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not a zoo for Newburgh

“The assignment is to design a zoological park along the city of Newburghs abandoned electrical line.”

Before beginning the design, the existence of zoological parks was put in question. The research concluded in the value of ecological tourism, zoos as a democratizing program, and the importance of protected ecologies, while condemning the entrapment of exotic animals to manufactured environments. The proposal focuses on the existing site conditions along the abandoned electrical line’s path, intersections between humans and nature, and suggests a masterplan of five conservation efforts for native species of the area. The sites are connected by a scenic góndola transportation system for a full zoological experience. In this case we focus on the Indiana Bat exhibit, located in part under a highway crossing, and supported by the presence of other species that thrive in the environmental conditions designed. The structure created encourages habitation while allowing for freedom into nature for the bats as they please.

Critic: Phu Hoang

not a zoo for Newburgh

ineajomaira cuevas - gonzález

not a zoo for Newburgh

SPECIES GROUND CONDITIONS

cuevas - gonzález

MASTER PLAN: SITES AND SPECIES

bimaterials for the tropics

“The assignment is to experiment with bimaterials and suggest functionalities in the built environment.”

Bimaterials, defined in this instance as materials composed of two parts with opposing physical properties, are unique tools that can be easily fabricated and experimented with. For this project, the characteristics of balsa wood and silicone in the prescence of water work in tandem to simultaneously expand and restrict the faces of the material, resulting in a curved surface. This new physical property is then taken advantage of using tesselating geometries to create a lattice for use in a hallway. The prescence of water in the form of rain activates the lattice and encloses the hallway when neccesary, while not inhibiting airflow on days when it is not needed.

Critic: Raphael Vargas

bimaterials for the tropics

ineajomaira cuevas - gonzález 23

ineajomaira cuevas - gonzález 25 bimaterials for the tropics

a theatre for Greenpoint

“The assignment is to, along with a team, design a civic space at the site provided with sustainability and community at the forfront of design, from conceptual drawings to construction documents.

The Greenpoint Theatre is an architectural gradient between nature and the industrial zone located adjacent to Transmitter Park in Brooklyn. This gradient exists in all facets of the project, from the first floor cast in concrete to its mass timber superior floors, to it’s interior facades of recycled brick and exterior façades of copper louvers, and it’s naturally conditioned foyer filled with greenery opposite it’s conditioned hallways with seating overlooking the river. The all-electric building is equipped with numerous resiliency and sustainability strategies that contribute to its overall practicality as a new positive addition to the community.

Critics: Sarrah Khan, Joe Hand, Amy Harrington, Katherine Chan, Jonce Walker, Ciaran Smyth

Team: Spencer Krut, Mark-Henry Decrausaz, Alice Fang

transitional geometries

“The assignment is to create a tesselating three dimensional geometry and a physical model that exposes its unique characteristics.”

After various experimentations, the form designed was a result of exploiting the geometric properties of hexagonal tesselations while removing and smoothing over various edges, creating rounded facets. The geometric similarities that were borrowed from a circle, when extruded, gave the new shape the ability to rock, sway, and interlock. When asked to model the object, the smooth organic surfaces lended themselves to an ergonomic nature. Because of this I created an object, a child’s bathroom soap toy, where the shape itsself could be played with to create structures. The soaps also acted as crayons, and their use would inevitably lead to more experimentation as their forms morphed and melted in the presence of water.

Critic: Joshua Jordan

ascenso. descenso. descanso.

“The assignment is to design a stairway as the main architectural element instead of a technical afterthought.”

Stairways are a primary tool in architecture that unlock movement through extremely vertical space. During this semester focused solely on this architectural component, ascenso. descenso. descanso (or ascend. descend. rest ) is the result of simplifying stairs to their core spatial definition and rerestructuring them in a way that does not suggest a specific direction or destination through its design. By first summarizing stairs’ utility as “traveling from point a to point b” and then further generalizing the definition to “travel between area a and area b”, the vagueness in directionallity that resulted created an interstitial space and structure within itself with it’s own independent characteristics of form and potential.

Critics: Jose Javer Toro, Raphael Osuna

ineajomaira cuevas - gonzález

a research center for Sunset Park

“The assignment is to work within a team to design a master plan for the Sunset Park Area that includes a research center, residential and commercial space while positively contributing to the community.

Upon studying the site, we decided to focus on not only green initiatives, but the creation of quality employment for the area. Our strategy revolves around a series of systematic relationships between rooftop oat farms, their commercial byproducts for sale, and the processing of their waste via anaerobic digestion to produce energy for the community. The system repurposes abandoned train tracks as transportation between the farms and the processing and waste facilities. At the heart of the community is a research center powered by these proccesses, while bioswales and living breakwaters are used as instruments to harmonize with the ecological conditions present.

Critics: Frank Mandell, Scott Demel, Emory Lee, Michael King

Team: Ochuko Okur, Erin Biediger, Thom Chiu, Lihan Jin

a research center for Sunset Park