Experienced with CNC Mill,Laser Cut, 3D Print, Vacuumform, Mixed-Media
English (Native)Spanish
Graphic Design, Prototyping, Fabrication, Bike Polo, Camping, Friendships
Ralph Mechur Architects
2013 amphibianArcarchitecural designer
intern
BA Architecture
ArtificialLandscape
ECOlogies
Cal Poly Pomona Senior Thesis Project
Landscape is inseparable from architecture. Although typically distinguished as ‘Natural’ vs ‘Manmade’ entities, the characteristics of landscape and architecture are similar in their effect on the living environment. The distinction of boundaries and place, the dynamic of spatial and temporal qualities on the built environment, and affect/effect on the user all incorporate ‘Natural’ and ‘Manmade’ elements, drawing upon architecture to ‘tame’ primitive terrains. Considering these similarities, the dialogue between landscape and architecture becomes much more homogenous.
Clashing ‘Natural’ and ‘Manmade’ systems are apparent at the South Los Angeles Wetland Park. The park’s ecological systems oppose the dense urban fabric of South Central, emerging as one of the few ‘Natural’ ecologies amid a deteriorating urban landscape. The incorporation of the parks architectural features however, does not coincide with its landscape ecology.
Blurring relationships between ‘Natural’ and ‘Manmade’ systems characterize the city’s urban ecology, delineating spatial boundaries for the user; human, beast, or spirit, as well as defining a sense of place in a region that is neither here nor there, a city whose amalgamation of sprawl and horizontality have resulted in its disconnection.
Site Plan Depicting the location of bio-pools, walking paths, and refugium collectors throughout an artificial landscape, its overall composition derived from control point movement along 3 axes.
Section Water flows and walking paths are results of the landscape’s geometry. Shelter and refugium collectors are enclosed by tensile structures that react to changing conditions and growing seasons.
Abstracting designed ecologies with natural systems juxtapose ordinary man-made landscapes, allowing untamed terrains to emerge, supporting human and non-human co-habitation.
Growing season diagram, depicting optimal crop for a Los Angeles climate.
Developing facade and camoflauge (crypsis) techniques involved designing a transformable module that could be arrayed across a predetermined geometry. Voids in the module allowed for the array to become more opaque as modules decreased in size, and more translucent as they got larger.
Light passing through the voids allowed the skin to produce different profiles, taking advantage of the varying sizes of the modules to create a ‘boundary obliteration.’
Boundary Obliteration Camoflauge techniques used in the military derived from natural crypsis strategies.
Transformative modules arrayed within predetermined geometry.
3D Print ‘Cryptic Skin’ prototype.
MAk center for art and architecturelight my waystranger
Starfish-Prime MAK ‘Light My Way, Stranger’ Entry
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Starfish-Prime’s entry for the MAK Center’s ‘Light My Way, Stranger’ Exhibit, involved consistency in 3D design as well as fabrication techniques. Insipred by the ebb and flow of liquid movement, the light object needed to be fabricated in such a way that the slight curvatures could be translated from the 3D model.
CNC milling the 3D model allowed us to create a mold for vacuumforming, which rendered the curves in a hollow form to encapsulate the light source.
Fabrication of two halves for light entry. (medium: vacuumformed acrylic)
Final entry for MAK ‘Light My Way, Stranger’ Exhibit.
transit landscapesgold line extension
Cal Poly Pomona Topic Studio
Exploration of a single pattern influenced the design and formal outcome of the Metro Transit Authority Gold Line Extension in Claremont, California. Early explorations of vector imagery derived from a photo informed the pattern that was to be used, translating the vector into model form and creating 3D space.
Experimenting with the pattern on different mediums achieved multiple effects in veticality, undulation, and void space. The landscape derived from the image is a direct translation of the varying spaces that the models depicted.
Translating a 2D image into 3D form. Photo of chipping paint becomes extruded in one direction, then thickened into different geometries.
Foam study models extruded.
Schematic plan involved delegating specific spaces for different inhabitants. Spaces were designated based on size, amplitude, and proximity to the platform.
Section through train platform showing pockets and varied uses.
Varying intimacy conditions based upon shape and use of pockets. Some design conditions include introvert, transient, performer, audience, and gathering.
Final landscape model showing voids and enclosures for train and public space.
Koreatownelementary
Cal Poly Pomona Topic Studio
Influenced by shifting terrains and protruding masses, Koreatown Elementary on Western Boulevard and 3rd Street, focuses school activities and views inward, creating an enclosed campus that is not distracted by the bustling Western Boulevard.
The plan opens up on Oxford Street however, sloping up from the open field areas to become the rooftop circulation for classrooms and balcony access of the multipurpose room.
Classrooms are designed with shared open space on both ends, acting as a threshhold between each classroom and the school’s coiling circulation.
