PORTFOLIO: THROUGH THE LENS

THROUGH THE LENS PORTFOLIO V1 JERRY RODRIGUEZ RODRJER9@GMAIL.COM

JERRY RODRIGUEZ

JXXVSN.COM RODRJER9@GMAIL.COM

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ABOUT ME My name is Jerry Antony Rodriguez. I was born and raised in Ruidoso, New Mexico then grew up in the rural town of Sterling, Illinois where I was able to become the person that I am today.

I'm a first generation college student studying Architecture at The University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. Before studying architecture, I had no exposure to proper architecture other than my trips to the city of Chicago taking photos on my iPod. I am a creative individual who has drawn lots of inspiration from countless niches of culture. Whether it's the TheWeeknd's elusive persona and ambient music, the horse racing culture that stems from my roots of the Southwest, the transcendental Hip-Hop movement from early 90's to present day, or the fascination of the cinematography and composition of vintage movies from all different eras. I am the type of person that is passionate for all the intricacies that life brings and truly dissecting everything to find it's deeper meaning. I've realized that life's too short to stay at the surface level.

I have been heavily inspired by the late Virgil Abloh, who grew up in Rockford, IL and obtain his Master's in Architecture at IIT then completely went against the grain and took the fashion world by surprise through his unique perception of where how he envisioned design thinking and where he thought fashion was going, and then proceeded to take it there. I see Virgil as being one of the pioneers of contemporary youth culture due to how he played a key role in transcending pop culture from early 2010's Hip-Hop era to 2020's high-end luxury fashion.

Nevertheless, the quote that has always stuck with me is:

" EVERYTHING I DO IS FOR THE 17 YEAR OLD VERSION OF MYSELF ”

- Virgil Abloh, Creative Director for Louis Vuitton.

When I was 17, I was eager for what was to come. Graduating high school, College, along with all the experiences that I had always dreamt of experiencing. That's when I took life by the horns. I broke out of the box that the small town mentality imposes on every youngin'' and said: This is where I start to create my own story, I'm not going to settle for Sterling.

It's been almost 5 years since that moment, since then I've been able to come such a long way.

Over the years, I began to recognize that creativity is a gift and design is the superpower.

The way I see it is that if I can think it, the idea can be brought to fruition. The best part about my journey is that I've been able to draw inspiration and formulate my own approach to design.

My over-arching idea is that everyone has their unique vision and each person's perception becomes their reality. Everyone talks about the glass being half-full or half-empty, but never takes the second to see that we're blessed enough to have substance in the glass to begin with.

Last but not least, Special thank you to Mom and Dad for all their sacrifice, and to all my friends, family, past teachers, etc. for always believing in the kid from "The 'Ling"

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THROUGH THE LENS OF

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THE VISIONARY YOUTH 5

DESIGN DISCIPLINES

ARCHITECTURE 8

GRAPHIC DESIGN 32

FASHION 40 6

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HIP-HOP EXPRESS

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HIGHLIGHTS

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V1: ARCHI Studying at the Illinois School of Architecture has been the door that has opened up a world of opportunities for me to take on and has taught me how to address any challenge that presented itself and persevere in order to become a well rounded designer and leader within the school.

Throughout the four years of my undergraduate education, I was able to learn various critical design thinking skills in the classroom and submerse myself in the school's culture by being involved in student organizations and obtain work experiences that have allowed me to take the next step forward in my architectural education.

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ITECTURE

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(Right) 61 East Banks Image Provided by: Booth Hansen

REMIXING MATERIAL

FOCUSING ON REPURPOSING AS MUCH MATERIAL POSSIBLE

DESIGN SPOTLIGHT: REPURPOSING MATERIAL

Adam Czapla [pictured below] and I were on the Remix Materials team and while stripping the bus, we recognized that we had a lot of leftover material that could be repurposed. The first thought that came to my mind is how we could go against the grain and take something like a bus seat and transform it into something completely out of the ordinary. We deconstructed the seat entirely and used the leather seat cover and seat belt to create a functioning totebag. Through Pthis R E not C E Donly E N Twere R E Swe E Ausing R C H the scrap material but we demonstrated how we could promote sustainable fashion by using repurposed material that would usually end up in a landfill.

