Imagined Places by Grace Infante

INFANTE Imagininedg Imagined places places

Selected works

2018 - 2020

PROLOGUE _Desiresof of the unbuilt Desires unbuiltenvironment. environment

As designers, we are often confronted by a probing dilemma. Is it our role to provide solutions, or ask questions? Naturally for me, neither takes precedence, for these acts exist codependently.

The versatile nature of design is what has captivated me into this field, drawing me towards bridging the gap between both principles. Apart from a passion to find balance and understanding in design, my architectural journey has also brought self-discovery; I have grown to find solace in investigations that never end. I can now proudly introduce this as a document that will never be complete.

Forever under construction — remaining unbuilt.

My desires lie in inspiring powerful solutions through provocative speculation. Across this collection of works, I interrogate my surroundings through explorative themes and obsessive iteration while uniquely tailoring each approach to its corresponding brief.

These projects are not built, yet they exist... as long as they can be imagined.

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_ a microcosm.

[C.A.M.P]

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Contents

_ an emergence.

DESTINATION: BLOCK.

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VERTICAL EXPANSE.

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_an annex.

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_a node.

2018 - 2020

FORCES OF INTERSECT.

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_a eulogy.

University of florida

MURI DEI MORTI.

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_a puzzle.

FIELD MORPHOLOGY.

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_ Grace infante

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_a dream.

MEMORY HOUSE

(+ SUPPLEMENTARY WORKS)

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0101

_ A microcosm.

[C.A.M.P]

01 a _ microcosm

University of florida Design 6 | Spring 2019 instructor | stephen belton Site | charleston, nc

_ infante

spring _ 2019

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_The centripetal performance of city dynamics.

The Charleston Academy of Music Performance [CAMP] sits dramatically on the edge of King st facing Marion Square Park. This corner acts as an intense point of city dynamism with its diverse characters, programs, and scales. This corner was observed to be the hub of the centripetal forces in the city with the constant flowing of cars, people, directions, and points of arrival. All of this is what drives both the rhythm of the city and the building’s interior experience as a cultural vessel. As a music academy, the interiors strive to achieve a greater connection between audience + performer by breaking down the barriers that divide it. This building redefines “Spectacle” and “Performance” through scale and context. This is an urban container, absorbing the dynamics of the city and relying on scale dramatics. This is a microcosm.

Aerial view

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Multi-dimensional site interpretation diagram.

01 a _ microcosm

_ dichotomy of scale

_ infante

spring _ 2019

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I captured the elements that stood out to me while walking around the city and then collaged them into the urban collision that I felt occuring at the project’s site.

This is a mapping of atmosphere paired with a mapping of axes.

These representations of site demonstrate the duality of scale- The wild and intimate, the technical and broad.

Bug modeling- PLA, bristol, spray paint

Bristol model 6” L

_concept of enclosure: Reveal + conceal In blending different modes of making, the hand built and the digitally explored become homogeneous in meaning and objective. These process models explore enclosure possibilities through the revealing/ concealing of certain zones. This is to establish a rythm and direction of pulling the public into my building from underneath and drawing those forces up and around the building in centripital ways.

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01 a _ microcosm

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_ Prelude: the PERFORMANCE of pre-function.

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1. Public atrium entrance 2.Grand staircase to lvl 2 3. Student atrium entrance 4.Admin. offices 5. Student Lobby/ prefunction 6.Grand staircase to lvl.3 7. Student lawn 8. Faculty parking

The entire project’s circulation revolves around this theatre-atrium. This open public route replaces the traditional “foyer” and makes the use of pre-function space a grand performance. The flow of people becomes a spectacle as the students watch the public from above walking around the space and into the theatre. A constant dialogue rests within this void. Spaces like this maintain the separation of program while encouraging unity of experience.

