Portfolio 2025 by Eduardo C

eduardo cortazar cuilty

ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO

AESTHETIC

Two things were clear from the beginning, a sharply disruptive aesthetic would be undesirable, and that given my condition as an outsider to Japanese culture, it would be impossible for me to out-japanese the Japanese.

Japanese craft is one of remarkably high standards, and despite my admiration for it, I decided to embrace my condition of a naive outsider and explore the project as such.

I started by describing the main aesthetic traits found in the look of La Cocineria, the existing restaurant and proceeded to ﬁnd counterparts to these present in Japanese culture, seeking to establish harmony.

Golden Metals High Gloss Surfaces Curved Forms Intense Illumination Vibrant Colors

Urushi 漆絵

Urushi, japanese lacquer is one of glossy materiality, softly reﬂecting the surrounding light.

Often the use color in these pieces serves to visually separate interior and exterior, coating concave and convex faces with contrasting colors.

Kintsugi 金継ぎ

The Japanese art of broken pottery repair emphasizes the manner in which parts create a whole by lining the broken joints with gold powder. Having been once broken or divided is visually represented in the object.

The modularity mirrors this condition, employing joints lined with golden tones.

Nature 自然

Nature is host to a wide array of both shades of green and curvatures. The cabinet mirrors a few of these motifs.

The ends of the piece bifurcate into semi circles similarly to the way ginko leaves do.

Likewise the vertical rows of doors intend to recall green tea plantations following the topography lines of a hillside.

“If light is scarce then light is scarce; we will immerse ourselves in the darkness and there discover its own particular beauty.”

The goal was to illuminate only the essential and allow the rest to be decorated by the manner in which it exists in darkness.

― Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows

OTIUM

Otium is a Los Angeles Michelin-awarded restaurant, now set to open at 23rd ﬂoor of the Waldorf Astoria in Las Vegas.

Otium represents a prime continuum of culinary expression and experience shared between patron and chef. In close collaboration with Tim Holingsworth and his team, Preen Inc designed the space exploring an evolution of Otium’s aesthetic into the extravagance of Las Vegas that still preserves key elements of its current image, such as the use of corten steel and dark woods.

The newly designed restaurant is also elveloped by an organic smooth plaster enclosure, radically transforming the atmosphere of the existing restaurant space, and seamlessly integrating all rooms.

As co-lead on the project, I played a key role in various aspects of the project’s development.

Construction Documentation

3D Model in Rhino and Revit

Geometry Development

Furniture Selection

Material Selection

Millwork Design

Hospitality Project at Preen Inc.

Las Vegas, NV

Team . Eduardo Cortazar . Taylor Cornell . Alexis Readinger . John Barlow

geometry

The enclosure shell was developed as a seamles surface composed of a seies of connecting arches that blend into each other, creating the illusion of a continuous room.

The geometry of the shell is determined not only by the existing space, but by the millwork pieces as well, as these create a series of pinch points and creases in order to create cohesion between enclosure and furniture.

All arch geometries are composed of elliptical sections rather than freeform curves, in order to lessen the complexity of the construction process. All arch types were categorized and mapped along with their corresponding section.

3D Model

Enclosure

biscuit loft

A renovation of a two story apartment within the building that formerly housed the National Biscuit Company, seeks to incorporate a japanese aesthetic into the industrial by combining light woods and weathered masonry.

Supervision . Visualization

Photo by Justin Chung

Construction Team . Joel Wong . Johnny Hercules Jesus Sanchez . Eduardo Cortazar

scope + Construction

The main intervention is a triangular shape mezzanine extension following a shape that both matches the location of existing footings and maximizes square footage. The wooden structure ﬂows into the existing staircase through a faceted wood panel surface in an effort to integrate the new with the existing. In the same manner, the new ﬂooring matches the mezzanine.

This was the ﬁrst project we were involved in not only designed, but in the direct hands on cosntruction proccess. Joel (OWIU co-founder) and myself along with framer Jesus and ﬁnisher Johnny took to the task of building the structure as well as fabricating cladding as well as kitchen cabinetry. Having never used powertools, working on project wold spark in me a new found interest for the fabrication process.

