THAINÁ GUINZANI ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN DESIGN PORTFOLIO
THAINÁ GUINZANI Tel. (716)578-4120 Email thainavguinzani@gmail.com Website thainaguinzani.myportfolio.com My name is Thainá, I am a Brazilian architect and planner, and a recent graduate from the University at Buffalo Architecture Master’s program with concentration in Urban Design. I have experience working with historic preservation, design, and urban research. I am especially interested in the dynamics of urban spaces and the social role of architecture and urban design.
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Master of Architecture/ Urban Design UB - University at Buffalo (SUNY), Buffalo, NY, USA Aug 2019 - May 2021 Science without Borders scholar (Exchange program) Architecture and Urban Planning UB - University at Buffalo (SUNY), Buffalo, NY, USA Aug 2015 - Aug 2016
PUBLICATIONS
Bachelor of Architecture and Planning UFF - Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, RJ, Brazil Mar 2013 - Dec 2018
SketchUp Adobe Creative Cloud Lumion Office
thainavguinzani@gmail.com
Website
thainaguinzani.myportfolio.com
Architectural Intern Dec 2020 - Present Clinton Brown Company Architecture PC, Buffalo, NY, USA • Visuals and reports for façade improvement projects • Design concept documents for NY Main St. grants • Design and visualization for the Lighthouse Point Park project in Buffalo, NY
Office/ Research Assistant Sep 2019 - Dec 2020 Center for Urban Studies, UB, Buffalo, NY, USA
• Managed the Center’s agenda, scheduled meetings, and answered phone calls • Assisted the director with document and research references organization (EndNote) • Created and consistently updated a new blog for CUS
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Structural design/ Technical drawing Apr 2017 - Dec 2017/ Sep 2013 - Jan 2014 UFF, Niterói, RJ, Brazil
• Created and graded assignments, monitored attendance, and answered student questions
Research Fellow Aug 2014 - Jun 2015 The City and the Law Urban Lab, UFF, Niterói, RJ, Brazil • Collected city data on urban legislation and created maps • Contributed to two research papers
VOLUNTEER
LANGUAGES SKILLS
ArcGIS Autocad Rhinocerus Revit
• Graded assignments, monitored students attendance, and planned and coordinated in-class discussions
Global Capitalism and Urban Regeneration Processes International Conference, Barcelona, Spain Sep 2015 NACIF, C. L. ; SOARES, A. C. ; GUINZANI, T. The urban space is not only money, but also resistance: Implications of the Port Area Renovation of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Barcelona, Spain. 2015
Native Language Fluent (TOEFL IBT - 2018) Intermediate
(716)578-4120
Graduate Teaching Assistant Architectural Theories + Architectural Sketching Jan 2020 - Dec 2020 UB, Buffalo, NY, USA
XV Latin American Geographers Meeting, Havana, Cuba Apr 2015 NACIF, C. L. ; SOARES, A. C. ; GUINZANI, T. Reflections on the effectiveness of the Socially Special Interest Areas (AEIS) in improving environmental quality and controlling the growth of slums in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Havana, Cuba. 2015.
Portuguese English Spanish
Tel.
Teacher at the Summer Academic Camp on Neighborhood Development Center for Urban Studies, UB, Buffalo, NY, USA Jul 2016 - Aug 2016
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GUINZANI
EXPERIENCE
EDUCATION
THAINÁ
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EDUCATIONAL PARK
Urban Design Project
Urban Research Project
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LINKED GROUND
Urban Design Project
GUERCIO’S WEST SIDE MARKET PAGE 6
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AEIS RIO
Academic Article / Urban Studies
Restoration Project
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STUDENT DORMS
Social Housing Project
POULA HOUSING
Architecture Project
CULTURAL CENTER PAGE 26 PAGE 38 PAGE 46
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GUERCIO’S WEST SIDE MARKET 2021 Graduate Urban Design Studio University at Buffalo Professor Nicholas Rajkovich Group project: Thainá Guinzani, and Isha Bubna My Roles: GIS Database, Mapping, Rhino modeling, Photoshop collages, Images post production Urban Design project focused on the West Side of Buffalo, NY. The studio project was a collaborative work with PUSH Buffalo in order to create a Neighborhood snapshot and plan, as well as design strategies for their Green Development Zone. Within that framework, this project proposes a Food Cooperative: Guercio’s West Side Market. It focuses on Guercio and Sons, an existing grocery store within the GDZ currently for sale, and a business that will possibly close down soon. Besides turning Guercio’s into a coop, the project proposes architectural and streetscape changes, aiming to establish a Food Hub on the corner of Grant St. and Lafayette Ave. 6
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EXPANDED GDZ
ORIGINAL GDZ
PUSH Buffalo is a non-profit organization in Buffalo, NY focused on affordable housing and community-driven models of sustainable economic development. They founded the Buffalo’s Green Development Zone (GDZ) in 2008, a place-based initiative anchored in a 25-block section of the city’s West Side. Since then, the GDZ houses a series of green affordable housing constructions, housing weatherization, green jobs training and urban agriculture projects. In 2019, they decided to expand the GDZ borders in order to benefit a larger area of the West Side.