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GROUND LVL

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STUDENT CIRCULATION & THE PUBLIC VOID Student space Inner circulation MOMENTS OF INTERACTION WITH THE CITY

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Point of interaction (Glass) Direction of sight

LVL 01

LVL 02

1. Secondary performance space 2. Primary performance space 3. Performance spaces entry/ Atrium Lvl 2 4. School space 1st flr lobby 5-11. Classrooms 12. Storage 13. Rehearsal rooms 14. Study cubicles

1-9. Classrooms 10.Study Cubicles 11. Private entrance to performance space 12. Ramp to 3rd flr 13. School Lvl 2 lobby 14. Ramp to student lounge/ cafe

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01 a _ microcosm

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Public spaces are embedded into the private stu experience. Here is a performance observation space ne into the school’s top floor- This is another zone that embo the use of space as a spectacle while unifying public/ priv

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udent ested odies vate.

1/16” modelPLA + museum board

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Hyb

0202

_ An emergence.

DESTINATION: BLOCK University of florida Design 7 | FALL 2019 PROJECT PARTNER| SABRINA LUENGO instructor | JUDITH MONK Site | MADISON SQUARE GARDEN block, NYC

02 a N_ emergence

Work production: | Renders by me, drawings by partner, models made collaboratively; photos edited by me.

_ infante + luengo

FALL _ 2019

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Final model at 1:50

bridization Phase- the horizontal plane (wood) and the vertical plane (white)

_ WHEN THE UNDERGROUND MEETS THE SKY. This project is about molding surface + subsurface relationships as one entity to reimagine place of arrival and turn this site into what it is meant to be: a destination. Observing the traffic on site, we noted the masses of people that seep into the block in an unending and habitual pace… This site felt overwhelming in the most monotonous way.

However, located by the literal hub of movement, the potential of this site is revealed. The train paths that run underneath the site and the subway entrances that pierce through it become the design drivers. From these gestures, we activate the ground to create a public space that unites a vertical element. As a result, we have designed the unison of these two fields to be represented as emerging from the ground-plane to transform into the towers’ skin.

Pre-final models establishing structure, skin, and integrity of core

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_translating ground From layers of thresholds and motion, we are able to create our very own fabric of space, void, and distribution- This is the essence of Madison Square’s activity manifested in material form. By carving and molding underground + street level relationships as 1 force, the modality of public space on the ground-plane is transformed.

This language is translated throughout the project- From program organization to user experience.

02 a N_ emergence

5x5 PLA models

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Office Lounge/ Rec

FALL _ 2019

Office Space

Residence Lounge/ Rec

Hotel Lounge/ Rec Residential

Conference Room

_ infante + luengo

Hotel Rooms

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Shared Amenities

Recreational bridge + Vendor space

Theatre

Shared Amenities

Retail

Art Gallery + Transition space Restaurant + Cooking school

Hotel Lobby

Program diagram

Recreational bridge to MSG + Office to Hotel transition space

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02 a N_ emergence

Destination: Block and OnePenn locked in an embrace

_ infante + luengo

FALL _ 2019

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_ Designing from the underground, up.

With the goal of keeping OnePenn’s core in tact, its bottom half was able to be absorbed and redistributed across this new addition to the block. This distribution began as gestural forms that connect to MSG and all the subway entrances on the block. The forms take shape and size according to occupancy and program. This ground model was developed to realize those relationships and begin to generate a groundplane that responds to the subsurface while wrapping around OnePenn and Madison Square block.

Early ground model at 1:50, 18x18- PLA, chipboard, spray paint

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02 a N_ emergence _ infante + luengo

FALL _ 2019

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The Arrival - lifting and carving of space from the ground.

Concept of motion density

Pathway

Green space

Groundplane

Underground

_Redistributing space: Public interaction How do we distribute movement while also dealing with the programmatic challenge of everything existing at once? While we combined the office spaces of OnePenn to create the office tower in the middle, to activate ground and form our program-heavy zones, we redistributed and transformed the lower section of One Penn by taking the space and wrapping it around the site in ways that promote occupancy, partition, and fusion.

The incoorporation of shared spaces is key to the project’s execution. These spaces are found both in the exterior and interior. Court. Transition spaces serve recreational purpose through public interaction.

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0303

_ An annex.

VERTICAL EXPANSE University of florida Design 7 | Fall 2019 project partner | sabrina luengo instructor| judith monk Site | museum mile, nyc Work production: | Renders by me, drawings by partner, models made collaboratively; photos edited by me.

03 a N_ ANNEX FALL _ 2019 _ infante + luengo

This project deals with the spatial relation to the edge and its extensions. This tower absorbs the urban context towards an upward expansion.

