Esmeralda Aceituno - Portfolio

esmeralda aceituno selected works

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VERTICAL RISE

01-06

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BAMBOO TRIANGULATION

07-12

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BARREL WORSHIP

13-18

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THE SKRIM

19-24

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CAR WASH APARTMENT

25-30

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BUS STOP BUREAUCRACY

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PROFESSIONAL WORKS

35-40

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CREATIVE WORKS

41-46

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VERTICAL RISE

01.

Barcelona currently faces a lack of social housing, with the estimated calculated need being 27 million m2. In the city of Barcelona, this footprint stands to leave a vary lasting mark. In order to reduce this footprint, a vertical city is necessary which builds density in elevation, rather than planimetrically. Located along the Rondas, one of the most important interconnected streets in Barcelona, our skyscraper reaches the height of 512 meters of Tibidabo, the mountain range which caps off Barcelona’s north west access. This vertical city acts as a double helix, with the four exterior helix forms housing co-living townhouse units, which fulfill the social housing need, and the interior helix includes mixed programming and green space. One neighborhood of housing acts as 30 floors, with a range of circulatory distances, programming needs, and green space fulfilment.

Team Member - Annabelle Asali

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cylindrical extrusion

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green space & mixed programming

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social housing & exterior structure

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double helix massing

circulation with varying distances

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02.

BAMBOO TRIANGULATION

Located in the heart of Chinatown, this social justice research center provides valuable services to the community, such as office spaces, meeting rooms, an indoor workout facility, and an exterior running track. The facade system features bamboo, a symbol of oriental beauty in traditional Chinese culture. Used as scaffolding for modern construction in China, bamboo is lightweight, sustainable, and cheaper to source than most traditionally used building materials. The facade tessellates itself in response to the programmatic features of the building, offering moments of exterior interaction and sunlight infiltration through the cantilevered punch outs. The structural system is comprised of CLT to further accentuate the facade qualities, as well as, provide flexibility to the building’s interior organization.

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basic courtyard + tower extrusion

shear east facade for optimal sun entrance

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accessibility openings

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angle roof for circulatory path

primary facade triangulation

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Vignette Series

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Concrete Raft Foundation

Vertical Systems

Diaphragm Systems

Shear Systems

Horizontal Systems

Complete Structure

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FIBERGLASS BATT INSULATION 1’9” THICK

ACTIVE CHILLED BEAMS 8” WIDE

PARAPET COPING TIMBER FACADE SPACER WATERPROOFING MEMBRANE

ROOF DECKING DRYWALL PANELING ROOFING UNDERLAY

WATERPROOFING MEMBRANE FLASHING BAMBOO SECONDARY FACADE CYLINDRICAL FASTENER

BATT INSULATION PRIMARY AIR INTAKE ACTIVE CHILLED BEAM CEILING VENTILATION

STRUCTURAL C-CHANNEL GLAZING GASKET LOW-E DOUBLE GLASS PANE

CLT FLOOR PANEL AND FINISHED FLOORING

PRIMARY STRUCTURAL TIMBER BEAMS 1’3” X 1’9” SECONDARY FACADE LAYER OF 3” WIDE BAMBOO

LOW-E DOUBLE GLASS GLAZING GASKET STRUCTURAL C-CHANNEL CYLINDRICAL FASTENER BAMBOO SECONDARY FACADE METAL PLATE CONNECTOR FINISHED FLOORING CONCRETE MAT METAL DOWEL CONNECTOR BATT INSULATION GRAVEL

SOIL

STEEL SECONDARY FACADE SUPPORT BATTEN SUPPORT SECONDARY SUPPORT DRAINAGE GULLY GROUND SURFACE SOIL CONCRETE FOOTING 18”

6” FOUNDATION CONNECTION

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3” CONCRETE FOOTING

North Elevation

South Elevation

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BARREL WORSHIP

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Oakwood is a residential neighborhood located in Venice, CA. Also referred to as Ghost Town and Dogtown, this small neighborhood has deeply rooted gentrification issues. In 2017, a rich business mogul bought the site of a culturally significant and widely used church and began demolition for the construction of a massive mansion.

