Architecture Portfolio

DIEGO TAPIA NUÑEZ ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO APPLICATION FOR Msc ARCHITECTURAL COMPUTATION ID Number: 23213842 The Bartlett School of Architecture - UCL

DIEGO TAPIA NUÑEZ

PERSONAL STATEMENT

EDUCATION

I have always been attracted to technology, computation and, at the same time, for architecture, design and drawing, I’m constantly looking at my job for ways to connect both worlds that are every day more related.

Bachelor of Architecture

Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso, Chile

2010-2016

WORK EXPERIENCE 2023-2024 - Architect at Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso

- Design and develop projects for spaces of the University - Carry out the quotation biding for the execution of minor and medium projects - Supervise works in the field, municipal procedures and external services associated to the projects

2021- 2023 - Sole Practitioner

Design and inspection of works of small scale projects, such as houses and school gardens.

2019-2021 - Architect at José Cruz Ovalle and associates

In charge of design, modeling, inspection of works and government permits of different types of projects such as universities and hotels. Relevant projects - Design and modeling “Explora Calafate”, Hotel project in argentinian patagonia.

- Modelling and construction inspection “Adolfo Ibañez University Vitacura”. Educational project located in Santiago de Chile.

2018-2019 - Architect at Francisco Vivanco and associates

Design, modeling and drawing of high density residential buildings.

2015-2018 - Architect at Deney y Veliz

Design of projects from feasibility, design, budget, government permits and construction inspection. Residential projects and small scale constructions.

SKILLS Languages. Native Spanish English Softwares. Autodesk Autocad Autodesk Revit Graphisoft Archicad Lumion Twinmotion

We are in a crucial moment in history that we have to understand very well all new technologies and I’m intrigued by the way that human being will be designing the environment in the future and I want to be part of it. Our generation has a crucial duty on leading the transformations in designing and building to produce a positive impact in our planet.

For that I consider that the MSc Architectural Computation at UCL will allow me to learn programming and virtual design to bring solutions to the real world that will have an effective impact as much as design itself as the way we build to attend the urgent environmental needs. I found essential the crossing between art and technology that the faculty leads, so we can take the decisions at the moment of designing and not to stuck at the automatizations of an artificial intelligence.

In my time studying at the Faculty of Architecture and Design at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaiso (PUCV) I learnt the importance of observation, the croquis (sketch) technique, the pulse of the hand to design and I believe those skills are essentials to lead projects that make sense in the environment that are built. Also, I have discovered and my attention has been drawn in the possibility to take the projects to virtual environments to comprehend and visualize them in better ways, I always took the initiative in my workgroups in the phase of digital design.

In the architecture studios at Francisco Vivanco and José Cruz Ovalle I’ve always contributed with technology implementations. For that I decided to study a diploma about BIM, to drive more efficient process that were previously unknown in the workplace, such as the use of quantification and interference detection. I also started exploring real time visualization technologies that allowed me to communicate and understand projects in a more clear and efficient way.

On my efforts to keep improving I decided to take an Unreal Engine course were I learnt the essentials of the videogame engine, also going through the creation of nodes of visual programming. At the moment, I’m studying programming in Python with the motivation to being able to develop applications that allow a more intuitive design tool and eventually scalable to industrialized construction.

Once I obtain the degree, I hope to being able to develop technology that produce a positive impact on the world, understanding how artificial intelligence and virtual environments become tools that help us to conceive constructive systems that are more friendly with our world with the hope that in our future the design and construction of our environment will be guided with our minds, our observations and our hands.

CONTENTS Sketchup Blender Unreal Engine Adobe Indesign Adobe Photoshop

OBSERVATION AND ARCHITECTURE

HUT YAKISUGI

PAGE 3

OCOA RAILWAY STATION

PAGE 12

IMAGINARIES AND SPACE - 3D ARTWORK

PAGE 16

PAGE 4

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OBSERVATIONS AND ARCHITECTURE

After having studied at the school of architecture and design of Valparaiso (PUCV) and during my first years of practice I have been working and perfecting the observation and drawing as techniques to devolop the projects. I will detail this process to account for the way in which I carry out the architectural design.