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CHANGE IN LAND VALUE MAP 2015-2020
Miles 1/4
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65%
52%
17%
20%
1.7%
58 818 61 90 719
PUSH OWNED Parcels
CORPORATION OWNED Parcels
CITY OWNED Parcels
CITY PERFECT. Parcels
VACANT Parcels
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OWNERSHIP MAP 2020
CORPORATION OWNED CHANGE IN LAND VALUE MAP 2015-2020
Map 1 Legend:
Maps 2 and 3 Legend:
PUSH Owned
Decrease in value
Corporation Owned (LLC+INC)
No change in value
City of Buffalo Owned
0% to 50% increase in value
City of Buffalo Perfecting
50% to 100% increase in value
Vacanct Lots
100% to 200% increase in value
The main goal for the initial neighborhood snapshot phase was to gather and analyze data needed to make policy, programmatic, capital investment, design, and implementation decisions. For that, we have created a series of maps that display demographics, transportation systems, basic services, tree canopy coverage, ownership of land, land value, and vacancy (some shown here). The data presents an overall perspective of the neighborhood and an introduction to the pressures, challenges, and opportunities facing the community. For example, some pressing issues identified are the growing number of privitely owned land in the last five years, and when it comes to basic services, the lack a robust and well established network of food supplies and stores. When analysing more closely the GDZ’s food system, we see that most of the stores in the area are small ethnic family businesses (image to the left). With a large number of households with low incomes, inadequate access to transportation, and a limited number of food retailers providing fresh produce and healthy groceries with affordable prices, we can consider this area a food desert within Buffalo.
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GRANT ST. AND LAFAYETTE AVE. FOOD HUB FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
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A popular local market is an important place for social gathering, but also for access to healthy local grown foods. In Buffalo’s East Side, the Broadway Market plays that role while the West Side doesn’t have a similar establishment. For that, our proposal was to turn a currrent bussiness Guercio and Sons into a Food Cooperative. As illustrated bellow, we approached this project using the Theory of Change table to build our argument and develop the proposal.
What is the problem you are trying to solve?
- Food insecurity in the GDZ and the West Side of Buffalo - Lack of stores and access to healthy and affordable food in local grocery markets
Who is your key audience?
- GDZ community - Refugee groups - Local organizations like PUSH Buffalo GRANTS
What is your entry point to reaching your audience?
- PUSH Buffalo creating a food coop model initiated by local organizations and local stakeholders. LOANS
What steps are needed to bring about change?
- Community engagement - Initial research and outreach to local producers - Feasibilty studies - Secure financing - Renovation of the existing property - Launch the Food Coop
What is the shortterm change you see as your goal?
- Establishment of a food hub on the corner of Grant St. and Lafayette Ave. - Strengthen Buffalo’s food system, provide affordable and healthy foods for the West Side community
What is the longterm change you see as your goal?
- Economic development of GDZ, specially incentivizing development along Grant St. - Community upliftment and inter-generational work management. - Self-sufficient food system for Buffalo’s West Side
DONATIONS
MENBERSHIPS
CAPITAL
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In the context of distressed neighborhoods as the West Side, the recent influx of refugees have been raising questions of immigrantdriven revitalization strategies, and the role of these groups in the economic resurgence of their new communities. Spaces such as the West Side Bazaar and the Grant Street Bazaar play a vital role in the social infrastructure of the community, especially for these immigrant and refugee groups once they find a space to create small business initiatives.
INDOOR MARKET
STREETSCAPE IMPROVEMENTS
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GUERCIO’S DELI
FROM PARKING TO PARK
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LINKED GROUND 2020 Graduate Directed Research University at Buffalo Professor Erkin Özay The “Linked ground” research project is focused on downtowns of post-industrial cities, having Buffalo, NY as the main case study. By the exercise of mapping all voids within the city fabric of Downtown Buffalo, it proposes a more positive approach towards voids, understanding the network of voids as ground conditions. Criticizing downtown plans that aim to “reconstruct” downtown, this project states that the reconstruction of the downtown as it once was is not a grounded vision due to the lack of demand and unpredictability of the city’s future. For that, it proposes to explore the ground in order to understand the city better. Voids create new frontages, they can inform the likelihood of development of certain spaces in comparison to others, and they allow for different ways to explore the city. Should we preserve them?