The tower’s museum zone functions as an annex to both the Cooper Hewitt and the historial art distric that surrounds. With the additional programs of residence, hotel, amenities, office space, 2 public courtyards, and 2 lobbies, this fusion of programs at such a large scale makes a tower like this the ultimate brew of public + private. The tower’s museum is the anchor where dynamic pockets of public interaction rise into a residential experience.

The building’s core and entry points were solidified in order to establish efficient circulation and program control- A shared ground plan with assigned entrances that lead to the corresponding space.

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_on the edge.

Ground plan circulation through points of entry

The rise of program

Vertical Circulation

Courtyard Space

Museum Approach

Museum space

Residence + Amenities

Hotel

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03 a N_ ANNEX

central park reflection

_ infante + luengo

_the courtyard annex

FALL _ 2019

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This courtyard is the connecting void between the tower mass and the main museum approach. Mirroring one of the central park entrances, we wanted to make use of this space by reflecting the vast open field that sits directly before it. Of course, at a much smaller scale this area acts as a transitional space of rest that unites Museum Tower to Museum Mile and Central Park.

3D print + museum board iterations

_ just plug it in.

From the early stages of design, it was known that the bottom of the tower should be what anchors and guides it up - A base function [yellow] that transforms into a vertical function [white]. By categorizing the process models into these 2 qualities, different combinations of scale, operation, and program are tested. Placing the physical models into the 1/64” site like a puzzle allows the exploration of interesting tangents and formal interactions.

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_ infante + luengo FALL _ 2019

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03 a N_ ANNEX

Museum Atrium

Museum main entrance + approach

_SKIN and program

Translucent

Reflective

Structure

Composition

From the sun’s path, materials are able to be programatically placed in ways that aren’t detrimental to user comfort.

While the reflective material protects the tower from the West side, the translucent material that covers the whole bottom, back and North side allows for a more immersive and direct connectionwith the neighboring Smithsonian Museum. This area includes the large public exhibition space, so the two museums are able to face eacother as guests circulate between the spaces. This material also extends to part of the residential tower and is a way to connect residents to the city below.

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0404

_ A node.

FORCES OF INTERSECT

This project began by organizing the city’s geospatial qualities and discovering the overlapping of forces, nodes and limbs within. By being embedded directly into a corner in downtown GNV, the concept was for the intervention was to sit like a joint in the city, bringing together communities. For the workings of this, I looked at the assembly of old devices. Using the kitbashing method, outdated gadgets were then smashed into components to create a new structure out of the old and forgotten. Thus, the Re-built Object models explore sectional and programmatic qualities to produce the ultimate node in the city, physically and metaphorically, as the GNV Culture and Technology Center.

04 a _ node

University of florida Design 6 | Spring 2019 instructor | stephen belton Site | gainesville, fl

_the joint in the city.

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springL _ 2019

Re-built object models

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The veiled view The veiled face

_From SKETCH to formation.

The sketches exploring the junctions of the city corner result in an explosive investigation of scale, dimension, and measure. This investigation is then translated into the [2] found object models, which were assembled in ways that represent the intersecting of street elevations adjacent to the corner.

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_ Combining the city edge: facade and direction of movement

04 a _ node

The sectional opportunities of a dissective approach to model making.

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springL _ 2019

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The turning of the corner is a guiding force for the bending facade.

The facade acts as a main enclosure that wraps around the street facing side of the intervention. This makes it a containing veil, a fluid and uniform shell that contains a collection of disorderly formations while also concealing it from street level view. The direction of the facade guides the public around, under, and up into the building. Once up, the facade is perceived from the inside as a penetrable wall, allowing light to pervade the space.

r r . n d e t d s y o t f c o e e e o .

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0505

A moment of my journey to the site

_ A eulogy.

MURI DEI MORTI [UF] Vicenza Institute of Architecture Design 8 | Spring 2020 instructors | Lisa Huang + Peter Sprowls Site | Venetian lagoon

_ journey through light Venezia: A million little islands risen and connected by the strings of fluid negative space between them.

With these water flowing veins, Venice breathes. Thus, from the water, Muri Dei Morti is born.

