Christian L. Camacho

- Selected Works Christian Luis Camacho {The City College of New York} {New York City College of Technology}

Jan. 2014

Jan. 2014

Spaces and structures created by man must lift the human senses, if it does not it is a building, a room. If it does, it is Architecture.

Content About + Resume

6-7

Cartouche 1 Molloy College - Master planning + Student Housing

8-19

Understanding context + placement + units organization and the dweller Cartouche 2 The Network City

21-23

A theoretical essay that attempts to unveil a new typology of city Cartouche 3 Harlem School of Arts

24-29

A facade restoration that connects the citizen dweller to the Arts Cartouche 4 Light as an Environment

30-31

A design build project that seeks to lift the human spirit Cartouche 5 Bushwick Community Dwellings

32-39

Bringing the human factors back into the urban civic environ.

The Architects Conception A Collection of Works

40-47

Learning to speak the architectural language

Personal Sketchbook + Thought + Art Foundation of the architects thought

48-51

About + Resume

About + Resume Christian has been exposed to a diverse education, growing up in Bolivia, Ecuador and the United States. His high school education contains four years of architectural drawing, his college education contains an Associates in Architectural Technology from the New York City College of Technology obtained in 2012 and will be receiving his Bachelors of Architecture in 2015 from The City College of New York. Studying abroad and traveling has also been an abysmal influence in his academic career, studying in a wide variety of locations spanning from the medieval city of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia to the deep jungles of the Amazon. He has won academic awards for best ranking student and also designed award winning academic projects from the Society of American Registered Architects. Christian’s most recent professional work has been along side Ieoh Ming Pei, Pei Cobb Freed and Partners Architects and Dormitory Authority of The State of New York.

Educational Experience The Bernard & Anne Spitzer School of Architecture - City College CUNY Barch (2014) Deans list (Fall-12 - Spring-13 - Fall-13) Published in CityWorks (Fall-12 - Spring-13 - Fall-13) CA Institute Studied the medieval city of Santiago de Compostela, Spain (2013) Took hands on material workshops Intensive sketching Re-designed the last 15 kilometers of El Camino a Santiago de Compostela Emerging Architecture Program – La Paz, Bolivia Studied the area of El Alto, La Paz (2012) Intensive agricultural/landscape program New York City College of Technology - CUNY AAS degree in Architectural Technology (2012) Deans list (Fall-10 - Spring-11 - Fall-11 - Spring-12) Outward Bound Wilderness Outward Bound Diploma and Award for Strong Leadership (2009) Expedition through the Appalachian Mountains (2009) St. Mary’s of the Assumption High School High School Diploma (2009) Mechanical Drawing & Arts – Award

Professional Experience Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects Interned under Project Architect, Craig Dumas (2011) Dealt with: scheduling, construction drawings, shop drawings, change orders, and RFI’s Dormitory Authority of the State of New York Interned under Project Manager and Licensed Architect, Stefan Thierch (2012) Worked in the Fiterman Hall project (16 story university reconstruction in the WTC, NY area) Handled: scheduling, consulting, tracking, on site inspections

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About + Resume

Memberships National Society of Collegiate Scholars (2011 - present) Society of American Registered Architects (2012 - present) American Institute of Architecture Students (2013 - present) Freedom by Design (2013 - present)

Awards The Chester Gerber Award for Highest Ranking Student – 3.98 GPA (2012) Best Architecture student award – NYCCT (2012) Architecture student of the year – CCNY (2013) Most creative and technical award – Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects (2012) Best presentations award – DASNY (2012) Silver Award of Merit – “Bushwick Community Dwellings” – Society of American Registered Architects (2012) National Award – “Bushwick Community Dwellings” – Society of American Registered Architects (2013)

Skills Sketching Painting Model making Design Research Autocad – (5+ years) 3ds Max – (4+ years) Sketchup – (5+ years) Adobe Creative Suite - Ai / Ps / Id – (5+ years) Rhino 3d – (4+ years) Revit Architecture – (4+ years)

Contact Christian L. Camacho 2 Gibson pl.

Elizabeth, New Jersey USA - 07208 T : 1(908)-220-9393 E : chrstncamacho@gmail.com

Useful links ssa1.ccny.cuny.edu/ www.dasny.org/ http://www.pcf-p.com/

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Project: Molloy College

Cartouche 1

{Topographical Map}

PROJECT: Molloy College - Student Housing SEMESTER: Fall - 2013 SCHOOL: The Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture - City College - CUNY PROFESSOR: Professor. June Williamson TEAM: Christian L. Camacho / Talha Sabid / Joan Batlle LOCATION: 1000 Hempstead Avenue Rockville Centre - Long Island, New York DESCRIPTION: The focus of this studio project is the design of multi-unit housing in an sub-urban context. The studio is organized in a series of phases including typological research, site analysis, program analysis, concept, and design development. This is followed by a rigorous analysis of the studio site leading to an urban design proposition for adding student housing on a college campus. Once the building siting is established, student proceed with analysis of program and further precedent studies, incorporating alternate housing philosophies. Building design development is organized around the study of building massing and circulation, apartment layouts, open space, faรงade, and building details and technologies. The urban analysis and urban design phase of work is produced by teams consisting of 2 to 4 students to promote the collaborative experience. With the exception of this team-based phase, the design work is conducted individually. Strategies for sustainable design are investigated through context and site analysis, as well as in the precedent studies. A short design assignment emphasizes energy conserving design, and sustainable design strategies are incorporated in the building and urban design solutions.