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The research initiated focusing on the concept of Downtown, and how our understanding of downtown has changed overtime. One of the main ideas being developed was that in the case of a post-industrial city like Buffalo where there is a vast collection of voids, specially underutilized ones, they change our perception of the city. Looking at other American post-industrial cities, I was able to identify how highways define their downtown space. For that, two cities were selected for a comparative study to Buffalo, NY: Cleveland, OH, a downtown defined by a partial loop, and Rochester, NY, a downtown defined by a full loop. The three cities follow a similar pattern of voids, and they are also engaging in similar development oriented approaches to address those voids.
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portfolio+cv 2021 THAINÁ GUINZANI A series of large scale projects that involved infrastructural revisions: Canalside and the waterfront redevelopment, UB’s Downtown Campus, different BOA plans, the Riverline project, and now, possibly highway removals. But what is the future of Downtown Buffalo’s voids?
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CITY OBJECTS
CITY VOIDS UNPLANNED VOIDS (VACANCY RELATED TO ERODING CITY FABRIC) PLANNED VOIDS (OPEN SPACES, PARKS) SURFACE PARKING (INTENTIONAL OR NOT?)
CITY SIDEWALKS
CITY STREETS
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portfolio+cv 2021 THAINÁ GUINZANI The potential of voids From the investigation of the term “void” within Architecture and Planning, the project identifies the opportunity to rethink these spaces as what Kevin Lynch defined as the “openness of open space”. Voids can then be seen as open for active use and manipulation, open to view and understanding, open for access, new perceptions and experiences. When mapping these spaces within downtown Buffalo, why focus just on unplanned or underutilized voids? Especially when our perception of the city is based on voids. The proposal is that we instead focus on the continuous formation that allows pedestrians to experience and navigate through the city: the linked ground. And then what is the future of “voids”/ of the linked ground within post-industrial downtowns? The diagrams show two different approaches. First, the economic development approach that aims to “rebuild” the city. Second, the Landscape Urbanism approach, one that isn’t as present in downtown areas due to pressures of real estate. It has mostly focused on single family residential areas of cities where the demand for land remains low. The conclusion is: there is room and necessity to reflect on downtown with a fresh eye. How can we think of policies to criticaly determine which voids should be preserved as voids in order to preserve certain characteristics?
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EDUCATIONAL PARK 2020 Graduate Urban Design Studio University at Buffalo Professor Erkin Özay Group Project: Thainá Guinzani, Vincent Bianco, and Natasha Mendis My Roles: Rhino modeling and rendering, Images postproduction What happens in weak market cities after and in response to anchor-led developments? In this Urban Design project, the main focus is on the capacities of small developers, nonprofit organizations, neighborhood groups, and other civic organizations to implement small and medium development projects in vulnerable communities. The site of study is the Kensington Heights area in East Buffalo, a historically industrial area with a low-income community composed majorly of minority groups. Important anchor institutions in the area are Northland Workforce Center, Erie County Medical Center (ECMC), the new Albright Knox art gallery location and a number of public schools and churches. 20
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PARKING GARAGE
OUTPATIENT HOUSING
RECREATION CENTER
MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING GROCERY STORE
RESTAURANT MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING
DAYCARE HEALTH CLINIC
LIBRARY WORKSHOP
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CULTURAL CENTER 2019 Graduate Architecture Design Studio University at Buffalo Professor Kenneth MacKay Cultural complex on the edge of a section of the Erie Canal in North Tonawanda, NY. The water body, a very important element for the project, is heavily used during the summer months by small tourist boats and kayaks. The presence of water in the project is emphasized with the on-site decks, new ways to access water from the site. The complex has a projection theater, a small auditorium that can house small plays and performances, as well as art galleries.
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SECOND LEVEL
FIRST LEVEL
GROUND LEVEL
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POULA HOUSING 2018 Undergraduate Social Housing Studio Universidade Federal Fluminense Group Project: Thainá Guinzani, Rafael Resplandes and Victória Vieira My Roles: AutoCAD drafting, Lumion rendering As a social housing project, this was initially a study of the world’s current housing programs, their problems and qualities. Considering that in the Brazilian context, many of the government built housing complexes are located in areas far from the centers, in places not served by basic infrastructure services, this project proposed a housing complex in Rio de Janeiro’s downtown. The chosen site is the junction of several currently unused lots, and proposes the creation of two different apartment layouts, one with one-bedroom units and the other with two-bedroom units.