Photo by Justin Chung

Mezzanine Construction Structure Detail

View From Kitchen

Staircase Detail at Night Under Mezzanine

archifest pavilion

Conceived during the height of the COVID-19 isolation period, the ‘Reclaiming Connectivity’ pavilion is a speculative exploration of public space in a post-pandemic society. Seeking an alternative perspective to isolation, the piece is a unidirectional path with semi transparent enclosures that allows visual connectivity between moving users.

The pavilion structure is composed of modular timber frames, as quick assembly was a requirement.. Displayed on these frames are LES panels (Light Emitting Surfaces), a glass technology that allows images etched on its surface to be illuminated while remaining transparent. In an allusion to natural public space, the etching is composed of abstractions of natural landscapes.

The proposal was awarded 1st Place in the competition

. Joel Wong . Amanda Gunawan . Eduardo Cortazar . Claudia Wainer

sci_arc campus

By the turn of the century, when SciArc moved to its current location, the Arts District was in conditions very different from the successful hotspot it is today. It was due to this situation, the school's space was designed as a self-sufﬁcient space, independent of the interactions occurring in the surrounding area.

However, today the Arts District is one of the fastest-growing areas in the city. Despite this, the condition of isolation remains on the campus.Through the proposal, the aim was to mediate between the privacy needed for the school's operations and an interaction with the new activities that have emerged around it, largely thanks to the arrival of the school itself.

The basic scheme takes the linear form of the existing building and manipulates it around a central point, aiming to create a central public space. In order to open up towards the city, the volume experiments with vertical shifts, allowing the ﬂow of the city into the central space.Due to separation restrictions, the new building must be linked to the old one underground. A new large entrance gives directionality to the building, so that the ﬂow inside occurs from the boundary, beneath the central space, and into the old building.

The exercise combines the project with an experimental formal exploration of structural frameworks. The main volumes gain a certain visual independence but are simultaneously connected by the main structure. The connection of the project to the urban fabric does not happen directly, but it was observed that the most public condition of SciArc is not directly physical and visual, but rather through its live broadcasts viewed around the world.

The project incorporates a skin that functions as a window to the interior by allowing live transmissions to be broadcast directly on it, allowing the interior happenings of the school to create a direct community with the surrounding neighborhood.

ZUMPANGO HOUSING UNIT

Not long ago Zumpango was known mainly an agricultural settlement. However the past decade saw the small town grow exponentially as the nearby Mexico City sought to fulﬁll its increasing demand for low cost housing.

As these satellite communities became increasingly reliant on jobs in the capital, a series of problems arose. A faulty transit system and a merely relative proximity resulted in commute times of up to 4 hours in one directon, leaving the housing communities largely empty for the better part of the day. This allowed for the proliferation of criminal activity, driving many of the residents out of the area.

The project is part of an initiative by INFONAVIT, the housing authority of the Mexican Government, inviting students to create a social housing prototype as part of an effort to regenerate the area.

The proposal was awarded 2nd Place in the competition

Zumpango, MX. . 2017

Team . Eduardo Cortazar . Andrea Izurieta . Carolina Becerra . Rodrigo Espinosa

Academic Project at Universidad Iberoamericana in collaboration with INFONAVIT

thatcher’s wine

Thatcher’s Wine in Brentwood, is a bottle shop and importer featuring wines from some of the world’s most dynamic domaines and emerging winemakers. The project seeks a reﬁned yet approachable destination for wine lovers, with a blend of modern elegance and rustic charm. Through a focus natural materials and subtle palette, the space allows for the wine curatorship to be the star of the show. The work on the project was particularly focused on custom millwork and furniture pieces.

As project lead for Thatcher’s Wine, it was my role to oversee design from concept, to documentation to coordination with contractors, millworkers and city ofﬁcials.

3D modelling was carried out on both Rhino and Revit In this project I was also in charge of client communication and furniture procurement.