{Site Analysis as a Means to Understand Surrounding Environs.}

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{Public Transport}

{Main Routes}

Project: Molloy College

{Land - Use Map}

HAMPSTEAD

MOLLOY COLLEGE

rOCKVILLE CENTER

{Hampstead Lake / Hampstead Park}

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Project: Molloy College

{Campus Face} {CAMPUS DESCRIPTION} Molloy College is located at 1000 Hempstead Avenue in the village of Rockville Centre, on a 30-acre campus just south of the Southern State Parkway, on Long Island, New York. Molloy College is an independent, private, liberal arts institution with 4,400 students in 50 undergraduate and graduate programs. It is nationally known for its nursing program, the fourth largest in the United States. Molloy College was founded in 1955 by the Dominican Sisters of the Congregation of the Holy Cross Amityville. Although committed to Dominican ideals, the college is diverse and nonsectarian. The first on-campus buildings, including the centrally located Kellenberg Hall, were completed in 1956. Until recently the campus had no residential facilities and all students commuted, mostly by car. Much of the campus is paved surface parking lots. After many years of planning under current President Drew Bogner, Molloy opened a new 57,000 sf student and community centered building in 2011, designed

by BRB Architects. The LEED-certified Public Square building and Campus Green are designed to be Molloy's central social and academic hub and includes a 575-seat performing arts facility called the Madison Theater. In the fall of 2011, Molloy opened Fitzgerald Hall, the College's first student Residence Hall, designed to house 156 students. An adjacent building is undergoing renovation to house an additional 97 students.

MERCY MEDICAL CENTER

PENNINSULA BLVD. HAMPSTEAD LAKE VIENNA WILBUR/QUEALY CASEY PUBLIC SQUARE KELLENBERG RUGBY FIELD SPORTS FIELDS FITZGERALD WATERTOWER

Existing Conditions

CHECKPOINT

MERCY FACILITIES NORTH DORMS PARKING STRCT.

ROWHOUSE DORMS

“FOREST” DORMS

SOUTH DORMS

{Intervention - Masterplan}

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Project: Molloy College

{Mondrian Network}

{Plastic Network}

{Botanical Network}

{MONDRIAN NETWORK} Molloy College is located right next to Mercy Medical Center. The college contains the leading nursing program in the north east. One of the goals for this particular master plan is to encourage a stronger connection between the college and the medical center. Currently the college and the medical center are physically severed by disorganized parking lots. The reorganization of parking lots creates a blur between both properties. Each parking lot is color coordinated accordingly to the type of pervious surface that covers it. The different surfaces allow for different functions that step outside the fixed functionality of an average parking lot. The gesture of this intervention allows for a much more environmentally friendly fabric within the campus.

{PLASTIC NETWORK} A nexus of pedestrian paths, bicycle paths, and vehicle paths allow for another layer of connectivity amongst the parking lots and the buildings both within Molloy College and Mercy Medical Center. This network within the surrounding suburban fabric also allows for a connection between the residential zone and Hampstead Park, creating a flow between both zones that can be used by students, professors and residents of the area.

{BOTANICAL NETWORK } The connection between Hampstead Park and Molloy College / Mercy Medical Center is a very important part of this master plan. In order to maintain a cleaner campus from the releases of vehicular traffic, trees are integrated with the parking lots in order to absorb pollutants that the parking lots collect. Ultimately this network creates for a cleaner environment enhancing the air quality as well as the aesthetic of the campus.

PARKING

PRODUCTION FIELD

1. Northern Campus Exist.

NORTHERN DORMS PAVILLION / MARKET / GROG CASEY BUILD.

2. Underground Parking

CAMPUS QUAD

PUBLIC SQUARE

{Northern Campus Site Plan}

3. Double Bar

4. E - Plan

9

Project: Molloy College

Communal Bathroom

Single Loaded Bar

Activate

Multiply

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Single Dorm

Public Study

Egress

Double Dorm

Project: Molloy College

Double Dorm

Triple Height Opening

Single Dorm

Shared Balcony

Solar Fin

Single Loaded Bar

Activate

Multiply

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Project: Molloy College

{First Floor Plan}

Market

The Grog

Pavillion

{Thought - Plan - Scales} + {Public Meets Private to Create a Social Architecture} It is important to study building typologies, unit groupings, and spacial organizations from precedent studies in order to apply and manipulate different methods to approach solutions. This building is located on the northern area of Molloy College and is a difficult site to control views and circulation, due to its exposure to a highway and practically no connection to the campus itself. The building is designed using the double loaded and single loaded unit groupings to create a courtyard typology. The courtyard is an important atribute of this machine in order to gain maximum control of views and create intimate pockets within the building that can be used by the dweller living in the dormitory and the dweller circulating through the campus. The courtyard allows for the division of public and private realms to be met at the entry point of its architecture. In addition to the private dormitory building, there is a public dimension to the entire plan. The introduction of a market, grog, and pavillion allows for another layer of public functions that not only pertains to the usage of students, but also is becomes a shared space for the sub-urban fabric in which Molloy College is situated.