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HOUSING + SERVICES
HOUSING TYPE 1 STUDIO APARTMENTS
GROCERY STORE RUA DO SENADO
AV. GOMES FREIRE
RUA DOS INVÁLIDOS
COMMUNITY CENTER
HOUSING TYPE 2 2 BEDROOM APARTMENTS
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Walking distance to 1 km / 0.5 mile / 15 min
Health Care
3 nearby Public Hospitals
Education
1 Public school + Federal University
Arts / Culture / Entertainment
4 nearby Museums / 2 nearby Parks
Public Transportation
Central do Brasil (Buses + Trains + Light rail Terminal)
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Studio Apartments Typology Studio Apartments Typology
Studio Apartments Typology 2 Bedroom Apartments Typology 2 Bedroom Apartments Typology
2 Bedroom Apartments Typology
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STUDENT DORMS 2017 Undergraduate Restauration Studio Universidade Federal Fluminense Group Project: Thainá Guinzani, Igor Klein, and Isabella Valentim My Roles: Achitectural survey, AutoCAD drafting, Lumion rendering, Images post-production The Universidade Federal Fluminense’s former Student Dorms building from was closed in 2013 for lack of funds for its maintenance. Considering the growing number of students who come from other cities and states to attend classes at UFF, the university has a high demand for dorms, and the restoration of this property would be extremely beneficial for the academic community. Considering that the building would need a series of structural repairs, and seeking to improve its internal layout in order to house more students, the group initially developed a diagnosis to evaluate the building’s preservation conditions and then listed changes to be made to the spaces. 38
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STUDENT HOUSING + HISTORIC PRESERVATION
ANEX 1 3 BEDROOMS
DE AV. VISCON
DO RIO BR
ANCO
ANEX 2 4 BEDROOMS, BATHROOM AND SHARED LAUNDRY ROOM
1910s MAIN BUILDING
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RUA PROF. HERNANI MELO
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Walking distance to 1 km / 0.5 mile / 15 min
University Buildings All UFF campi
Food and Services
Nearby restaurants, local convenience stores and malls
Arts / Culture / Entertainment
Nearby Museums, Movie Theaters, Theaters and Parks
Public Transportation
Rio / Niterói Multimodal Terminal (Buses + Ferries)
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First Floor Plan - Before
First Floor Plan - After
Second Floor Plan - Before
Second Floor Plan - After
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CEILING DAMAGES
FLOOR DAMAGES
FAÇADE DAMAGES
Cracks or Broken Materials Stripping or Peeling Water Damage Black Crust Graffiti
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AEIS RIO 2015 Academic Article Universidade Federal Fluminense Group Project: Thainá Guinzani, Angel Costa, and Professor Christina Nacif Article written for the XV EGAL (Latin American Geographers Meeting) in Havana, Cuba in 2015. Considering the political events that took place in the city of Rio and the legislation produced and published on the internet on the city hall’s portal, this was a work of investigation and data collection. Taking into account other government programs that also affect favelas in Rio, the article reflects on the effectiveness of AEIS (Areas of Special Social Interest).
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= AEIS
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The public policies adopted for favelas have always been marked by removal. Beginning in the 1930s with the Agache Plan, favelas were placed out of “urban legality” and indicated for removal under arguments of public health. In the 1960s, during the government of Carlos Lacerda, removal of favelas was based on the city’s urban renewal. In the 2010s with Eduardo Paes, the speech was based on environmental risk, but in view of future mega sporting events (2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics), the city’s preparation to host those was the main action word.
Although AEIS are present all throughout the city, the slums declared as AEIS are mainly concentrated in AP2 and AP3. AP2 is the city’s Controlled Occupation Macrozone, where population density and construction intensity is limited, and AP3 is the Encouraged Occupation Macrozone, where population density, the intensity of construction and the increase in economic activities is stimulated. Similarly, it is in these regions where the resources of the security policy materialized in the Pacifying Police Units - UPP’s are concentrated.
Favelas and Areas of Planning (APs)
AP3
AP5
AP1
AP5 AP5
Remotions in Favelas = Favelas with remotions = Favelas without remotions
UPPs in Favelas = UPP
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Favelas. Brazilian Slums. These low income, unregulated informal settlements are heavily present in the city of Rio de Janeiro: there are over 1000 favela communities and they represent around 30% of the city’s population. In the case of Rio, the spatial distribution of favelas does not follow the traditional pattern of most large cities with their location on the geographical peripheries. Here the favelas define a pattern of social periphery, that is, they are interspersed in the formal areas. In an attempt to regularize slums, AEIS (Areas of Special Social Interest) were created.