Medina_Elianna_Portfolio2025

Inclusivity and person-centered design are values that drive my passion for architecture. As a family member to loved ones diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Alzheimer’s Disease, I witnessed the challenges presented by normative and exclusive built environments from their worldview. By understanding and integrating peoples’ functional needs, cultural nuances, and unique experiences, I hope to champion inclusivity and dignity for the people who inhabit them and to promote a stronger relationship between architecture and its users. Furthermore, by adding elements of sustainability, my work seeks to contribute to communities that nurture a sense of connectedness to the environment and an eye towards the well-being of future generations.

818-423-1938: emedianna@berkeley.edu

Hand Study

This creative exercise explored proportionality by dissecting the hand into multiple sections, allowing for the examination of its underlying form while in motion.

The molded form illustrates the interaction of two moving elements. One is a water fountain push bar, which requires a strong pushing motion to activate. This action is broken down and visualized in a series of two-dimensional steps.

The “wrinkles” represent the shadows created by hand movement, while the circles delineate the separate joints of the hand.

CED Mycelium

Located on the southeast corner of UC Berkeley’s main campus, Wurster Hall is the stark, concrete home to the College of Environmental Design. My redesign aims to alter the feel of the building using carefully considered additions, rather than major structural subtractions. It strives to analyze the impact of contrasting materials, exploring how a new element juxtaposed against the present materials can elevate the space without extensive structural modifications.

I draw inspiration from the way mycelium expands its roots, reaching outwards and connecting with its surroundings. Similarly, I envision my work spreading like mycelium, with each area of influence prompting shifts in material usage and indicating a corresponding change in programming.

While student resources and space functionality will be improved in these new areas, the scale of this enhancement will be determined by the size of the Mycelium-inspired artery flowing through that space. These cavities are designed to be adaptable in size, form, and orientation.

Entering Wurster should spark user curiosity, prompting exploration to find the new features. Mycelium cavities will serve as a roadmap to central collaborative areas, encouraging more interaction outside of the studio.

The first floor redesign includes several functional upgrades: a larger cafe, a semi-outdoor study space, and an indoor bike and scooter charging area. A collaborative gallery space will solicit contributions from students outside the CED department regarding project exhibits, and the reorientation of the main entrance doors is intended to mitigate noise disruption for presentations occurring in the central hallway.

The second floor features a double-height library with supplementary study areas. A bridge connects Wurster Hall to the Art/Anthropology building, facilitating access to the collaboration gallery. Additionally, an entrance to "Bill's Beach," a previously inaccessible space now transformed into an outdoor seating area, allows students to meet with their graduate student instructors.

Located on

third floor is a secluded student lounge, a perfect place for quiet contemplation and relaxation

Environmental Design Research

The project uses vibrant pink materials to delineate studio sections, visually marking their boundaries

Accessible Student Union

Through the process of Adaptive Reuse Integration, this studio project reimagines humble cement slab, the original main structural entity of a parking garage at UC Berkeley, as a new Accessible Student Center. A series of subtraction and the addition of an oval building create a structure that meets the needs of current UC Berkeley students and faculty by providing both social and study spaces that integrate person-centered, inclusive design concepts and amenities.

UC Berkeley Campus

The first floor utilizes knobadjustable joints to change the height and orientation of tables in the room to accommodate all users’ needs and a variety of activities in a large social space.

The second floor provides dual-purpose space; it offers large work spaces for collaboration, peer-to-peer learning, and group projects as well as private workrooms reserved for students with disabilities. Beyond simply providing a quiet space to work, the private rooms are designed with specific needs in mind including sensory sensitivities and charging stations for medical equipment. These features aim to reduce barriers for students with disabilities, decreasing the need to leave campus to address their individual requirements and allowing them to fully participate in campus life.

The translucent material of the glass provides continuous connection to nature and the second floor terrace immediate access to fresh air.

Multigenerational Housing

This studio project began as an analysis of different forms pulled from Bridget Riley’s FETE. By drawing inspiration from her dynamic lines, I created visually engaging and versatile spaces that evoke a sense of fluidity and adaptability, mirroring the complex needs of multi-generational living. My design showcases shapes that work cohesively as two symbiotic units, while also respecting the need for individual privacy in households that reciprocate support, living costs, and resources.

Proposed Site: Los Angeles

Rendered elements of the piece play with open and concave arrangements to create habitable spaces without committing to a traditional house form. Continuity of design may be observed in the extracted draft models directly referencing the original painting.

Desert Inspirations

Accepted commission to practice my technical and interior design skills. Client provided a $3,000 budget to furnish an apartment in modern desert style with Moroccan, Western, and Mexican cultural influences.

The 2-week project focused on room designation and the placement of warm colors, native plants, and affordable furniture with splashes of colors and textures to bring the apartment to life.

Site: Mesa, Arizona

Los Angeles Trade Center

Tony Smith’s WE LOST modular sculpture is transformed from an abstract geometric form into a complex, multi-faceted workspace environment. The process was achieved through manipulating the sculpture’s orientation and scale as well as making 6 distinct subtractions inspired by the physical action of carving through solid matter to create different layers.

Proposed Site: Los Angeles

Layering was emphasized through the use of colored matboard to dramatize the increasing depth of each level. Later, it was used to explore and differentiate between collaborative versus private spaces. This method helped me to understand the building’s spatial potential prior to the inclusion of materials and programming.

The final build offers workspaces for students seeking alternatives to the traditional college education. Small business owners within the community share knowledge and skills to students in various fluid and responsive areas sensitive to their priorities and needs.

The Wave

Envisioned as a campus expansion, this project introduces much-needed studio spaces for architecture and the fine arts, along with private offices, small classrooms, and recreational facilities such as basketball and pickleball courts. The building is strategically situated within a former parking lot, integrating seamlessly between student housing and nearby commercial areas. The architectural design aims to create a dynamic interplay of light, contrasting well-lit areas with spaces of diffused illumination.

I developed this wave design concept through experimentation. I repeatedly dropped a tissue, analyzing its peak and potential support points. This information guided the creation of hardened fabric elements: a structure that allowed natural light to filter through, yet retained a feeling of solidity by resembling a firm structure. I also aimed to create a contrast in sensory experience. The white fabric offers a light and airy feeling, while walking between the structures creates a contrasting sensation of being enclosed and pinched

The building's form is articulated through three distinct sections, with exterior elevations layered to create "wave" patterns and offer tantalizing views into the building's core. Atop the structure, a striking parabolic curve ascends through the upper three levels, finally opening into a dramatic light-filled atrium that illuminates the main lobby.

MEETING ROOM

ADMIN MEETING ROOM