Portfolio 2022

ECO-Nest

The ECO-Nest proposes a modular, component based urban system to be installed in Governors Island in New York City. Inspired by concepts of video game urbanism and designed to provide refuge from the bustling city, the system is flexible and expandable to accommodate growth. The raised platforms allow the system to permeate the existing coastline, blurring the demarcation of land vs water and allowing it to function even under flooding conditions in the future. Designed from a “catalog” of different functions, the new urban proposal would enable a certain form of “glamping” (which already exists on the island) as well as new functions of play, meditation, and urban circulation.

Location: Governors Island, NY

Year: Summer 2022

A series of components was created, each able to connect with the other to create a flowing urban fabric raised on stilts and be nestled in a sort of artificial canopy.

Each of the components can be clustered into a larger series, each with individual programs. The resulting cluster “catalog” could then be aggregated further, creating an even larger fabric with each cluster “villages” being interconnected.

cluster v3

COMPONENTS

• Play

• Circulationv.1

• Circulationv.2

• Generate

• Meditate

cluster v2

COMPONENTS

• Play

• Circulationv.1

• Circulationv.2

• Generate

cluster v1

COMPONENTS

• Play

• Circulationv.1

• Circulationv.2

• Generate

The raising of the components came at the face of sea level rise and flooding conditions that Governor’s island faces. By raising them, not only can the fabric continue to expand even after coastal areas are flooded, but the coastline is permeated, providing interest both on land and on the water.

Phase 1

ECO

ECO-Nest

Location: West Coconut Grove, Miami, FL

Year: Undergraduate 2nd Year

Semester: Spring 2022

Professor: Shawna Meyer

Voxel in the Grove proposes a multi-family affordable housing complex in West Coconut Grove built entirely of a hybrid Southern Yellow Pine, 5ply CLT and Glulam column structure. A voxelized mass would surround a communal courtyard, with small terraces connected by metal catwalks on upper levels, creating an exterior circulation to access most of the units. The 16 differently shaped units give a range of options, providing a village like space nestled into the forest-like structure, creating a diverse community in the complex, one which promoted diverse interactions between its inhabitants

Voxel in the Grove proposes a multi-family affordable housing complex in West Coconut Grove built entirely of a hybrid Southern Yellow Pine, 5ply CLT and Glulam column structure. A voxelized mass would surround a communal courtyard, with small terraces connected by metal catwalks on upper levels, creating an exterior circulation to access most of the units. The 16 differently shaped units give a range of options, providing a village like space nestled into the forest-like structure, creating a diverse community in the complex, one which promoted diverse interactions between its inhabitants

Rather than randomly “pixelating/voxelizing” the mass of the structure, the anatomy of a tree was used to base the form of pixelation. The first floor would be the “trunks,” pulled back and split into separate masses, creating large spaces punctured by glulam columns, as if one was walking through the forest. The second floor would extend significantly out over the first, as if they were the base branches, the thickest ones that extend the most. The third floor, while still branching out would be “thinned” out, much like the branches of a tree when you go up. The fourth floor would house a roof terrace, with very little mass, reflecting the canopy of a tree

A recycled engraved steel facade cladding would envelope the wooden structure, which combined with the metal catwalks for exterior circulation would flip the typical narrative of steel being used for structure and wood for cladding/ornamentation. The panels themselves will have pixelated images of the southern yellow pine forests where the wood was sourced engraved on them. The image itself would be split into four different “levels,” so that as you go up the floors, it is also as if you’re rising through the trees in the forest.

Impractically Practical

To create the diverse range of unit types, a system of panels was devised and placed along the 9’ 9” grid (tailored specifically to account for the standard CLT panel dimensions) created for the mass of the building. Walls were strategically placed to create rooms, thus shaping the different unit layouts. This was done instead of creating a repetitive system, to be able to provide the diversity in unit shapes and thus create an organic, almost grown pixelation of the plan. This can be seen as creating “impracticality” instead of being “practical” and using a modular material in an un-modular way, showing that as long as you have a set system of panel “blocks” and someone willing to think it through, you don’t have to resort to a standard, repetitive system of using a wood load bearing/columnated structure. Wood is a material that is full of life, full of unpredictability, and here it would be used as such to create spaces that reflect that life

kg CO²e

Saved by using a mass timber structure and other environmentally conscious materials*

*According to OneClickLCA

Location: Brownsville, Miami, FL

Year: Undergraduate 2nd Year

Semester: Fall 2021

Professor: Yasmine Zeghar-Hammoudi

The Brownsville Digital Arts Centre is an artistic hub dedicated to the digital medium located in the historic black neighborhood of Brownsville in Miami, FL. The 17,992 sq. ft facility contains a series of community gathering spaces and multi-use educational rooms along with a soaring volume housing the library and study lounge. To the east of Brownsville, Wynwood and its surrounding areas are currently the artistic hubs of the city. Part of the goal of BDAC is to extend that artistic hub west to the underfunded community of Brownsville. Digital art is becoming increasingly common in the art world in Miami and beyond, with digital art spaces such as the Artech House and Superblue opening in the past few years in Miami. Knowledge of advanced visual computation is generally gate kept by institutions of higher education. BDAC aims to democratize that knowledge and become the library of the future, a repository of knowledge about the art of visual computation while also creating a space for community gathering.