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

{Double Dorm and Hallway Callout} PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

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PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

{Single Dorm and Hallway Callout}

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

Project: Molloy College

{Double Loaded Section}

Sky light and airation

Double dorm

r ve tig o Sloped ceiling

view to courtyard

campus view Integrated furnishing

Mechanical

4’ wide stair

Parking

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

{The intimate scale of the dweller} + {Organiztion of units} PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

It is crucial to understand the design of this building through the use of scales. The experience that happens in a campus setting varies in scale, from the minute one enters the campus there is a reduction in scale from suburban fabric to a campus environment. That reduction in scale is maintaned through out the design process.

From the campus environment the scale is then reduced to the experience within a building. Then the scale reduces to the dorm-room itself, where the scale is at its most intimate with the dweller.

These changes in scales are important not only for the dweller, but also for the architect, to be able to create a blurred transition from one scale to the other.

The double loaded portion of this building was analyzed in both large and small scales to satisfy aesthetics, construction, organization, and furniture layout. This portion of the building constitutes 4 single dorms and 4 double dorms containing the minimal amount of nessesities that a single dweller would need. The single dorms also have an outdoor balcony space with the immediate neighbor, again maintaining a blur between private and semi-public.

The organization of units in the double loaded portion create a “courtyard” typology within the building. This area of the building allows for ventilation to circulate through the building, as well as entertaining a visual connection amongst each level.

Within the single loaded portion of the building, there is a machine of its own.

All units are organized to face south for maximum solar exposure, which is then controlled by the facades articulation of fins and solar shades. On the north side of this machine is where the circulation functions, however it combines semi-private study with public circumabulation, merging programs in one gesture.

{Double Loaded Section}

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PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

Project: Molloy College

{ Double Dorm Details}

{ The Grog}

{ West Facade}

{East Facade}

{Materials, light, and space} In order to create an experience through out the dormitories I focused on material qualities, light conditions, and spatial organization. These three principles manifest an ambiance in which I can express a particular background for the students. Another focus was to develope how materials, light, and organization will be joined together.

Construction detail drawings are crucial to the understanding of how the pieces and parts of a building come together to create the overall experience. I chose to express the joints within my building, not only for aesthetic purposes, but also to allow for expansion and contraction during the changing seasons.

The campus of Molloy College uses brick as its main aesthetic. This allowed me to choose brick for my design, in order to blend in with the surrounding context. None the less, the design for this dormitory still exudes its own character, while at the same time respecting its context, which allows for the dweller to have a smooth transition from building to building.

The use of brick was also brought into the interior design of the dorms. Brick is thought of as a “warm� building material due to its primitive characteristics, creating a calm environment. Wood is another warming material to the human body because it is so intertwined with the humans sensorial factors, for this reason I chose to use it as part of my interior design. The combination of these materials organize spaces in which students can live in a compact fashion, where the need of to much space is not necessary.

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{ Single Dorm Details}

Project: Molloy College

{Context, thought, and diagrams, meet construction} To further understand spatial conditions and how they can relate to the surrounding campus, sectional drawings are necessary. Here one is able to comprehend the light conditions within the space, as well as control views. The sectional drawing allows to organize an order in which the building will be constructed to satisfy the dweller with enough light and space.

Construction details determine how the organization of light and space will be brought together to function as a homogenous machine for the dweller.

{ Single Loaded Section }

{Connections} PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT Coping Flashing Steel Angle to Beam

campus view

Fenestration Drip 2” Brick 2” Air gap 2” Insulation PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

view to courtyard

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

igo

t ver

1/4” Wood finish 5” Slab Steel Angle to Slab I- beam to Girder

Sedum Roof Felt Fabrics GFRC Hauncher Beam Pivot Window

GFRC Sill

6” Brick Pivot Window Weep hole C-channel Beam

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

{South Facade}

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Project: Molloy College

{Collaboration between the hand and the mind}

{Cartouche - Process}

{Agro - Production Pavillion}

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Project: Molloy College

{Model - 1/4� = 1’}

{Shared balcony detail}

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Project: El Camino

Cartouche 2 PROJECT: Theoretical - The Network City SEMESTER: Summer - 2013 SCHOOL: The CA Institute PROFESSOR: Tatiana Berger

{Northern Galicia}

TEAM: Christian L. Camacho LOCATION: Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain DESCRIPTION: CA institute leverages the city of Santiago de Compostela as an architectural laboratory - firstly to learn from its excellent historical and contemporary architectural tradition, and, secondly, to reflect on its urban complexity. As a living example, the city allows students to interact with and learn from architectural experiences. The institute focuses on developing fundamental skills of an architect. In that sense, materiality, tectonics, sketching, hand made models, are basic elements of the common syllabus of this institute.