INTENTION MEETS THE PLACE

SCALE AND DIMENSIONS ADJUST THE INTENTION

What are the requirements of the project?, what architectural program should be built?, what are the needs?

This process is constituted of 3 general stages that are channeling the form.

These questions must be conducted together with what was observed. This allows me to arrive at statements that define the “ACT” or the way in which the space is inhabited and the “FORM” or the way in which the space is constructed.

The process of planimetric drawing is constantly interchanged with the sketch of the model and the first 3D models, a work of layers that are defined and improved with each version is done to find the shape of the project. This process of repetition and sketching is constantly contrasted and questioned with the observations, so that the general is not lost.

ORIGIN OF THE ARCHITECTURAL INTENTION

This process is conducive to the projects presented in this portfolio.

Drawings, observations and words are collected from the project site, as well as from what makes sense in the discourse that is being assembled. This leads to STATEMENTS about the space and the environment that allow to give a spatial abstraction, a first encounter with the conduction of space.

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These statements allow revealing a “field of abstraction” and a “radical element of the extension”, which account for the first general feature of the project. It is built three-dimensionally, the “form” and the “act” meet the place of the project. The first images or inhabited sketches also respond to the first observations and it is corroborated if what is proposed fits the initial idea.

PLANIMETRIC DRAWING PROCESS, LAYERS TO DESIGN

OBSERVATIONS AND STATEMENTS OVER THE YEARS

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HUT YAKISUGI

The project is located in the territories of Aysen, Chilean fjord, approximately 10km from Tortel. It’s aiming to find way of temporal settlement and extend itself to the sea, in and excersice to discover the way to live in the sea.

The first question is : How to know this territories in its deep and extension.

There has been some expeditions to the southern ice fields, on kayak, activity that requieres several days to be completed. A refugge placed strategicly can offer a secure stay.

This islands with steep hills coexist with the sea and rivers, the buildings are posed in the fine line of the pacific ocean. Here the buildings deploy itself to the sea that alows connections 6

During the 20th century the arrival to this places was driven by the extraction of Ciprés de las Guaitecas (Pilgerodendron uviferum), to acomplish this task several kilometers were traveled by sea, once the job was done, the same wood was used to fabricate a boat to return with the goods.

To build this is necessary to consider support on a central axis that give freedom to produce a cantilever. I decide to elevate the interior of the building and distribute it on an open floor.

During the trip back the boat was used to lunch, make fire, and rest. When they arrived they dissasembled the boat and all the wood were ready to sell.

The kitchen is at the center, the central fire that allows the gathering, in the ends are the bedrooms, to rest and contemplate the nature and the extension of the territory.

This fragile and ephemeral ship can present a form of assembly that can be bring from one place to another. The project is thinked in a assembly logic that can be placed in a border of rocks and river, creating a treshold suspended over the sea.

The structure is considered in laminated wood that allows big lengths, 4 columns and 2 master beams. Every 244cm are placed wood rib structures for the walls that are made with SIP panels for a fast assembly, yakisugi wood is placed as the facade material.

OBSERVATIONS

IS IN THE CONVERGENCE OF THE HILLS WHERE THE SETTLEMENT CAN BE FOUND, AND WHEN IT TURNS TO THE SEA THE HORIZONTAL EXTENSION APPEARS. IT ANCHORS TO THE TERRAINS AND EXPAND ITSELF TO THE TERRITORY AND THE SEA

THE HORIZONTAL AXIS GIVEN BY THE WALKSIDE ALLOWS TO IDENTIFY THE CONTINUITY OF THE CITY, OPOSED BY THE VERTICALITY OF THE SURROINDINGS. THE CONTINUITY OF THE SEA ENHANCES THE CONTRAST WITH THE HILLS.