05 a _ eulogy

“Walls of the Dead” is a floating memorial to commemorate the life of a floating city. It is a permanent installation with a specific use during the Feista Dei Morti celebration. On this day The Tower of Light opens. The tower rises over the lagoon. Facing both the city and the cemetary, it gives visitors dead and alive a space to coexist.

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spring _ 2020

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This memorial bonds the two land masses of Venice and the Cemetery Island by interjecting the triangle formed by Venice’s transportation route. You are forced to experience the journey, whether it be in depth or in passing.

The journey it takes to arrive and the journey you take through it is parallel to your interpretation of a life from beginning to end. This is a eulogy.

_ boundary intercept Spatial iterations are formed through the interjection of the invisible edge of Venice’s vaporetto route to Cimitero Di San Michele. The goal was for the project to form an additional route through its floating walls. Themes of flow and focal point are explored.

Flow of Focal Point: Iterative sketching

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05 a _ eulogy _ infante

spring _ 2020

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Diagram of the walls as a flowing force towards the tower

_The voyager The walls guide you the space, serving its from the moments by boat to the explored by foot

through purpose traveled spaces

After arriving by vaporetto, you begin to walk through water and light into intimate moments of oneness. Next, you ascend the Tower of Light. Below the tower, a grassy yard is surrounded by the Venetian Lagoon allowing visitors to let go of the ashes of the deceased. This ends the journey in moments of appreciation and release before continuing on to San Michele.

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_ A puzzle.

FIELD MORPHOLOGY University of florida Design 5 | FALL 2018 instructor | MICHAEL KUENSTLE Site | fort island beach, fl

_ a glitch in the landscape.

As the first exploration in upper division studio, this project plays on the deconstruction of program zones through the deconstruction of landscape and its contributing morphology. This is a properties study in the form of a puzzle.

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Located at the very tip of Fort Island Trail, the isolated site appears flat, barren, and uninspiring at first glance – Just sand, water, and marsh. However, upon taking a closer look, the landscape’s hidden attributes are revealed. This seemingly lifeless terrain is actually a humble display of anomalies...

_ infante

FALL _ 2018

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There is a dialogue between the sand, the sea, and its inhabitants. Every mound, footprint, and puddle makes up a glitch in the landscape and what was once an unsullied plane is now corrupted by textures and reflections. However, these corruptions are not arbitrary, they organize in zones: A wetter zone, the drier zone, and a zone more altered than the rest. These shifting conditions of site become the design driver of a fragmented yet melding intervention - A pieced creation that joins and comes apart as a process of finding program.

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Water and inhabitants change the state of the landscape.

Qualities of porosity and versatility are omnipresent.

_ COLLECTION OF INTERVENTION. Process work as studies of superimposition: A 2d mapping of the site as a structure is superimposed onto a 3d massing of the site.

Then, this process of overlay and projection is translated into (2) physical constructs and (3) digitally collaged explorations.

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Collaged interventions 35

06 a _ puzzle _ infante

FALL _ 2018

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_ interlock.

The separation of program zones began through the dismemberment of the site. By dividing the landscape by morphological type, the “puzzle-piecing” of programs is established- Influx, ebb, and surge. As this develops, the spaces where the programs interlock become moments of transition.

_ anomaly fields.

5”x5” Sketchbook explorations: Disbanded markings are gathered together on a paper field to reveal a collision of texture and scheme.

From a field of paper, markings are extruded from the page in the form of collage. A 2D surface of line and color become layered scraps of bristol. These scraps that were once nothing but remains of a previous idea are now assigned a new purpose- to be arranged back together. These collages were to create something out of “nothing”. The anomalies of the seemingly flat and barren landscape is the inspiration for this exploration. Every line, texture, and fold that emerges from the sketches translates into ideas of direction, form, and spatial intersection.

A section perspective about moving through programs 37

FALL _ 2018

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_ infante 06 a _ puzzle

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Foam board puzzle carvings

Site dismemberment

Museum board, balsa wood, spray paint

_ an exploded assembly and the fabricated field.

Hand carving forms out of foamboard to create mini exploded models played a pivitol role in the design process.

From this, different combinations of form + assembly were explored.

The challenge of this project was to construct a field as a reimagining of the site and its properties. The fabricated field imitates the properties of shifting, absorbing, and retaining.

