B.S. University Studies - Global Arts, Design, Planning ‘18
- Minor Business
- Minor Architectural Fabrication and Product Design
Ian Saenz , Assoc. AIA
956-455-7156
ianlestat@hotmail.com Dallas TX
EXPERIENCE
McCarthy Architecture - Intern Architect February ‘23- October ‘24 (1yr. 8mo.)
- Development of schematics, programming, and site planning
- Production of full construction drawing sets
- Participation in construction administration:
- Collaboration with consultants such as MEP, structural, civil, and subcontractors
- Review of submittals in accordance with project specs
- Production of supplemental drawings as required
- Fulfillment of addendums and revisions as required
Athens Land LLC - Design Advisor (Phoenix, Valle, AZ) June - July ‘21
- Real Estate
- Site Development
- Marketing
Languages
English
Spanish
VOLUNTEER & LEADERSHIP
Children’s Service Leader - Grace Hill Dallas Apr. 2024- Current
AIA - Urban Design Committee Feb. 2024- Current
Service and Philanthropy Executive - Aggie Men’s Alliance Fall ‘17 - Spring ‘18
AMA & Aggie Gems’ Find Some Bunny to Love Mar. 25 2018
- Coordinator
- Animal Adoption Fair Benefiting Urgent Animals of Hearne
Rebuilding Together B/CS Oct. ‘16 - Oct. ‘18
- Volunteer
- Coordinator on Behalf of Aggie Men’s Alliance
The Big Event Mar. ‘16 - Mar. ‘18
- Three time team leader
AMA Harvey Mitchell Pkwy Clean-Up Spring. ‘16 - Spring. ‘18
- Volunteer
- Coordinator
SKILLS
CAD
- Proficiency in Autodesk Revit, Auto CAD, Rhino
Modeling
- Rhino, SketchUp
Rendering
- Lumion, Illustrator
Presentation
- Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite
STRENGTHS
- Development of section details
- Communication among team members, clients, and consultants
- Ability to collaborate in a diverse project team
- Flexibility and eagerness to learn
E N T S
02
01 CO-mmunity Dense City
03 Hypersection
04 Miscellaneous
International Bridge System
Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Washington Park
Dancy Building
Brownsville Central Fire Station
Majestic Theatre
Greyhound Bus Station
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Market Square
01 CO-mmunity
MASSING STUDY
The adaptive reuse of the building required vertical expansion to accomodate mutiple dwellings.
Terracing levels facilitate the opportunity for shared experiences among cohabitants from the privacy of their own dwelling.
EAST VIEW
AREA: 5,072 sqft
BUILT: 1948
USE: Dry Cleaning Services
DESIGNATION: Contributing Property
OVERLAY DISTRICT: Downtown Core
REUSE: Co-housing/Community Center
The Saenz Cleaners was built in 1948, and while it is not a historic building, it is considered a “contributing property” to the Brownsville’s historic downtown core. Contributing property means that the façade contributes to the architectural character of the area and thus, if changed, should be done so in a manner that respects the surrounding context and the pre-existing façade. The use of a contributing property instead of a historic building allows for an increased level of architectural freedom while still requiring the need for respect and consideration of the surrounding context.
With the arrival of Space X and other large aersoapce corporations, downtown Brownsville has become grounds for rapid ubranization and high risk of gentrification. This project came about as an exploration in the agency architecture can have in empowering citizens to shape the use of their historic downtown in efforts to combat gentrifying factors.
Introducing a void into the mass prevents the inner core from being isolated from natural lighting in case neighboring buildings vertically expand. This assures the building’s function is preserved in the face of a rapidly changing site.
934 E ADAMS ST, BROWNSVILLE, TX
EXISTING STRUCTURE
The existing building is constructed from a steel frame not adapatable to the reprogramming of the building.
The dilemma emerged when determining what aspects of the building were to be preserved.
The decision was made to preserve the existing strucutre as it was inseperable from the existing building.
ADAPTATION
A new steel grid was inserted that would bear the load of the addittional floors and roof.
The existing steel frame would no longer be the primary load bearing structure and would instead be housed within the double height first floor and be visible from the interior as an aesthetic feature.