{Geo - Data}

In this project my intention is to reveal a new typology of city by using the fabric of Santiago de Compostela as host. Today there exists many types of densities, the rural, suburban, and the urban, as well as derivatives of these.

{Hydro - Data}

{Built Network}

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Project: El Camino

Throughout history cities change and transform. These transformations can be valiant social triumphs, physical growth,

changes in power, and other varying factors. The city is thought to constitute organs that are related to social, economic, political, religious, and spiritual bowels. The attempt of this essay is to discover internal cities within alien fabrics, cities that we shall refer to as, “Network Cities”. All cities have similar ways in which they are constructed, however the heart and mind of a city dweller differs from one city to another. This divergence happens from city to city due to cultural, geographical and historical developments that exist. What can then be extrapolated from these differences is the categorization of these different factors of the city and how the human psyche has affected the development of progress. However, the discussion here is to reveal “internal ghost cities” and to prove whether or not they may exist within our surroundings and perhaps lead into this categorical idea of cities and revealing a type of city, the Network City. “Internal ghost cities”, is meant to be a city that can grow by penetrating an existing city and how that existing city can thrive off of the invading power. The word “Ghost” means that the internal city that feeds the city it is penetrating has become forgotten or blended in, to the point where it is not considered to be its own identity anymore. Santiago de Compostela is a primary example that shows the idea of the intersection and growth that happens between a city and an alien city fabric. It is also important to acknowledge the history, growth, and changes of Santiago de Compostela in a brief manner to further understand the argument.

{Santiago de Compostela Panorama}

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Project: El Camino

{Figure Ground}

{Granjas}

{Topo}

In the north-westernmost region of Spain, is Gali-

cia, just north of Portugal. It has always lived a little apart from the rest of Spain. Traditionally, Galicia was seen as a poor agricultural region. It absorbs little Roman influence and was never conquered by the Moors, and in the Middle Ages fell under the control of the kingdom of Asturias. It was only very briefly an independent monarchy, in the 10th and 11th centuries. At its heart is the fascinating Santiago de Compostela, a focus for pilgrims since the early Middle Ages. The city is centered on a magnificent Baroque cathedral, which has transformed in architectural style through out its life span. By 1075 when the Romanesque basilica was begun and the pilgrimage was becoming a major European phenomenon, Santiago de Compostela had already been raided on various occasions by the Normans and Muslims. Bishop Diego Gelmírez obtained archbishopric status for Santiago in 1100 and added numerous churches in the 12th century, when homage paid to its saint brought in a flood of funds. Enthusiasm for the pilgrimage to Santiago peaked around and then internecine squabbling between rival nobles, damped down by Isabel and Fernando after the Reconquista, marked the following centuries. Bordering Portugal to the south and enclosed by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Galicia could offer its inhabitant’s little in the way of new land for cultivation; overpopulation and unemployment forced many to emigrate. Yet, in the 20th century, Galicia began to develop, and today traditional lifestyles rub shoulders with modernity. Galicia has always maintained strong links with the sea; where it thrives through its centers of culture, commerce, and industry. Making fishing a vital attribute to the economy of Santiago de Compostela and its surrounding Galician cities. After misguidedly siding with the Carlist’s in the 1830s, Santiago de Compostela slipped into the background. Only since the 1980s, as capital of the autonomous region of Galicia and a rediscovered tourist and pilgrimage target, has the Cell: (908)-220-9393 Email: chrstncamacho@gmail.com 20

city been revitalized. In 1985 the city’s Old Town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

One of the main components of the medieval city of Compostela is the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. The pilgrimage is a long network of routes extending throughout Europe. The main route is called the French route. The network consists of hillsides and terrains, in which different weather conditions conceal the remains of Celtic settlements; at road junctions and in the towns, stand weathered stone crosses, while in the villages old granaries can be seen. Artistic ensembles created by pilgrims can be found scattered throughout the nexus of networks running throughout Europe.

Symbolic representations of the scallop shell, which are the networks guides, are also found through out different locations in Spain, France, Portugal, and even north into Denmark. This is where the idea of a ghost city lays and how it percolates into the type, “Network City”. Lewis Mumford, writer of the essay “What is a city? Suggested some components that a city entertains. Through his essay we can begin to extrapolate a template of what is a city. According to Mumford, “the essential physical means of a city’s existence are the fixed site, the durable shelter, the permanent facilities for assembly, interchange, and storage; the essential social means are the social division of labor, which serves not merely the economic life but the cultural processes. The city in its complete sense, then, is a geographic plexus, an economic organization, an institutional process, a theatre of social action, and an esthetic symbol of collective unity. The city fosters art and is art; the city creates the theatre and is the theatre......”

The network working within Santiago de Compostela is not just a path, a journey, and a pilgrimage. The network, which is interwoven within Compostela and many other cities throughout Europe is much more complex. This network consists on an economic stability, which has been created and developed by pilgrims over the past centuries.