REMIX MATERIALS

HIP-HOP EXPRESS ANGELINA ARIAZI

ANDREW CROSS

PATRICK HOCKBERGER

ADAM CZAPLA

JERRY RODRIGUEZ

GRADUATE

ASSIS TANTS

PROGRAMMING

HANNAH KELSHEIMER

JAMES KARAVITES ZACH DISCJOCKEY ROBOT CAMPBELL

ISABEL GLEASON AARON DEROUX

BIO-BEATS

AGANZE MIHIGO 10

THOMAS KRISTON

SEAN TAYLOR

GRADUATION 2020

BERKELEE ASARE

MAGGIE PIAZZI

HIP HOP EXPRESS CHAMPAIGN - URBANA CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT MOBILE RECORDING STUDIO SPRING 2020 - PRESENT ARCH597 GRAD. SEMINAR PROF. KEVIN ERICKSON AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT, 2021 ALL ABOARD THE BOOM BUS! This design seminar focused on how architecture can be used as a bridge to connect various demograhpics and present opportunities that could help students succeed. This project would play a key role in bringing essential resources to communities who usually do not have access to recording studios. The Boom Bus is intended to use hip hop to bridge the gap between education and socioeconomic disparities. From an architectural design perspective, this design approach was intended to represent hip hop culture and allow the space to feel welcome in the shared safe space.

THE ROLLIN TAPE BRANDING

WITH:

JEFF BERRY

IVAN SAUCEDO

ED UDO RESEARCH: ENERGY RESEARCH WEST

ANIDOBU

MARCELO CHAMPION MAGGIE WARD

CORPORATE+COMMUNITY RELATIONS

NICK OYASU MERCEDES MAGLIO

JORDAN BROSIUS ANDREW HUNTER

DESIGN: DESIGN TEAM: DESIGN

LEEANTI COLEMAN

EFRAIN ARAUJO

MEET THE DIRECTORS:

FACULTY LEAD: MEET THE TEAMS:

IN COLLABORATION WITH: IN COLLABORATION

MALLORY KLOSTERMANN DAVID LOFY

MEET

THE

DIRECTORS

JARED BROWN

NENGI HART WILLIAM PATTERSON MAD CONNECTOR ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR COLLEGES OF FAA/ ENGINEERING

CONNER YOON INGA SHARON IRISH AUGUSTAITIS GHOST WRITER

EVAN NICHOLSON NICK CHANG

ADAM KRUSE ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MUSIC EDUCATION

ALLI TORF ERICH WEIGER PROJECT COORDINATOR

FAITH NOLAN

PRECEDENT

RESEARCH JOE BOLTON FABRICATION ENGINEER

KEVIN ERICKSON PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE

ANGELINA ARIAZI

ANDREW CROSS

MCDONALD PDON RO GRAMMING BUS DRIVER

MAVISHA RAMACHANDRAN PROJECT MANAGER

REMIX MATERIALS

BRYAN SAMUEL

ZACH TWOHEY

BRETT ROSENGREN

HANNAH JAMES KELSHEIMER KARAVITES ADAM JERRY 11 DISCJOCKEY ROBOT CZAPLA RODRIGUEZ

THE INTRODUCTION

THE INTRODUCTION

THE EXCHANGE • THE INTRODUCTION

THE EXCHANGE

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THE STUDIO

THE STUDIO • THE EXCHANGE • THE INTRODUCTION

DESIGN: PHASE ONE INTERIOR VIEW

DESIGN: PHASE ONE SPATIAL BREAKDOWN

DESIGN: PHASE ONE WORKSPACE FLUID CIRCULATION

BUS DIAGRAM

BUS PLAN

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The central hub is considered to be the nucleus of community engagement, where various types of activity take place.

The spaces are designed to be open and flexible in order to accomodate different community needs, such as a covid-19 testing site or auditorium for the Downtown LA area.

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INTERCONNECT

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES POST-PANDEMIC COMMUNITY CENTER

The intention through the design decisions of this community center is to reach out to interconnect with all the different demographics that encompass Downtown Los Angeles and draw them into a shared community space that serves as a “third place” where the occasional train passenger or avid basketball player can come feel as they’re “interconnected” with all the various cultures and social norms that make up the thriving downtown of a very diverse urban space.