Despite community outrage and public protests, this church was not considered for designation as a historicalcultural monument and proceeded to be torn down. To fulfill this void in the community, this design proposes a larger community center and non-denominational church be constructed across the street from the original site. The central axis is voided out to enable a safe passageway between the street and the park.

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basic extrusion

slice forms to create barrel vaults

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split vaults to create voided mid-axis

cover voided axis creating atrium

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North Elevation

East Elevation

South Elevation

West Elevation

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1. Primary Structure

2. Secondary Structure

3. Thermal Insulation

4. Waterproofing Membrane

5. Exterior Cladding - Support

6. Exterior Cladding - Skin

7. Interior Cladding - Support

8. Interior Cladding - Skin

Vignette Series

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Longitudinal Section

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04.

THE SKRIM

Leimert Park is a vibrant and lively neighborhood located in South Los Angeles. Developed in the 1920s, it was one of the first planned communities in Southern California.

Since its initial development, it has become a cultural hub for African Americans and is known for its artistic influences in greater Los Angeles. In recent years, this community has seen an increase in rent and property prices due to gentrification. This has caused an increase in the at-risk youth population, who are now facing circumstances that may lead to a negative impact on their academic and social progress. This design provides a co-living model of housing designed for at-risk youth and their mentors, who were previously at-risk youth individuals. Through this mentorship programming, this population is able to experience a living space that incorporates all the vital resources needed to help propel them into the future, including a therapeutic center, education center, and career center.

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2nd Floor Plan

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North Elevation

South Elevation

East Elevation

West Elevation

Taxonomy of Facade Kit of Parts

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05.

CAR WASH APARTMENT A hidden gem in Los Angeles, Frogtown is an eccentric and unique collection of creatives and multi-generational families. This niche neighborhood offers a respite between the Los Angeles River and the busy downtown districts.

Connected primarily by vehicular access, this design proposes a quirky combination of programming meant to fit right into this peculiar pocket of Los Angeles. Through a mixed-use programming of a car wash and four apartment units, this building takes cues from its surroundings in its design and programmatic placement. In a cross-mixing of the average car wash and storybook house found in Frogtown and its surrounding neighborhoods, the facade design appears entirely as a car wash from one vantage point and entirely as a storybook house from another. The perpendicular billboards representing one side of the facade pierce through the massing and contrast with the organic shape of the pools.

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Roof Plan

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Model

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Unrolled Conceptual Study

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2nd Floor Plan

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WEST HOLLYWOOD’S BUS STOPS

LITTLE ARMENIA HOLLYWOOD PRESBYTERIAN

BARNSDALL ART PARK

330 SF OF SHADE 7 TREES

PROPOSED BUS STOP LOCATIONS

6 BUS STOPS 13% OF BUS STOPS

DAYTON HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

LOS ANGELES CITY COLLEGE

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06.

BUS STOP BUREAUCRACY

Santa Monica Boulevard is a major thoroughfare in Los Angeles that runs through eight primary neighborhoods of the city. Originally a part of the historic Route 66, this boulevard interweaves each of these eight distinct neighborhoods as a primary vehicular artery. In this artery, public transportation users rely on bus stop benches for respite against the Los Angeles heat and bustling city.

These benches are a vital component of the fabric of the city which are often overlooked. Despite being the city with the most public transportation users across Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood has the least amount of bus stop locations offered. Inspired by six architectural typologies found across Santa Monica Boulevard and pulling from the long history of large-scale art pieces across the city, these six bus stop designs are placed in West Hollywood to create an iconography of public transportation which can no longer be overlooked.