Hostels, restaurants, baths, equipment shops, information stops, catering to the pilgrimage can be found through out the cities that this network intersects. What do we call a network, which contains similar attributes as a city? Can we consider this an elongated city that stretches for hundreds of miles, impacting the external cities it intersects? One can argue that this network definitely cannot be considered a city. Perhaps it may have to do with the fact that one can only see this network as a path, an unsheltered path in which the impact to other cities is minimal, so minute that it is not a candidate for a city or even brings forth the ramifications of what a city presents in the century. How should we define a group of people, a community, an outdoor habitat, or a path; as a city? Numa Denis Fustel De Coulanges, claims that the ancient city evolved from the merging of external organs that have grown into each other. He mentions the evolution of the phatry, family, tribe, and the city. In the case of the internal ghost city of Santiago de Compostela, it has started out as a pilgrimage and its density of travelers has risen to the point where affects are inevitable to other cities it is intersecting. Camping grounds for

pilgrims, for example in Monte Do Gozo, a village east of Santiago de Compostela, is a result of the incoming and outgoing pilgrims, meanwhile all the business’s thrive off of the incoming pilgrims and establishes some sort of economic stability within the village. Due to the fact that there is this stability, villages such as Monte do Gozo, are able to grow from what they once were, even if it is at a slow pace. The connection of space and time is another contributing aspect in the components of a city. Cities as dense as New York have entire systems and networks that take the city dweller from one place to another within minutes. On the other hand the network of El Camino is a slower paced system, a much more ancient system, which is walking. However, services for pilgrims are specifically provided to connect the traveling man with the “spiritual path” whether it is by land, air, or water. Never the less the network of El Camino is still a network, which involves maintenance, development, design, a sense of consciousness to its context, even if it is at a much less lively pace as that of New York City’s.

Le Puy France, which is one of the small cities that El Camino intersects, shows evidence of how this network does in fact affect other cities by absorbing certain factors, socially or economically, in its immediate context of the area it intersect. Rue Saint-Jacques is a street that enters into the city from the western sector and finally ends in a plaza. Within this street one can encounter many hints of Santiago de Compostela, aside from the name of the street.

The scallop shell and signage can be seen along this street, however there is a very important impact that happens in Rue Saint-Jacques that can be applied to other cities that El Camino intersect. The psychological mindset that happens in this street is important to help identify this as a network city. George Simmel writes about the mental function of an emotional mind derived from the town in comparison to the calculated mind of the city. It is hard not to think of similar changes like these that happen within El Camino. The people that live on the network of El Camino also have their business that caters to the pilgrims, which creates for a specific mental condition. People such as these have to calculate their everyday lives and actions to revolve around this universal event that happens on El Camino. When one compares the mind of one who lives on the network against someone who lives ten minutes away from it, one can understand the mental difference of the city dweller that lives within the Network City.

If El Camino contains social, economic, political, religious, spiritual, and psychological bowels as a regular city does, why not call it a city?

The reason being is that there is a layer of complexity that is added to this network, which is something metaphysically beyond just a “city.” It is also too embedded and too quaint to be the loud bustling beast that the city is. Never the less, it is an intelligent nexus of routes that contains much of what a city does. This understanding can perhaps allow us to accept the possibility of underlying cities that we may not be aware about. If the statement above has been understood or accepted then perhaps we can understand another typology of city, the Network City.

Project: El Camino

Murro detail

{Sketching, Painting, History, Theory, + Architecture} The network working within Santiago de Compostela is not just a path, a journey, and a pilgrimage. The network, which is interwoven within Compostela and many other cities throughout Europe is much more complex. This network consists on an economic stability, which has been created and developed by pilgrims over the past centuries. Hostels, restaurants, baths, equipment shops, information stops, catering to the pilgrimage can be found through out the cities that this network intersects. What do we call a network, which contains similar attributes as a city? Can we consider this an elongated city that stretches for hundreds of miles, impacting the external cities it intersects? One can argue that this network definitely cannot be considered a city. Perhaps it may have to do with the fact that one can only see this network as a path, an unsheltered path in which the impact to other cities is minimal, so minute that it is not a candidate for a city or even brings forth the ramifications of

A sensorial section of El Camino 21

Project: Harlem School of Arts

Cartouche 3 PROJECT: The Harlem School of Arts SEMESTER: Spring - 2013 SCHOOL: The Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture - City College - CUNY PROFESSOR: Fabian Llonch AWARD: Silver Award of Merit - Society of American Registered Architects.

TEAM: Christian L. Camacho / Alvaro Almada LOCATION: 645 St. Nicholas Ave, New York, NY DESCRIPTION: SSA students have been asked to create a project in collaboration with the teachers and students of the Harlem School of Arts. The project site is located on the west side of the St. Nicholas Avenue on the long block between 141st St. and 145th St. and consists of 31,475 S.F. of land including the existing HAS Community Theatre Building. A rugged escarpment of rock at the rear property line rises to 45 feet above the street level and forms a rear yard boundary. The one story theater forms the northern site limit and the two story and basement Community House of St. James Presbyterian Church, where the School now functions, is at the southern property line. The tunnel of the seven track Eight Avenue subway line lies under St. Nicholas Avenue within three feet of the front property line and approximately four feet under the sidewalk at the center of the site. The goal was to renovate the façade of the existing bruatlist building, built in the 1970’s.

