Nelson Montás Portfolio 2018 (English)

Portfolio

Architecture + Computation + Material Simulation

Nelson Montás Laracuente, Ph.D. Education: Superior Technical School of Architecture Universitat Internacional de Catalunya Ph.D., Architecture + M.Sc., Architecture

Academic research, specifically in the digital domain, has always been the basis of my design approach. Whilst theoretical frameworks and tools advance, I privilege factual evidence using it to address creativity and arrive at solutions through scientific questions.

School of Architecture & Urbanism Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña Professional Degree, Architecture

Contact: 1 Rue Raoul Dufy 75020 Paris +33641908312 arq.montas@gmail.com

Academic & Professional Portfolio

2018

Professional Experience:

• 2017 - 2018: e(eiroa)-Architects (Architecture, furniture design, digital fabrication) -Design collaborator: Design, material simulation and parametric modeling for the "e-Chaise Longue and Site-Specific 3d Printer" project, New York, NY, USA • 2018: Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) -Associate researcher (Non Structural Façade Systems Analysis research project) and professor (presentation techniques course) Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic •2015 Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture Paris La Villette - UP6 (Scientific research within the framework of the MAP-MAAC laboratory, Paris) -Research Intern: Algorithm definition and development for parametric simulation modeling within the context of the MAP-MAACC laboratory, Paris, France • 2012 - 2013 Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) -Associate professor for (presentation techniques and technical drawing courses): Co-author of the pedagogical program for the subject "Presentation Techniques",Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic •2012 - 2013 Instituto Nacional de Aguas Potables y Alcantarillados (INAPA) National Water and Sewerage Institute (AEC) -Head of design & evaluations: Design, preparation of project documentation and budgeting in phases: APS, APD, PRO, DCE & DQE, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic • 2004 - 2008 Monval & Associates / Medinsa (AEC) Commercial, residential, Interior Architecture & Civil Engineering -Project manager: Design, preparation of project documentation and budgeting in phases: APS, APD, et PRO, DCE & EXE, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Software Skills:

Autocad Architecture Rhinoceros 5 + Grasshopper + Python + plugins Cinema 4D Adobe Photoshop Autodesk Revit Adobe Indesign Adobe Illustrator Adobe flash

Technical Certifications:

•2008 Photovoltaic cell panels design and calculation, Electrical Engineering Technical course on renewable energy (photovoltaic Tech) College of Architects of Madrid (COAM), Spain •2008 Environment Specialist, Urban planning Landscape Architecture, Planning and Mobility, Sustainability and energy efficiency, Park design and urban acoustics Polytechnic University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Academic & Professional Portfolio

Publications: • 2018 Natasha Heil, Nelson Montás, “Bio-inspired Passive Kinetic Solar Shading Device for a Responsive Architectural Envelope” Proceedings from the 14th Conference on Advanced Building Skins, 28-29 October 2019, Executive Councillor of the Department of Construction and Energy, Cantonal Government, Bern, Switzerland.

• 2018 Pablo baquero, Effimia Giannopoulou, Nelson Montás, “Qualitative Study on two Kinetic System Simulations Experiments Based on Shape Memory Material and Stepper motors” Sustainable Computational Workflows -Proceedings of the 6th eCAADe Regional International Symposium, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus, 24th – 25th May 2018, pp. 95-102 • 2017 Nelson Montás, Pablo baquero, Effimia Giannopoulou, ”Parametric Modeling Implementation for Kinetic Systems Simulation: Programmable Matter Matters” - Proceedings from the 3rd Conference of Biodigital Architecture & Genetics -Volume 1, Universitat Internacional De Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 7-12 June 2017, pp. 102-115 • 2016 Pablo baquero, Effimia Giannopoulou, Nelson Montás, “Transformational Intelligent Systems - Parametric Simulation Workshop”, Complexity & Simplicity - Proceedings from the 34th eCAADe Conference - Volume 1, Oulu University, Oulu, Finland, 22-26 August 2016, pp. 73-76 • 2016 Natasha Heil, Nelson Montás, ”Biomimetic for Building Skin: Living Envelope for Contemporary Architecture”, chapter in THE POWER OF SKIN: NEW MATERIALITY IN CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, ARKRIT Research Group, ETSAM, Madrid, Spain • 2009 Nelson Montás, project image published in Genetic Architectures III: New Bio and Digital Techniques, various authors, Alberto Estévez - editor -, Sites Books, Barcelona, Spain, 2009, pp. 29-33

