grass to complete its formation. To other main element, the stain of flowers, is composed with a metallic net to which are added the red flowers, contained in little containers with water to guarantee its duration throughout the 10 days of the exhibition. The assembly and dissassembly of the intervention does not represent great technical complications and it can be carried out quickly to the place without interfering with the day to day of the building and its surroundings. Conclusion A simple intervention, clear for the visitor, visually powerful and also respectful with its near surroundings, remarking the strenght and sentiment of Joan Vinyoli’s poetry, but trying to avoid the literal interpretation of any concrete poem. An ephemeral intervention that includes the very same idea of poetry and creativity in within: the ink as the blood of the poet, a flower stroke as the materialisation of this idea in contact with nature.
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june 2012 la Giudecca city council teacher: Fabrizio Barozzi grade: 8,5
The new city council of la Giudecca will be located in the island with the same name, near the world wide known city of Venice. The site is located in between the basílica di San Giorgio Maggiore -located in the island with the same name- and the chiesa del Santissimo Redentore, both buildings built by the italian architect Andrea Palladio during the XVI century. The specific spot for the new Giudecca city council is located just in front of the canal that separates the island with the city of Venice. From the site you can see the basílica de Santa María della Salute and, far away, the Palazzo Ducale and the basílica de San Marco, important and omnipresents examples of the noble architecture of the city. The new building wants to understand these examples and introduce them to its own conception. The order, the layers and its representativity must be in the new city council so this can achieve its function. To get this, the project is simplified with three main concepts that are also mixed with the functional program given
the functionality All kind of architecture must be functional but for a city council is one of the most important concepts. All the offices and its relationship with the staff and also with the citiziens has to be carefully planned and studied. In this particular case, these elements close on themselves to visually relate them and also to create an empty but interior space: a new square that serves the people, as the city council does. the public space An interior void, understood as a closed square -like San Marco-, allowing the people to move freely through the building an also to the different offices that overturn to this empty space. the representativity And finally, but not less important, the tower in which is placed the plenary hall. A huge space, with extra height, that helps on placing the new city council on the map by starting a dialogue with all the towers of the different churches and basilicas of the city.
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december 2011 housing complex in Figueres teacher: Josep Fuses Comalada grade: 7,5
A new neighbourhood will be created in the city of Figueres during the upcoming years. The city, placed in l’Alt Empordà -characterized by its flat topography and strong north winds- is currently growing and there is a need to put some order on it. Every student is given a block in order to develop the personal project for it. Most blocks are pure rectangulars with a maximum height of seven floors. In this particular case it is given one of these blocks, facing a north-south orientation. To work with this conditioning elements it has been develop a strategy based on terraces and sun protections so the inhabitants would have a better control of the sun radiation and of the north wind as well. So, typical mediterranean courtains would give the desired protection during the summer meanwhile during the cold months a winter garden -a traditional gallery- would work as a solar collector and would heat the main areas of the house. It has also been developed three different apartment typologies. One with three rooms and a classical distribution for a family with two children, another one with two rooms and with a conception similar to the previous one and finally one with two rooms but with a continuos north-south living space in order to increase the ventilation and also to create a relationship place so the inhabitants would be able to use it as they please -office, two seasonal living rooms...-.
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february 2010 Oporto, o Douro e Gaia with Francesc Baró Sabé, Marc Gasull Morales and Carlos Alberto Suárez Kilzi teachers: Fabrizio Barozzi and Nuno Brandao Costa grade: 8
In a context of two sister cities divided by a sharp geography and the Douro river, the bridges are an important element of connection that sew the gap between the two cities. Those bridges though, are enormous infrastructures out of the urban human scale. The aim of the project is to provide both cities with a human scale connection, through a usable bridge. A Bridge Pavilion, that allows a pedestrian crossing between Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia, combined with cultural facilities as an outdoor theater that face the Porto side and serves as a viewpoint of the city landscape, and an indoor exhibition space that opens towards Vila Nova de Gaia side and gives dynamism to the urban area along the riverside. A new element that combines both urban infrastructure and cultural facilities.
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december 2009 library in Barcelona teacher: Jordi Hidalgo TanĂŠ grade: 8,5
One of the main singularities projected by the catalan architect Ildefons CerdĂ for the expansion of the city of Barcelona, during the decade of 1860s, was to break the corner of the blocks that composed the new urban grid. These chamfered corners are currently one of the most recognizables peculiarities of the city and the place chosen to be the palce for the new library. So, as CerdĂ wanted to liberate part of the density of the city with this gesture, the new library wants to do the same thing so its conception will be light and gentle to the citizienship. Shaping the plan with three different and pure figures -a triangle, a rectangular and a square- helps on organising and give hierarchy to the inner spaces. Two of these element are given to the main program of the library meanwhile the last one -the square- is used to place the staircase. The two facades have different conceptions as long as they also have different meanings towards the city. One is absolutely blind and the other have a composition of multiple windows -always according to the interior- since it turns over the main street -the Sant Joan road- and needs to show up some representitivity. The materiality of the library must be considered heavy and tectonic, as most of the facades of the expansion are built with stone and brick. To achieve that, the library is constructed with manual grey brick -a colour similar to the stone of the near buildings- bringing to these new facades a modern vibration and tridimensionality.
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october 2009 office for an architect teacher: Jordi Hidalgo TanĂŠ grade: 7,5
The Sant NarcĂs neighbourhood, a singular neighbourhood in Girona -a town close to Barcelona-, is the chosen one by the student to place a small office for an architect and a couple of eventual collaborators. This quarter was built in the fifties, during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, as a sleeping city that use to receive the workers with a job in the emerging and close city of Girona. The houses, fast and poorly constructed, follow the same pattern all over the zone: two storey white houses with an important backyard so they could use it as an orchard to feed themselves. Over time, the city grew up towards the neighbourhood and this use given to the backyward is currently long gone. So it is time to reconsider its utility. Mostly of them are now urban gardens and a few of them have little warehouses to store tools and other utilities. These elements are the ones that helped on conceiving the project as presented: a warehouse shaped office, creating a void between the house and itself understood as a garden, with a unique entrance from the outside. Made with concrete and wood, this element wants to be understood as a facade towards the house and the patio, with no more elements than a long horizontal window that brings light to the main workspace. The meeting room, separated from the workspace with self made shelves, gets its personallity from the concrete walls surrounding them and from the skylight that illuminate it.
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february 2009 house in Sobrà nigues teachers: Maria Pia Fontana and Àlex Sibils Ensesa grade: 9
A house in SobrĂ nigues, a small village near Barcelona, for a couple and its three children. The site is located in a liver-shaped plot with a little slope facing the river Ter and separated from the consolidated fabric of the main urban core. The first step was to place the new house towards the river, to the south, in order to increase the sun captation and also to look for the best views over the natural place. Taking as an example the Rinconada house -by the architect Antonio Bonet- the place is clearly divided in day and night zones, and relating them with a series of patios to avoid the north facing for the rooms and also to give a high quality exterior space to them. Patios in which there will be planted trees of feeble leaves so they will give us protection from the sun during the summer but in an opposite way during the winter. The main living area, the one that heads to the river, is understood as a one single and open space, with the kitchen in the middle -working as the heart of the house- helping on divide the living and the dinning areas withou closing these spaces on themselves. Two big and continuous terraces bring protection to these inner spaces -the living and the dinning- and gave him singularity as they fly over the river beneath. The house is also complemented with a service room, related to the kitchen and the living room, and a guest room with a private backyward so they do not interfere with the day-to-day life.
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