Throughout my studies, I’ve grappled with how to engage with existing environments from both an observer’s and a designer’s perspective. Rather than seeing the natural and built worlds harmonize, I often find them at odds—cities divided and human needs overlooked. This portfolio features projects that respond thoughtfully to pre-existing contexts, emphasizing architecture’s empathetic nature not only theoretically but also in visible forms. For me, architecture transcends mere solutions; it arises from deeply human influences and has the power to reshape how we live.
Education
The University of Texas at Arlington College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs
Experience
The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX
Administrative Assistant 08/2024 - Present
• Assisted in necessary research and graphics involved in various projects for professor Denis Chiessa, utilized adobe illustrator and photoshop.
• Organized and managed actionable layout for the school of architecture Path A & B graduate programs.
Frankel Design Build, Houston, TX
Architectural Intern
07/2024 - 08/2024
• Developed and designed renders of 3D models of homes in Lumion and added interior and exterior details such as furniture, fixtures, landscaping and lighting.
• Assisted with draft-design process, helped with rough sketching and planning.
• Met with clients and discussed design solutions and corrections for developments.
Kimiko Designs, Salt Lake, UT
Site Management Intern 05/2022 - 08/2022
• Worked one-on-one with vendors and suppliers in a fast paced construction work environment.
• Responsible for on-site analysis and debriefing. Tracked quality control and stock, established areas of error where needed and implemented correction.
• Analyzed and imported data frequently through Microsoft office.
Table of Contents
ROOTS
Natural Terminus
The Canary Spine (group project ft: Azab, Garcia, Negret, Ramirez)
To Be Held
[ This Page is Meant to Stay Blank ]
ROOTS
Fort Worth, Texas
August - December 2024
In an exploration of new-material fabrication, ecological technology, AI techniques, and sustainable analysis, ROOTS is a project encouraged through the process of adaptable reuse. This project pursues the idea of reactivating the Kimbell Grain Silos in Fort Worth, Texas, in a way that is both complementary to the existing community and its past, as well as sustainable for the inevitable future. ROOTS encourages a rediscovery of community origin, and analyzes how the building blocks of the past resulted in the growth and prosperity of a once lively place, now hardly urbanized by the city of Fort Worth.
Fort Worth, Texas
Formal Evolution
Utilizing the initial dormant silo massing, we transition the space into one that can accomodate by carving out the interior and subracting throughout the form.
An adaptable program will revitalize urban agriculture, supporting both the community and local economy.
ROOTS provides space for farming, markets, and businesses while offering shared amenities that foster a sense of community and unlock previously unavailable resources.
Finally, ROOTS ensure the silos are self-sustaining and implement an alternative water system. Taking into account the climate and persisting issue of heat, we develop a water catching system, pulling condensation from the air and filtering it for the broader use of the building. This becomes both self sustaining and adaptable.
There is a desire within 'community' to embody the essence of ROOTS, serving as the vital collectors of water and providers of nourishment, acknowledging the agricultural history that was once at the heart of Fort Worth’s economy, and origin of immediate community.
In essence, ROOTS is a reflection of growth, appreciating the past, transforming the present, and inspiring a sustainable future for all.
Natural Terminus
In-Between Realities October - November 2024
An idea of shelter and essence, what is it that makes up the built environment? Is it simply mass, or an accumulation of culture influenced by what was there before? Natural Terminus can be defined as a final point in space or time submersed in the natural environment. This project looks to the fetus as a way to interpret what was before and how it existed in natural space. The womb offers a means for the fetus to develop and grow, and in doing so acts as a shelter for the organism. Birth is often referred to as the beginning of life, the beginning of context and perception. The womb acts as a place in between reality and the non-existent. Like a shelter it protects the fetus from the outer-world, While also serving as the catalyst for life.
'Womb' View 1
'Womb' View 2
'Womb' View 3
The Canary Spine
Fort Worth, Texas August - December 2024
Concerning the concept of sustainable design, this project involves a post-covid perspective dictating ways to design and integrate contrasting environments into one living atmosphere. The given program suggests teams develop a new-age landmark for a selected city, ensuring corporate, dining, recreational, retail, and greenspace conditions interact and coexist as a single environment. Such development should entail a culturally sensitive, fluid, and climate aware design.
How
can we establish flow between the site, the residential, and the financial districts?
Canary Wharf, being one of the largest financial districts in the UK, attracts a diversity of peoples from around the world. While its skyline is prominent and bursting with architectural innovation, a sharp contrast is noted in the implementation of a large residential population in the surrounding areas. In implementing The Canary Spine, we were tasked with finding a way to bridge this harsh gap between the two juxtapositions.
Social Spaces
The implementation of social spaces along the spine of the tower offers a multi-volume open space for users of the tower to collaborate and interact outside of offices and more defined corporate programming. The axonometric above demonstrates the modular dynamic of the spaces, halting at every fourth floor before continuing up the building. This space is meant to compliment the green spine seen carrying vegetation up the building from River Thames down below. Instead of a hostile industrial contrast, the building instead offers a relatable flow bridging between itself and the established context.
To [Be] Hold
To [Be] Hold represents the vulnerable struggle to grasp with a loneliness often endured in a curated environment. To go about living in an ecosystem seemingly full of other individuals that appear content or accompanied due to the facades we often project outwards in hopes of finding connection. It highlights the rigidness of each and every person's perception of "the exterior world", a contrast we cannot begin to comprehend due to the nature of existing in one's own mind. Depictions of mixed emotion and layered material frame a complex narrative, one that seems to beg for another human to interact and communicate with the self. Behold! I am not as I seem! I wish to be touched, I wish to be held, I wish to hold another in my arms.