Conferences:

• 2018 Fabcity Summit Fabcity Organization La Villette, Paris, France Role: Workshop participant, attendee • 2017 3rd Conference of Bioldigital Architecture & Genetics Universitat Internacional De Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, Role: Paper reviewer, session chair, presenter • 2014 2nd Conference of Bioldigital Architecture & Genetics Université Internationale de Catalogne, Barcelona, Spain Role: Paper reviewer • 2012 National Meeting of Schools and Faculties of Architecture Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Role: Workshop instructor “Ephemeral Architecture & Digital Design” (https://vimeo.com/51372799)

2018

Self-replica i g System Surface: 8, 000 m2 (26,246.72 sq ft) School: Universitat Internacional de Catalunya Project Director: Karl Chu Design Architects: Nelson MontĂĄs, Efimia Giannopoulou, Mario Benavides Mission: Architectural research project Date: 2009 For this project, we seek to build a pavilion using and embodying in it a "self-replicating genetic engine". For this task we define a set of initial conditions of two systems that are bot independent of each other and we propose a logic for their transmutation into a "more advanced" system, thus evolving the notion of its own nature. We construct two (2) different grammar systems based on two (2) basic primitives derived from the cut of a "fragmented lego block": a cube and a pyramid. Then we devise a set of rules and develop a grammar (in certain respapects a computational equivalent to Esperanto) for its transformation or "growth" into a new species using scaling and fitting to create a construction system and write a taxonomy. System 1 (S-1) is composed of twelve (12) pyramid profiles from which we have select five (5) corresponding profiles with system 2 (S-2), from which we have also selected (5) other profiles. We then make a substitution system matrix (SS-1) for the arrangement of the primitives of system 1 on system 2 (a prearrangement that consisted o a combination of 5 blocks for a matrix grid to construct a wall and therefore a self-constructing system -CS-1-).

The grammar produces a set of instructions given to the components to assemble a masonry resembling a complex architectural element. We begin our "ascending" approach to the formalization of the system with the analogy of a body, metaphysically speaking, fromthe atomic scale throughout the corporeal scale; not to copy or imitate bio-genesis as such, but to fix a certain number of levels to the system’s growth and development and to differentiate the types of ruling methods in each level of complexity, from the simplest (basic primitives) to the most complex scale (whole body) of the sequential algorithmic logic.

Academic & Professional Portfolio

2018

Hygro-NET: Biomimicry for Facades Project Director: Natasha Heil Project Manager: Nelson Montás Mission: Biomimicry research Date: 2016 "Hygro-NET" is the bio-inspired design of a fog harvesting, composite textile product improve the performance of facades, transforming them into water collectors. Its hexagona morphology is an abstraction of the pattern in a honeycomb, but its mode of operation is an implementation of the water collecting mechanism of an animal named “spiny devil” (Moloch horridus). These capillary forces collect and transport water on the surface of the integument leading to the muzzle of the animal, it is a strategic method of the desert animal to supply water for istelf in arid climatic environments. The rigid structural framework of the hexagon cell is made of plastic acrilonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) which is hydroph bic while its inn r water collecting core is made of hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile (H-PAN) which is super hygroscopic whereby they can help to better collect water. It is the same strategy as the Stenocara Gracillipes (nam b desert beetle) by which water is extracted from the air to f m large droplets. We argue that this combinations of strategies can improve facade performance, transforming them into water collectors.

Academic & Professional Portfolio

(top) Hygro-NET Operation Diagrams: The fog is captured by the H-PAN and then condensed and percolated through the composite fabric to a water trap for storage and reuse. (below) One-component performance simulations to study the behavior of hydrolyzed alkalic polyacrylonitrile (HPAN) from tension to relaxation. Simulation executed using Rhinoceros version 5.0 + Grasshopper (0.9.0076) + Kangaroo (version 0.099).

2018