PIER EXTENDED AND SUSPENDED OVER THE SEA

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2 BOATS MADE OF CIPRÉS, FRAGILE STRUCTURES THAT ENDURE THE TRIPS OF WOOD EXTRACTION. A SUSPENDED PIER IN A CENRTAL AXIS TO DESTRIBUTE THE HUT 1. Bridges and wood walkways in Tortel, constructive system.

2. Yakisugi wood 7

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UNREAL ENGINE ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION

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This project was taken to Unreal Engine for the course in which I participated, the main idea was to turn it into a fully interactive experience, where you could know in first person all the features of the project. In order to make it real it was necessary to work and practice with the visual programming nodes, also called blueprints.

The level blueprint allows the start of the level and the initial kinematics, and the possibility of interacting and interrupting them at startup, the second blueprint allows interacting with a scale model of the project.

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OCOA RAILWAY STATION

The town of Ocoa is characterized by its great agricultural influence, mainly in its flowers and nurseries. agrotourism is a modality that has been quite successful in the sector.

Ocoa is also an area with a strong link to La Campana National Park, being part of this important biological corridor of the region, being La Campana hill an important visual landmark of this territory.

Spatially speaking, Ocoa is characterized by the looseness of its spaces and the lightness of the constructions that are located giving importance to the territory.

The Ocoa train station began operating in 1863, being part of the Santiago - Valparaíso line. The constant transport of passengers and merchandise made the town grow around the station. In 1995 the ticket offices were closed and the passenger transport ended. Today the tracks are still in operation, moving freight trains but without stops on site.

The station has a modern architecture, with a reinforced concrete structure. In spite of not being in operation, the station is a landmark of the place. Its dimensions propose a public use and a community meeting place.

The way to circulate through the station is by crossing it, generating a link between the exterior and interior of Ocoa, in addition the building has no reverse, both facades are exposed with equal importance.

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OBSERVATIONS The proposal includes everything previously mentioned, first of all the original structure is rescued, its facades with equal importance and its materiality, complemented with wood and steel. Community meeting spaces are created where the versatility of the spaces predominates, with multipurpose rooms for workshops and rehearsals, as well as a large outdoor space with a stage, a permanent place for the sale of products, a clean point and recreational areas.

The spaciousness of the place is highlighted in the proposed areas, which facilitates and enhances the universal accessibility to all the enclosures.

In addition, the link with the territory is enhanced in two ways. The first is with a viewpoint at the top of the station, from which there is visual control of the landmarks of the territory, mainly the la Campana hill and the second is the implementation of the sclerophyllous flora of the place.

Since a couple of years ago, the residents of Ocoa began to organize themselves and have been able to create a network of cooperative support among different social organizations such as neighborhood councils, folkloric groups, sports clubs, etc.

All this, added to the intervention of the organization “Trenzando”, created a desire to rehabilitate the station and create a space for all the neighbors and their activities.

Through citizen consultations, a new program responds to the desires and needs of the inhabitants, including places for the sale of products and spaces for rehearsal and artistic performance.

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EXTERIOR VIEW - TERRACE INTERIOR VIEW - MULTIPORPUSE ROOM

INTERIOR VIEW - REHERSAL ROOM

EXTERIOR VIEW - RAILWAY LINE

INTERIOR VIEW - REHERSAL ROOM

EXTERIOR VIEW - STAGE 17

IMAGINARIES AND SPACE This section aims to show some works of art made in digital media, imaginary environments and architecture.

WIND READER ROOM SOFTWARE USED - BLENDER

2021

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HYPERION TOMBSTONE SOFTWARE USED - BLENDER

2022

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OLD RUINS OF CARONTE SOFTWARE USED - UNREAL ENGINE

2022

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CHILOÉ - 1890 SOFTWARE USED - UNREAL ENGINE

2022

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