Through this design intention, we provide a space that interconnects the diverse demographic that encompasses the los angeles population and draws the community into a space that serves as a 'third place' where the occasional train RHYTHM passenger or avid basketball player can feel that they belong and they're interconnected with all the various cultures and social norms that make up the thriving downtown of a diverse city. The studio mainly focused on implementing sustainable strategies to reduce the energy that the building would use. The main strategies I used were:

FALL 2021 - ARCH473 PERFORMANCE STUDIO PROF. MARK TAYLOR

The intention through the design decisions of this community center is to reach out to interconnect with all the different demographics that encompass The intention through the design decisions of this community center is to Downtown Los Angeles and draw them into a shared community space that reach out to interconnect with all the different demographics that encompass serves as a “third place” where the occasional train passenger or avid basketball player Downtown Angelestheanddesign draw decisions them intoofa shared community space The intentionLosthrough this community center is tothat can come feel as they’re with all the various cultures and social norms

“interconnected”

servesout as ato“third place” where occasional passenger orthat avidencompass basketball player reach interconnect withthe all the differenttrain demographics that make up the thriving downtown of a very diverse urban space. can come feel they’re and “interconnected” with all the various cultures social norms Downtown LosasAngeles drawTIMBER them into a shared community spaceandthat - CROSS LAMINATED FOR MATERIAL that make theplace” thriving downtown of a verytrain diverse urban space. serves as aup “third where the occasional passenger or avid basketball player can come feel as they’re “interconnected” withAND all theEAST various cultures and social norms -SHADING DEVICE ON SOUTH FACADE

that make up the thriving downtown of a very diverse urban space.

TO REDUCE AMOUNT OF GLARE

- SUN AND WIND ENERGY GENERATION

SHADOW GAIN AND

TO REDUCE HEAT PROVIDE

- RETENTION SYSTEM FOR STORMWATER

The east wing atrium serves as classrooms where creatives can convene and collaborate. This approach intends to make the space feel lively and welcoming.

Cross Laminated Timber for the structure Sun shades on the south-east facades Rainwater VENTILATION Catchment Cisterns.

SUST AINABLE PARTI DIAGRAM STRAT EGIES HEAVY TIMBER CONSTRUCTION RHYTHM

SOUTH FACING RHYTHM WOOD SHADES FACADE RHYTHM RHYTHM SEASONAL CANVAS

FACADE SHADING

RAINWATER CATCHMENT GEO-THERMAL COIL IN CISTERN VENTILATION VENTILATION PATH 15 VENTILATION

STRUCTURAL FRAME LOFT

SECTION CUT

PRIVATE

SECOND FLOOR

SEMI-PRIVATE

GROUND FLOOR

PUBLIC

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ILLINOIS SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

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DESIGN SPOTLIGHT: PARAMETRIC ENERGY USAGE ANALYSIS One of the main components of this course was using the website CoveTool with Rhino + Grasshopper as an energy usage simulation to calculate the amount of energy the proposed building design would use, then incoporating different design strategies that would help reduce the Energy Usage Intensity. Over the course of the semester, I took this as an opportunity to understand how designers can strive to reduce the impact that the built environment has on the surrounding climate and consider how environmental systems could also play a key LOFT role in reducing the amount of energy the building uses.

ENERGY ANALYSIS ENERGY ANALYSIS

SECOND FLOOR

GLARE RATING GROUND FLOOR

DAYLIGHTING

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(Right) 61 East Banks Image Provided by: Booth Hansen

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LA ESQUINA BARCELONA, SPAIN COMMUNITY CENTER FOR THE YOUNG AND ELDERLY FALL 2020 - ARCH371 URBANISM STUDIO PROF. ALEJANDRO LAPUZINA The concept behind "La Esquina" is to design a eye grabbing corner spot that connects the intersecting streets together and draws the community in and create a place for the youth and the elderly while allowing the space to be flexible enough to be used for any occasion.

The structural form followed the idea of creating a module of equilateral triangles, which then became the grid used for the concrete waffle slabs and division of spaces. The modern aesthetic of this building intends to make it a lively space that feels youthful while maintaining a balance between the Traditional and Avant Garde aesthetic which is representented through design features such as: - Two tone louvre system - Roof terrace with views to Arc de Triumph - Triangle balconies facing adjacent park

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+35’-0” LOUNGE

+25’-0” MULTI-PURPOSE

/012 The plan to section relationship showcases the different significant spaces such as the double-heighted Multi-Purpose room that would be a place for the community to engage and host different cultural activities.

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MIDTOWN CHAMPAIGN, IL MIXED USE RESIDENTIAL SPRING 2021 - ARCH372

In order to captivateHEALTH and serve the midtown area of Cham & WELL BEING STUDIO Boneyard Vistas creates an atmosphere that addresses PROF. RANDY DEUTSCH the st resembles the “organic flow” of the adjacent Boneyard Creek. T In order to engage and serve the midtown area as a beacon of community engagement and Vistas provides the com of Champaign-Urbana.

Boneyard intends that feel welcoming daylighting and optimal v to create anthrough atmosphere that addresses the street frontage whilelifestyle simultanously resembling living a healthy easy and comfortab the organic flow of the adjacent water pathway, Boneyard Creek. The building serves as a beacon of community engagement and provides the community with a mixed residential space that feels welcoming through daylighting and optimal views making living a healthy lifestyle easy and comfortable.