By speaking and getting to know the clients the concept begins to develop and new ideas stir in what can possibly be a new way to rethink this school of the arts. The existing building clearly shuns the community from its artistic organs. Harlem is a part of New York that has tremendous history and culture. All that should be welcomed into the school of arts as well as vice versa. By opening up the school in a way that integrates itself into the community, but also addresses safety issues, can activate a new opportunity for this machine of learning. The importance of this project is collaborative thinking and design. My team-mate and I were presented with an existing Brutalistic building that needed renovation. The Harlem School of Arts is an incredibly diverse institute that has had a rich history. As part of our comprehensive design studio project, we needed to use collaberative thinking, design research, digital media, as well as work with the students of HSA and its faculty in order to redesign the Brutalistic facade through an Architect and client relationship.

Cell: (908)-220-9393 Email: chrstncamacho@gmail.com 22

Project: Harlem School of Arts

{Art + Architecture and the Civic Dweller} Choice is fundamental to the human’s consciousness; traditionally the city has been the place where the citizen dweller has had wide choice through multiple options. Art is fundamental to the mind’s existence and legacy; it can bring meaning to his or her life by offering contrast and form his labors, his cares, and his responsibilities.

{The Civic Re-introduction}

Art school activities Entry lobby Outdoor court

This project is an attempt to give the residents of Harlem and Morningside Heights choice in recreation and art a voice and a hand, through Architecture and social interactions determining the activities and the arrangement of the activities. It is felt that the concept of “choice” and the planning of an art school, that gives back to the community, may have several results. First, the schools facilities and programs are more likely to be responsive to the minds who use them. Second, persons are more likely to find meaning and enjoyment in that environment in which they have had an influence in shaping. There is evidence that this latter factor may indeed be a more important or potent influence on behavior and reaction to the environment than the actual characteristics of the environment itself.

It is difficult to test this hypothesis in a laboratory or controlled situation. Projects of this sort are the only opportunity open to an architecture student, such as me, at this time to test such a hypothesis. In order to prove such a hypothesis, it will be necessary to accumulate the results of this project and many more like it.

Black box theater

{Existing massing}

{Addition and flip}

{The Brutalist Conception} Always believing that ongoing change is a necessary ingredient of a designers growth, Ulrich Franzen has not been content to produce visually constant or functionally unprogressive buildings. He likes o see changes in the same building, which is regarded as an assemblage of previously developed concepts and parts, joined together with new concepts and parts. Preoccupation with affixed personal stamp is a dead end for Franzen. Even when his buildings may have

{Structure of addition}

Franzen’s concept was to create an oasis that isolated the building’s interior from its sometimes harsh surroundings, while respecting the low height scale of the block. The architectural importance of the neo-gothic St. James Church continues in the block front.

Accordingly, the existing low building covers a large percentage of the site to produce the required floor area. The un-built site is devoted to a court that is the focus of the interior outlook. The rear wall of the court takes advantage of a rarity in the city – a cliff in which the building butts into. On the street façade openings are concentrated in blind recesses indicating the presence of the large double height lobby within. Entrance is gained through a “lock” that allows visitors to proceed into a semi-circular vestibule until admitted electronically through a second door.

The main practice and recital rooms are located directly above the main lobby. Off a balcony above are more individual practice rooms and offices.

{Perferation}

{St. Nicholas Park Neighborhood} The area around St. Nicholas Park was extensively developed at the turn of the century following the completion of the Broadway subway in 1904. Previous to this the area had housed the old village of the Manhattanville and country homes of the wealthy New Yorkers, notably Alexander Hamilton. The area was also crossed by a past road named Kings’ Way and later on Albany Post Read. In the late 19th Century the name of the road was legally changed to St. Nicholas Avenue after the patron saint of New Amsterdam.

The area immediately adjacent to St. Nicholas Park is predominantly residential.

Unlike Morningside, none of the housing is controlled by neighboring institutions.

Housing is mainly large apartments along the east, north and south edges of the park. Building condition is abysmally low particularly along St. Nicholas Avenue.

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Project: Harlem School of Arts

{First Floor Plan}

{Second Floor Plan}

{Third Floor Plan}

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Project: Harlem School of Arts

{Movement}

{East Elevation}

This area of the city is well-serviced by public transportation. In addition to two major subway lines on Broadway and on the extension of 7th Avenue, eight cross-town and ten up-downtown bus lines are available to carry residents to the parks and to other facilities in the city.

While automobile traffic an most of the surface streets appears to be moderate or light, double- and even tripleparking reduces the actual capacity well below predicted capacities.