First Floor

A. Interior Courtyard and Assembly Space

B. Multi-Purpose Meeting Rooms

C. Vertical Circulation

D. Bathrooms and Utility Rooms

E. Exterior Assembly

F. Exterior Courtyard

Second Floor

G. Experimentation Space

H. Multipurpose projection rooms (Holodeck)

I. Vertical Circulation

J. Bathrooms

K. Wrap-around gallery

Third Floor

L. Information Desk

M. Cafe

N. Vertical Circulation

O. Terrace

P. Holo-Tables and Book stacks

Q. Study Lounge

The“Motor”

Explore

The facility is based around three main volumes with three different levels. The main volume houses the “experiment” and main interior assembly functions of the building and supports a second volume created for the purpose of “explore,” thus creating a connection between exploration of your precedents and experimentation with future methods of art and visual computation. The third volume functions as the “motor” of the building, housing all the utilitarian functions and vertical circulation of the building and thus creating a transitory space between the floors.

Hi! I’m Dog, your Virtual assistant!

Location: Brownsville, Miami, FL

Year: Undergraduate 2nd Year

Semester: Fall 2021

Professor: Yasmine Zeghar-Hammoudi

The Brownsville Digital Arts Centre is an artistic hub dedicated to the digital medium located in the historic black neighborhood of Brownsville in Miami, FL. The 17,992 sq. ft facility contains a series of community gathering spaces and multi-use educational rooms along with a soaring volume housing the library and study lounge. To the east of Brownsville, Wynwood and its surrounding areas are currently the artistic hubs of the city. Part of the goal of BDAC is to extend that artistic hub west to the underfunded community of Brownsville. Digital art is becoming increasingly common in the art world in Miami and beyond, with digital art spaces such as the Artech House and Superblue opening in the past few years in Miami. Knowledge of advanced visual computation is generally gate kept by institutions of higher education. BDAC aims to democratize that knowledge and become the library of the future, a repository of knowledge about the art of visual computation while also creating a space for community gathering.

First Floor

A. Interior Courtyard and Assembly Space

B. Multi-Purpose Meeting Rooms

C. Vertical Circulation

D. Bathrooms and Utility Rooms

E. Exterior Assembly

F. Exterior Courtyard

Second Floor

G. Experimentation Space

H. Multipurpose projection rooms (Holodeck)

I. Vertical Circulation

J. Bathrooms

K. Wrap-around gallery

Third Floor

L. Information Desk

M. Cafe

N. Vertical Circulation

O. Terrace

P. Holo-Tables and Book stacks

Q. Study Lounge

The facility is based around three main volumes with three different levels. The main volume houses the “experiment” and main interior assembly functions of the building and supports a second volume created for the purpose of “explore,” thus creating a connection between exploration of your precedents and experimentation with future methods of art and visual computation. The third volume functions as the “motor” of the building, housing all the utilitarian functions and vertical circulation of the building and thus creating a transitory space between the floors.

Hi! I’m Dog, your Virtual assistant!

For a VR experience inspired by

work please scan the QR code

Location: In a galaxy far far away… Year: Undergraduate 2nd Year Semester: Fall 2021 Course: Visual Representation III

Illustration1

CuadraSan

LuisBarragan

Illustration2+3

MurallaRoja

RicardoBo�ll

Illustration4

CasaGilardi

LuisBarragan

Illustration5

CasaGilardi

LuisBarragan

Palmyra: Selected Drawings

Twins Similar Different Yet

Palmyra: Selected Drawings

Location

Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, Brownsville, FL

The pavilion was designed to create a meditative space in the cemetery grounds, to give a place that forces you to pause and reflect on the loved ones you've lost and remember that they will always be with you. The concept of the Lethe river came from Greek mythology, in which this river is the place where souls drink from to forget their past lives upon entering the underworld. I wanted to take this idea and turn it around. In a way, the water in this river holds the memories of those past, their voices. Thus, I decided to make water and sound the main focal point of the design. Taking the general form of the pools from sound waves, I incorporated the canalized Miami River into the design, connecting the design into the place and thus tying the design together. The sparse assortment of walls lead you into the space and then force you to stop. Two waterfalls create the illusion of coming into a sort-of grotto-esque space and make it

The Memory Wall features a figure ground map of Brownsville and the surrounding areas, connecting the inhabitants of the cemetery to the story of the site

The Western-facing wall features a circular cut-out that frames the view of the setting sun over the cemetery, provoking thought of all the souls departing for the afterlife

The Rinker studio flat was designed for a visiting researcher fellowship dedicated to investigating the correlation between synthetic biology and architectural materiality. Particularly, they would be experimenting the relationship between that which is made and that which is grown,andhowthelinescanbeblurredso that human can manipulate growth in a molecular scale to create new materials that biologically interact with their environment. The University of Miami is verystronginboththefieldsofarchitecture and biology, so blurring the line between the two disciplines through academic investigation is a natural step. As part of the work involved in such a researcherʼs work might be held in a biologically isolated lab such as those in the CAS section of campus, the work area in the Rinker studio flat would mostly be dedicatedtothesyntheticmanufacturingof such materials through the use of voxel printers and other speciality printers. As such, a focus on the clear distinction between work and live was created, and the space will be designed to provide a meditative relaxing “pod” or floating “cloud” in which the researcher can retire to at the end of the day.

Surrounding the “nest” would be a wraparound “thickening” of the walls which would contain storage cabinets, a kitchenette, a work table, and computer work stations.

East Section

Activated Roof Commercial Ground

Residential Green Space Permeable Base

The resultant space would be lively and highly pedestrian, with green spaces for the residents to enjoy as well as having work and retail spaces in the commercial object buildings inside each compartment.