CONCEPT: STRETCH AND PULL RESIDENCE TERRACES

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(Right) 61 East Banks Image Provided by: Booth Hansen

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ILLINOIS SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE TRINA SANDSCHAFER

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FIRMITAS UTILITAS VENUSTAS

STRENGTH FUNCTION AESTHETIC

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FUNCTIONAL CHAIR

VIRTUVIUS’ THREE LAWS OF ARCHITECTURE

SMALL SCALED FURNITURE OBJECT FOR ENHANCED SEATING FALL 2018 - ARCH171 CONCEPTS & THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN PROF. LYNNE DEARBORN The object for enhanced seating was a human centered design project that was centralized on ergonomics and learning the ideation process along with being able to understand the fundamentals of architecture through designing then building a small scaled piece of furniture.

The concept behind "the functional chair" was inspired from the three laws of architecture and the math concept of f[x] to the second power, due to there being two functions that enhance the user's seating experience. The two functions are A hook to hold their bag An elbow rest intended for left handed users.

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Root to Roof is a student-led community design-build organization through the school serving the greater Champaign county area. Our mission is to empower students through hands-on learning, design thinking, and construction that speaks to what the community needs. We are committed to sustainability by using locally sourced lumber is milled, dried, and dimensioned in-house to be crafted into high quality projects. This keeps material out of the carbon cycle longer as it becomes sequestered in a usable object for years to decades. By milling this locally sourced material, we also shrink the carbon footprint because our material comes from within a 10 mile radius.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHAIR 2020-2021

PRESIDENT 2021-2022

STUDENT-LED COMMUNITY DESIGN EMPOWERING STUDENTS THROUGH 28

HANDS-ON LEARNING

THE CROSSROADS BETWEEN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERING

ROOTTOROOF.COM 29

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V2: GRAPH What once started off as a hobby that I would do for fun has now become another design discipline that I have been able to dive into, due to the opportunities that have arised over the course of my architectural education.

For the academic school year of 2021-2022 I have been working as the Graphic Design Assistant for The Illinois School of Architecture. It has been a great honor to be able to assist the school by offering my creative skills as a way to promote the school's events and culture.

It's a common misconception that we need to take courses to learn certain skills, but this year has taught me that sometimes you learn more when you jump into the deep end.

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HIC DESIGN

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NOT EVERYTHING IS LEARNED IN THE CLASSROOM 35

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ARCH

KICK OFF TBH COURTYARD Temple Buell Hall

AUG 20 5-7

All Students Welcome, Food and Prizes Mask and ID Required!

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FRIDAY, SEP. 17 5:30 - 6:30

TBH ATRIUM 39

V3: FASHI In 2017, a group of friends and I thought it was time to break the cookie-cutter norms that had been placed and decided to create a start-up brand called "REBL$" focused on the idea of bringing passion back to the youth.

Time went on and everyone started focusing on their own individual path to success, and I was left with the ambition to continue designing clothing. It wasn't until 2019 that I decided to pull the trigger to create my own personal clothing brand under the alias JXX that focused on the idea of having '20/20 VISION' as we reached the new decade.

After being blind-sided by a year like 2020, I've found it more important than ever to see the social disparities and make the change to see a better tomorrow and continue to channel good energy to the youth.

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I snapped this photo at Sterling's Walking Protest after the tragic murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020. They always say that one photo speaks a thousand words, and that's exactly why this is photo is one of my personal favorites. This image captivates the reason why I design clothes, I do it because it's a way for people to express themselves through what they wear. My good friend wearing the "TwentyTwenty V$N" hat as we protested for peace represents how today's youth saw the immorality and injustice of what has been happening for far too long and we're here to make a change.

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PERCEPTION BECOMES REALITY

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I've noticed a trend of designers, like Tinker Hatfield and Virgil Abloh to name a few, who start off as architecture students then later on find themselves being total rockstars in the fashion world. It's very inspiring to see how creative individuals can use various mediums and methods to express their ideas and how there's correlations between different disciplines and have their own interpretation of historical references.

The prestiged Architect Mies Van Der Rohe once said, "Less is More" This phrase inspired me to give it my own spin basing it on the idea of being aware of other people's hardships before making any assumption.

So before you speak, please make sure to

SAY LESS

SEE MORE 53

AND JUST LIKE THAT, THE PAST 4 YEARS FLEW BY 54

IN THE

BLINK OF AN

2018-2022 THANK YOU. 55