Parking in the area is a problem with approximately 20,700 autos owned. Off-street storage is practically none-existent and on street parking capacity is more than taken up by area residents. This leaves little space available for park users wishing to travel to the park in their own vehicles.

{Commercial}

{Longitudinal Section}

There is a small amount of commercial activity immediately adjacent to the park. Retail Activity which can serve park users needs for food and refreshments are limited to a small marginal market at 133rd street and St. Nichols Avenue.

Venders are also available in the park on weekends.

{Institutions} Institutional Activity in the immediate vicinity of St. Nicholas park is made up of the City College on the west, which influence several public schools and several churches. The public school across St. Nicholas Avenue from the park is J.H.S. 136.

{Section through atrium}

{Programmatic Connector}

{Section through dance recitals}

{X-Connector}

{Y-Connector} {Section through black box theater}

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Project: Harlem School of Arts

{Comprehensive design}

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

Girder Truss system 4” mullion Fenestration Mullion

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

2” mullions

Exist. floor slab

C-channel steel plate Steel bolts

Glazing

Column Base-plate

Earth Footing key

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

{3d Construction model}

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Project: Harlem School of Arts

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Cartouche 4 PROJECT: Lighting as an Environment SEMESTER: Spring - 2013 SCHOOL: The Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture - City College - CUNY PROFESSOR: Domingo Gonzalez TEAM: Christian L. Camacho / Diana Zwetzich / Demir Pursic LOCATION: The Spitzer School of Architecture DESCRIPTION: Location: Spitzer School of Architecture The stair in front of the security desk, connecting the first and second level of SSA, is an ideal location for what we are trying to achieve as our term project. We will be using fabrics to create parabolic surfaces and shapes, on a very simple pinned system. The surfaces will act as diffusers for the light installations we will be including.

Project: Harlem School of Arts

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Project: Bushwick Community Dwellings

Cartouche 5 PROJECT: Bushwick Community Dwellings SEMESTER: Fall - 2012 SCHOOL: The Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture - City College - CUNY

{Existing building}

PROFESSOR: Alberto Foyo AWARD: Silver Award of Merit - Society of American Registered Architects.

TEAM: Christian L. Camacho / Moe Myat Thu / Marcus Tung / Melissa Santana / Evan Kaloggeanis / Deswacy Powel / Diana Zwetzich / Tiffany Urosa / Magdalena Checo / Veronica Rivas / William McMillen

{Structural Addition}

LOCATION: Ingraham St. and Bogart St. Brooklyn N.Y. DESCRIPTION: In this project we have been given a site located at Ingraham St. and Bogart St. in Brooklyn N.Y. The semester’s objective was to design an apartment building that can hold up to twenty-four units. The idea of a dwelling as a machine had to be explored and its relationship to natural light. Social and sustainable issues that confront design today had to be investigated. Grasping a technical understanding of structure and materialization had to be crucial to the final design. The 400’ x 200’ lot on Harrison Pl. and Bogart St. is located across the original site assigned.

The 80,000sf lot has an existing one-story empty storage building, which stands 20’. The decision was made to design twenty-four “community dwellings” on top of the existing storage building.

A new 400’ x 200’ floor plate was placed 15’ above the roof of the existing storage building. Land art and a series of paths were placed within the 15’ space created, for semi-public use. Above the new floor plate, a series of twenty-four courtyard houses, designed for specific clients, were placed around three “commons”, one major common and two minor commons. The commons consist of agricultural rows, containing different vegetables, herbs, spices, and aromatic plants. Two “connectors” were designed to create vertical circulation on the north and south sides of the structure. They connect the public ground level to the semi-public land art, semi-private commons, and private courtyard houses.

{Courtyard Typology}

{Connectors}

{Connectors}

{Personalize}

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Project: Bushwick Community Dwellings

{South Connector}

{Thought}

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Project: Bushwick Community Dwellings

{First floor}

{Second floor}

{Third floor}

{Roof Plan}

{South facade}

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Project: Bushwick Community Dwellings

{Section detail through connector}

{The Bushwick Neighborhood} The community of Bushwick is in a state of revitalization. Bushwick greatly suffered in the 1970’s when it endured exceeding rates of foreclosures and a decrease in community services due to a drastic economic decline. After the Citywide Blackout of 1977, Bushwick was subject to many fires because of the Broadway Street Riots. Arson and looting caused the destruction and disfiguration of many properties. After the riots settled down, the city and many landlords did not invest in their property, which left many buildings looking barren and uninhabited.

In recent times, many of the old warehouses are being used as rentable spaces for small art studios and galleries by young artists looking for places to live and work in. With the influx of rising artists that are emerging in the area, the community is consistently undergoing changes. Some of the grocery stores by our site have started an effort to provide fresh organic products by growing the produce themselves.