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LIGHT GREY PLASTER

WALNUT WOOD

EMBEDDED SOLAR PANELS

EMBEDDED SOLAR PANELS

MAPLE WOOD

LIGHTING FIXTURE

MAPLE WOOD LIGHTING FIXTURE BENCH SEATING

BENCH SEATING

TRASH RECEPTACLE

EMBEDDED SOLAR PANELS EMBEDDED AIR MISTERS

GREY PLASTER

LIGHTING FIXTURE BENCH SEATING

EMBEDDED SOLAR PANELS WALNUT WOOD

EMBEDDED AIR MISTERS

LIGHTING FIXTURE BENCH SEATING

TRASH RECEPTACLE

TRASH RECEPTACLE

MAPLE WOOD

DARK GREY PLASTER

BENCH SEATING

TRASH RECEPTACLE

MAPLE WOOD

WHITE PLASTER

EMBEDDED AIR MISTERS LIGHTING FIXTURE

EMBEDDED SOLAR PANELS

EMBEDDED AIR MISTERS

EMBEDDED EMBEDDED SOLAR PANELS AIR MISTERS LIGHTING FIXTURE

WHITE PLASTER

TRASH RECEPTACLE

BENCH SEATING

EMBEDDED SOLAR PANELS WALNUT WOOD

TRASH RECEPTACLE

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PROFESSIONAL WORKS Through internships with Safdie Architects and Meyer Davis, I assisted on designs for a range of projects and proposals with different scopes and requirements. Within Safdie Architects, I worked with a team of 3 to design several spaces intended for artists and creatives in the Crystal Bridges Museum located in Arizona. In addition to these spaces, I designed a custom cafe bar with the capacity for all the necessary equipment and adequate bar seating for the museum’s patrons. In illustrating professional renderings and three-dimensional conceptial design mockups, I aided in the team’s transition from design development to construction documentation. Within Meyer Davis, I produced professional-quality renderings for client approvals on furniture and material selections for the Limelight Hotel in California. In working alongside a team of 4, I created all three dimensional mockups for custom millwork and furniture pieces and coordinated any outsourcing for necessary materials.

Safdie Architects Team - Sarah Rinehart, Tunch Gungor, Kevin MacNichol Meyer Davis Team - Zoe Pinfold, Stephanie Schreiber, Hannah Moore, Teresa Do

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Safdie Architects - Artist in Residence Space

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Sink

Undercounter Dishwasher

Undercounter Ice Machine

Undercounter Freezer

Undercounter Refrigerator

Undercounter Hot Holding Cabinet Undercounter Refrigerator

Grab and Go Station Trash Bin

Bussing Cart

Entry & Exit

Bulk Coffee Maker

Expresso Machine

Coffee Grinder

Panini Press

Sink

Wine Taps

Drip Tray

POS Service

Safdie Architects - Custom Cafe Design

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Meyer Davis - Limelight Mammoth Ski Club

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Meyer Davis - Limelight Mammoth Ski Club

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08. CREATIVE WORKS

Along with architectural design, I have explored my interests across a variety of mediums, including photography, digital media, art, film, and animation. In these explorations, I have utilized my architectural skills in three-dimensional modeling, aesthetics, framing, and drawing to explore how different mediums showcase projects narratives, both when used individually and collectively. During my time studying abroad in Barcelona in the fall of 2022, I traveled with my sketchbook and sketched moments of architectural wonders and unique intersections of materials that captured my attention during our daily field studies.

In this exploration of sketching as a medium, I was able to capture unique memories during my experience around Europe and better understand certain architectural features and distinctive details in the spaces we studied.

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Working At Home - Family Portraits

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Female Architects Portraits

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Parque de la Ciutadella, Barcelona

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Fundacio Vila Casas, Barcelona

Gallerie Vivenne, Paris

Santa Maria Del Mar, Barcelona

Biblioteca Jaume Foster, Barcelona

Barcelona Pavillion, Barcelona

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