Additional fire egress and vertical circulation were added.
Communal areas and the public community center are allocated to the ground floor. The community center intends to be a space available to the public for discourse concerning Brownsville’s historic downtown and to function as the site for participatory planning activites to take place between citizens of Brownsville and the city’s planning department. When no event is taking place, the community center functions as a public place for scholarly activites. Within the community center is office space intended for use by workers, volunteers, and as a meeting place among the cohousing community members.
The communal areas contained within the ground floor include kitchen, dining, courtyard, laundry, and a garage all for use among the residents.
Levels 1-3 are rserved for dwellings with each dwelling contained within its own level. Each dwelling supplements the lack of available green space with both back and streetside balconies. The backside balconies have cast in place planters for gerdening or agricultural use. Dwellings are designed of various sizes and layouts to accomodate various types of living arrangments for residents of various needs.
The project intends to provide housing purchasable by citizens needing housing or that may be displaced in the near future. Ownership of the building itself would be democratized among community members pooling citizens that otherwise may be unable to own property into a collective body of ownership better fit to have influence on the built environment.
The community center that would be located inside of the building would function as both: the headquarters for an organization intended to fill the role of liaison between the community and city planning, and as a space for public discourse on topics related to urbanization within the community.
02 DENSE CITY
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This project aims to reflect upon urban density as a new ground for housing in the 21st century. With people moving primarly to areas where infrastructure is already established, the cost of living, the required commuting, and the range of quality-of-life options afforded by living near the urban core become a necesity. Hence, rethinking the relationships between housing and the urban fabric are a crucial task for architects.
The site for this projects is the choice of the student. It is required, however for the site to be in a dense urban context, close to public transportation and city amenities.
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Jane Jacobs: The Death and Life of Great American Cities, 1961
David Sim: Soft City: Building Density for Everyday Life, 2019
The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream, 2004 Urbanized, 2011
DENSE CITY ///
SITE
University Dr, College Station, TX 77840
SITE CONTEXT
FIGURE--GROUND
PEDESTRIAN
GREENSPACE
My response to the project was to propose a mixed use housing complex that allocates parking, retail, space to the ground floor while housing and apartments of various sizes are allocated to the outer ring second floor and
The elevated residential floors act as a privacy gradient as the ground floor is accessible to the public. In addition, having elevated residential creates lines of sights to the ground offering an “eyes on the street” sense of security.
Offset Urban Block COLLEGE STATION, TX
South Isometric Northeast elevation
03 HYPERSECTION
TEAM MEMBER
The hypersection installation was constructed Fall 2018 by a team of 14 Texas A&M students under supervision of Professor Gabriel Esquivel and in collaboration with designer Niccolo Casas. The design and construction phases lasted five weeks each resulting in a ten week total project time.
The term hypersection was coined by Casas from his experience working with Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen. The hypersection refers to an intersection of multiple objects that adopts its own identify while simultaneously preserving the identities of the intersecting parts.
In this case, the hypersection is the result of geometric objects and patterns intersected with the site as in independent object through boolean operations.Throughout the installation, objects can be seen transforming from two to threedimensionality. For example, in some instances the pink object is represented as two-dimensional striping whereas in other instances the object raises above the wall transforming into a three-dimensional object.
It is important to understand when viewing the hypersection that no pattern or object was placed with the intention of achieving a desired aesthetic, rather, the hypersection’s aesthetics are the result of intersecting objects of their own properties and patterns without regard to corners, angles, walls, ceilings, beginnings or ends.
OBJECTS
The most difficult task of the project was realizing digital renderings into a realworld installation. Since the site was being borrowed from a local architect’s studio, we had to construct a faux wall to which the majoriy of the wood work would attach to as to not damage the site.
The hypersection geometries were constructed of stud framing with dry wall panneling and attached to the faux stud wall.
04 MISC.
“Glamping” campground preliminary site planning.
Floor Plan
South North
Top View
East West
Tiny Home Air BnB Project Valle, Arizona
Client requested for a visual representation of various changes, renovations, and addittions desired for presentation purposes.