As we considered our project we immediately incorporated art and agriculture into our design because of what it means to the residents near the site. Bushwick’s history inspired us to bring back communityliving into this urban-civic environment through art and agriculture with our design. We designed elevated communal dwellings that are arranged so that every unit has access to exposed garden areas where its residents can contribute to growing given plants and vegetables for everyone living there. Including agriculture into our design provides the residents with more fresh produce and would also help lessen the amount of greenhouse gases that are present in the area because of the nearby factories. We also allocated the existing first floor of the abandoned warehouse under our community dwellings to serve as a gallery space for the community’s artists to showcase their work. Our project is in essence driven to create a stronger sense of community and enhance the artistic cultural density of Bushwick.

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Project: Bushwick Community Dwellings

{Thought + Agri-Tect + Sketch} A large amount of this design was decided through sketching. The human factors are most exquisite through this art. This particular project exercises the human senses, and brings forth the importance of architecture, community, social interaction, and agriculture in a holistic packaged ensemble that celebrates its sketch influenced design within the minds of the citizen dwellers.

Minor Common

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Introversion

Major Common

Project: Bushwick Community Dwellings

Solar Paneling

Market

Courtyard Dwelling

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Project: Bushwick Community Dwellings

{1/4� Model}

{First floor}

{Section through courtyard}

{Section through kitchen} Cell: (908)-220-9393 Email: chrstncamacho@gmail.com 36

Project: Bushwick Community Dwellings

{First floor}

{Section through piano room}

{Section through courtyard}

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Project: A Collection of Works

{Thought + Form + Program + Mechanical Drawing} PROJECT: Brooklyn Waterfront Museum SEMESTER: Spring 2012 SCHOOL: New York City College of Technology - CUNY PROFESSOR: Augustine Maldonado TEAM: Christian L. Camacho LOCATION: Brooklyn Waterfront Park, Brooklyn N.Y. MEDIUM: Ink on mylar + Ps Cs6

{Third floor}

DESCRIPTION: Understanding how forms can create spaces and aesthetics is a critical part of the development of the young architect. Representing these forms through Architectural language is critical. The images exhibited in this spread are a showcase of my mechanical drawing techniques.

The museim focuses on the “fields”, program, site, history, context and abstraction of the location. These six factors form a generator for creating geometries that have significant meaning to Brooklyn. I emphasized on e general fact about Brooklyn, which is, that it is a dynamic city, rich in culture. Brooklyn also has front row seats to NYC which is also an allotment of different peoples and backgrounds all intersecting one another through the social means. Intersection was the main verb I picked out of Brooklyn. I took that verb to create geometries that cross eachother. I gave these geomotries direction by including the site, program and context into the mix, allowing for an abstract gesture of Brooklyn’s history and its future, in a frozen capsule of Architecture.

{Second floor}

{First floor} Cell: (908)-220-9393 Email: chrstncamacho@gmail.com 38

Project: A Collection of Works

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Project: A Collection of Works

{Spacial Organization + Architectural Drawing} PROJECT: Dumbo Health Club SEMESTER: Spring 2012 SCHOOL: New York City College of Technology PROFESSOR: Augustine Maldonado.

TEAM: Christian L. Camacho LOCATION: 66 Sands St. Brooklyn, NY MEDIUM: Ink on mylar + Ps Cs6 DESCRIPTION: The Health Club was generated by the sites views, program, and construction logistics. The challange was to accomodate all necesscities of a health club into one very smallsite. These drawings speak the basic techniques of the architectural language, through plan and section, to communicate a machine for the citizen dwellers of Dumbo.

It is important for the young architect to master the language through mechanical drawing early in their architectural education.

{Envisioning a machine through the architectural language}

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Project: A Collection of Works

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Project: A Collection of Works

{The conception......} PROJECT: Cube House SEMESTER: Fall - 2011 SCHOOL: New York City Collge of Technology - CUNY PROFESSOR: Darryl Cook TEAM: Christian L. Camacho LOCATION: ____________ DESCRIPTION: I created a 3”x3” cube while considering solid vs. void, flow of space, flow of mass. Then converted it into livable space.

......{of Lines and Forms as a Language}......

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Project: A Collection of Works

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Project: A Collection of Works

{Comprehensive design} PROJECT: Delineating Path - Radiohead SEMESTER: Fall 2011

Sound

SCHOOL: New York City College of Technology PROFESSOR: Darryl Cook TEAM: Christian L. Camacho LOCATION:_______________ DESCRIPTION: The objective was to create a path negotiating the experience of a song from beginning to end. Then dissecting the song and create a representation of the song through models and drawings that speak a narrative. The song I chose was Ideoteque - Radiohead.

Scalar

Environment

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Project: A Collection of Works

Ink on mylar

Model - no scale

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Project: A Collection of Works

SKETCHBOOK:

{Passenturalism at play - Cartouche}

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Project: A Collection of Works

{NYC - MTA train track detail}

{NYC - MTA details}

{Building details}

{NYC - MTA details}

{Santiago de Compostela Catedral}

{Bonoval Park - Galicia}

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Project: A Collection of Works

{Arte} {Passenturalism at play 2.0}

{Caught in the middle}

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{Goodbye and Splat}

{Passenturalism at play 3.0}

Project: A Collection of Works

{Passenturalism at play 1.0}

{Vagina and wine}

{Motion blur}

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