University of Texas at Arlington, College of Architecture, Planning, and Public Affairs
Daniel Alejandro Maldonado Orozco
“Genious lives only one story above madness” - Schopenhauer, Parerga and Paralipomena
I am an undergraduate architecture student at the University of Texas at Arlington with a passion for designing human-oriented, regionalist spaces. I believe architecture is not just structures; sculpture defines form; and landscape evokes memory. Design is not just about creating spaces; it is about crafting experiences.
Welcome to a collection of my work, where ambition meets pen and paper. This portfolio reflects my belief that architecture should not only shape the world we live in, but also inspire the way we connect, play, and grow within in.
Cover page sketch based on artwork Total Recall by Gretchen Bender
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04. Architecture Studies
Echoes of Knowledge
Liquid Boundaries
Conceptual Works
ArcGIS Studies
Landscape Architecture Studies
Personal Work
Wuxi Grand Theatre, Wuxi, China
Echoes of Knowledge
A Library Within a Cathedral
Site: Saint Dominic’s Cathedral, Gaeta, Italy
Professor: Bijan Youssefzadeh Fall 2024
Inside the walls of a 12th-century Gothic church, this library for the visually impaired breathes new life into a space once meant for worship, now dedicated to learning. The design carefully balances old and new, with a structure supported by directional columns. Acoustic and textured flooring helps create a richer sensory experience, making the space feel intuitive and welcoming. Fully ADA-compliant, this transformation honors the building’s history while ensuring that knowledge remains just as sacred and accessible to all.
Existing Site View
Echoes of Knowledge
St. Dominic’s Church, Gaeta, Italy
Opera House, Dallas, Texas
Liquid Boundaries
Sake Bar and Creative Lab
Site: East Coast, United States
Professor: Dustin Wheat
Spring 2024
This sake bar and collaboration space blurs the lines between social and professional realms, creating a dynamic environment for connection and discovery. The first level welcomes guests with a vibrant bar and restaurant featuring tatami seating, while the second and third floors offer adaptable coworking spaces, their demountable walls allowing for fluid reconfiguration. At the top, the gallery challenges users. Acoustic flooring enhances sensory awareness, and rotating gates turn movement into an interactive journey. Fully ADA-compliant, this project is a fusion of tradition and innovation designed for human experience.
Second Floor, a collaborative space
Main Entrance
First Floor, featuring a bar and restaurant
Each level peeling away like layers of an experience, from the social energy of the bar to the focused adaptability of the coworking spaces, culminating in the gallery’s playful exploration of movement. the section reveals a seamless transition between gathering, working, and discovering, shaping an architecture that is as dynamic as the people within it.
Liquid Boundaries
The building is broken into nine modular sections, each essential to its function. Every part serves a unique role, ensuring the whole operates seamlessly. Without one, the balance is lost. This modular approach allows the building to adapt while maintaining a clear sense of purpose.
Module 1 - 5th Facade
Module 2 - Mass TImber Structure
Module 3 - Immersive Gallery
Module 4 - Wall Seating (Booth)
Module 5 - Wall Seating (Wall Integration)
Module 6 - Tatami Seating
Module 7 - The Bar
Module 8 - Stairs
Module 9 - Assemblage
Conceptual Works
Cultural Frequencies
Artist: Kendrick Lamar
Professors: Crystal Portillo | Victor Vielma
Spring 2025
This project uses catalytic mapping and morphogenic generation design to explore how Kendrick Lamar’s album “DAMN.” transforms into a tangible architectural narrative. By deconstructing the layered sounds and imagery of the artist’s work, the process translates these abstract influences into dynamic, three-dimensional forms. Iterative prototypes and physical models capture the evolving interplay between rhythm, emotion, and space, revealing how music can reshape our understanding of the built environment while reflecting broader cultural and societal shifts..
The iterative nature of morphogenic design informs this process, where form emerges through layering, transformation, and repetition—mirroring how a song builds upon itself through harmony, beat, and progression.
In my analysis of Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 by Marcel Duchamp, I deconstructed the composition by mapping out its underlying gestures, perfect geometries, isolated islands, and intersections. The dynamic movement was traced through gestural lines, capturing the painting’s sense of fragmented motion. Intersections were identified where overlapping elements created tension and rhythm, reinforcing the painting’s mechanical yet fluid descent. This layered mapping process allowed for a deeper understanding of Duchamp’s visual language and the interplay of abstraction and movement.
Figure-Ground Reversal
Conceptual Works
Field Conditions
Software: AutoCAD
Professor: Thomas Rusher
Fall 2023
These works investigate the dynamics of line genealogy, field conditions, and morphological transformations through a series of conceptual studies.
Each exploration engages with repetition, conflict, and figure-ground relationships, revealing emergent patterns and spatial dialogues. Some studies dissect structural systems and grid-based organizations, while others challenge material behaviors and enclosure strategies through iterative experimentation. The interplay of layered geometries and diagrammatic analysis serves as a framework for understanding complex relationships within form and space. By embracing processes of translation, deformation, and intersection, these investigations uncover new possibilities within structured and fluid systems, pushing the boundaries of perception and organization.
A study into field conditions with constraints. These consist of strictly geometrical, strictly organic, layers of depth, conflict, morphology, and the limits of AutoCAD.
Environmental Monitoring in Corpus Christi, Texas
Mapping Waste in Mesquite, Texas
Optimal Wind Farm Locations
At-Risk Population in Houston, Texas
Exploration of ArcGIS
These projects engage with ArcGIS as a tool for spatial analysis, visualization, and datadriven exploration. Through mapping and geospatial modeling, each study examines patterns, relationships, and transformations within various landscapes and urban environments. By leveraging GIS technology, these projects translate complex spatial data into visual narratives, uncovering underlying structures, flows, and interactions that shape our surroundings. Through this process, they not only document existing conditions but also propose new ways of understanding and interpreting spatial dynamics.
Medicare Hotspots in the U.S.
Detroit Demographic Analysis
Palm Beach County Shoreline Protection
Exploration of Landscape Architecture
Site Design
Design Communications
Professor: Tariq Mahadin
Fall 2023
These projects investigate the visual language of landscape architecture, exploring how terrain, systems, and spatial conditions can be analyzed, transformed, and represented. Through mapping, diagramming, and conceptual studies, each exploration dissects the relationships between natural and constructed environments, revealing patterns, intersections, and emergent forms. By experimenting with different modes of visual communication, these studies seek to reframe the perception of landscapes as dynamic, evolving systems rather than static compositions.
Personal Works
Reconstructing Precense
Site: North Mesquite High School, Mesquite, Texas
Minecraft
Spring 2020
At a time when physical presence was no longer possible, this project emerged as an act of reclamation. A 1:1 digital replica of our high school was built in Minecraft, reestablishing the spaces we could no longer access due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Created as a collective effort among friends, the project was both a protest and a refuge—transforming absence into agency. Every hallway, classroom, and shared space was reconstructed with precision, not as an exact imitation, but as a means of preserving memory and interaction in a time of forced separation. Through this process, the digital environment became more than a simulation; it was a reconstruction of routine, a defiance against isolation, and a testament to the resilience of
Personal Works
This collection brings together a series of personal artworks created purely for the joy of making. Ranging from quick sketches to more refined pieces, each work reflects moments of creativity, experimentation, and self-expression. Without the constraints of formal study or structured intent, these pieces explore whatever feels natural in the moment—whether through color, texture, or subject matter. Some capture fleeting ideas, while others are more deliberate exercises in technique and detail. Together, they serve as a personal archive of artistic growth, unfiltered creativity, and the simple pleasure of putting pen, brush, or stylus to surface.