Through these qualities, this project explores the acts of pulling, layering, and assemblage. After categorizing the site’s properties, patterns of fragmentation are discovered and from this, “the puzzle field” is developed. By interpreting this fragmentation as a puzzle, the programs of the project can be joined or taken apart to explore spatial relationships.

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_ facade porosity.

The project’s facade is used as a transitional component through the idea of porosity The properties of a porous landscape lead to the exploration of an absorbent design.

06 a _ puzzle

The facade is the connecting piece of all the spaces while also functioning as a space itself. This building’s skin is a passageway of experience that retains both space and the flow of inhabitants.The facade’s program of “experiencing transition” is just one example of this project’s ambition to morph landscape with structure.

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FALL _ 2018

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01 The Influx

02 Ebb and flow

03 Surge of transition

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0707

_ A dream.

MEMORY HOUSE [uf] Vicenza institute of architecture Design 8 | Spring 2020 instructors | Lisa huang + peter sprowls Site | Monte baldo, VENETO

_Home is where the mind is.

What defines a home? The home is a capsule. It is a storage container of objects that represent my memories, my dreams, my very being.

07 a _ dream

My goal for this project was to redefine the meaning of “Home” through the relationships between objects, memories, and dreams. I’ve explored this idea using my own experiences as an example in order to formulate “the house of my dreams”.

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I look back on my dreams as if they were memories and when I look back on distant memories, I often question if it was a dream.

So what is a dream if not a memory and what is a memory if not a dream? What makes the two distinguishable? For me, it’s the tangible- The objects that deep memories are tied to.

Elevation Dream

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spring _ 2020

_The home as a capsule of memories via objects of significance

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I find solace in objects from my upbringing.

So from these, I begin to discover form and space by melding them into object collages. From Object categorization, I find program. Routine [1], Nostalgia [2], and Spiritual Obsession [3].

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Collaging in the 3D realm through object dismemberment

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07 a _ dream

INTERSECTION OF MOVEMENT

MEMORY STORAGE PODS

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spring _ 2020

ABUNDANCE OF ROUTINE

SPIRITUAL INDULGENCE 44

Wall section from East side

Study of structure and material

_just passing through.

This view is a snapshot highlighting the structure’s role as passageway. This is a collaged moment of program intersect- a snipet view portraying Memory House’s infrastructure as paths, appendages. This drawing is presented to the viewer as the afterimage of this conceived relationship with its striking shadows and hazy display. This is a visual portrayal of passing through an idea the same way you would a distant memory.

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_BRUSHSTROKES OF A PIPE DREAM.

07 a _ dream

This place does not exist. This project is a speculation that doesn’t belong in the tangible environment for it’s been conceived from intangible notions- A dream, a memory, the stroke of a paint brush.

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spring _ 2020

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This idea of “site” began from the Monte Baldo mountain range in Veneto and the cable car that traverses. With vast overlooking views and themes of ascension, I came to ponder on the journey of the site and grand arrival with the cable car as a migrating capsule that becomes part of the home.

Although this location served as inspiration, I strived to capture the essence of “dream” and “memory” by placing my home on a site that exists only in my mind. With the dreamy qualities of a painting and the fantastical qulaities of a utopia, this view of Memory House portrays something familiar yet ethereal, a nostalgia of unknown origin.

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SUPPLEMENTARY WORKS

supplementary works

A collection of creations ranging in medium and concept. These expressions relfect my artistic background and design thinking, going hand in hand with my design approach.

This is thinking through making.

_ grace infante

thinking by hand

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Rope, brick, yarn, nails and ch

_TOOL AIDED body DRAWING This is a mark-making tool. This drawing experiment explores the intersection between material, texture and movement. The drawing tool translates movement into texture through exploration of materials.

harcoal.

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supplementary works

Analytical Sketching at Vicenza Instutute of Architecture.

thinking by hand

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Samples of my award winning art works from 2014-2017.

_ grace infante

For a closer, holistic look at my creative endeavors , please visit

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www.graceinfante.com

A collection of the people, places, and things that have inspired me throughout my studies abroad.

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Grace Infante

Imagininedg Imagined places places

2018-2020