Therefore we should seek solutions to these problems that stem from the rethinking of our cities through techniques, materials and hands being employed to create our cities at this very moment.

How do brick and concrete shape the cities of tomorrow?

2023 - 2024

Hospitality Project at Preen Inc.

Los Angeles, CA

Team . Eduardo Cortazar . Alexis Readinger . John Barlow

living mexico city

Change is a fundamental constant in our contemporary environment. Cities are increasingly becoming the center of human life, rapidly growing to witness concentrations of human density greater than have ever existed.

Embracing technology, cities have been reshaped to accommodate contemporary needs. The arrival of motor vehicles and elevators allowed for rapid expansion of urban networks. However such advancements brought forth issues of their own, many of which we are attempting to solve today.

While smart technologies, algorithms and automated systems offer exciting visions for just how we might dwell and build cities in the near future, the repercussions of these pressing urban challenges seem to exist in the more immediate future.

Therefore we should seek solutions to these problems that stem from the rethinking of our cities through techniques, materials and hands being employed to create our cities at this very moment.

How do brick and concrete shape the cities of tomorrow?

Thesis Project at Universidad Iberoamericana

The proposal was awarded 3rd Place in 2019 Lafarge HOLCIM Student Poster Competition

a diagnosis of mexico city

Population Growth. 21 million, over 15% of the country’s population, reside within the Mexico City metropolitan area. Over the next two decades, population is projected to increase by 13%.

Central districts. Many of the city’s historical central neighborhoods have lost population over the past decades as citizens moved to new peripheral developments, despite the many beneﬁts their location provides in terms of transit, services and cultural value.

Sprawl. The peripheral growth has resulted in a massive footprint with many organizational problems. Most outlying housing tracts depend heavily on centralized work hubs, resulting in a commute that causes an estimated 227 hours lost to trafﬁc per person per year.

Mobility and Pollution. 4.7 million vehicles releasing over 25,000 tons of greenhouse gases daily are the main cause for Mexico City’s pollution. Green areas are also a scarcity, at only a third of the WHO's recommended 16 square meters per inhabitant.

A Stacked Neighborhood. The proposal comes in the form of a stacked neighborhood, a structure that functions as a vessel for the urban continuum, seeking to integrate the components of a Mexico City community.

The Site.

Santa María la Ribera is one of Mexico City's central neighborhoods. An afﬂuent housing neighborhood by the turn of the 20th century, it's today recovering from a state of partial abandonment.

The intervention seeks to introduce higher densities to the area while seeking to contribute to

Cultural and Individual Identity.

Conceptually, the project stems from a lengthwise distribution that echoes the layout of traditional axial townhouse clusters in the area.

Two levitated parallel masses are placed along a central axis, which are themselves subdivided into a collection of smaller volumes, attempting to visually mimic a row of individual townhouses.

casa majalca

Inside a small mountain town tucked away in the sierras of Chihuahua, sits this 60 year old stone cabin. The project sees the renovation of the kitchen, seeking to create a modern yet rustic and cozy atmosphere. The design merges the rough appearance of the stone walls with naturally sealed hardwoods with a japanese inspired minimalism.

The centerpiece of the space is a bespoke kitchen island, designed to look more like a freestanding piece of furniture by deconstructing the volumes of its different parts.

The kitchen is my ﬁrst under my own studio Anomalia Atelier. The activities carried out spanned the full scope from start to ﬁnish, from palettes, 3D modeling and CD Set, to construction oversight, millwork coordination and hands on carpentry.

2024 Project as Anomalia Atelier Cumbres de Majalca, MX

Planta General

The renovatoion features a new large window opening, attempting to bring more natural light into the extisting dark space. The opening is achieved through an I beam that spans the entire length of the north wall, on top of which the rain gutter is concealed, resulting in minimalist eavless look.

Due to this being a vacation home and spending most of its time vacant most windows in the house as is often the case in Majalca usually have security bars on their windows. However on this instace we opted for a set of wooden sliding doors that lock into place from the inside, allowing the full oppening to be unobstructed when in use.