PORTFOLIO

PORT FOLIO.

By Oscar Cruz

Oscar Cruz

oscar.cruz@my.utsa.edu

281 967 6287

CENTER FOR NEIGHBORHOOD RESILIENCE

The Center for Neighborhood Resilience is a unique project designed to promote community resilience and sustainability. Located in the Frank Tejada Park in San Antonio, TX, the center comprises four separate buildings, dedicated to different programs. The programs include an aquaponics center, public space, and support spaces, all of which are interconnected by a central gathering area or courtyard.

One of the standout features of the Center for Neighborhood Resilience is its sloped roofs, which are designed to be accessible to visitors. This allows people to walk on top of the roofs and enjoy the views from above. The buildings are also designed to be energy-efficient, with sustainable features integrated into the design.

The aquaponics center is an important part of the project, as it provides a sustainable source of fresh produce for the community. A communal garden was also incorporated for the community. The public space is designed for events, workshops, and community gatherings, while the support spaces provide amenities such as restrooms and storage.

Overall, the Center for Neighborhood Resilience is an innovative project that aims to promote sustainability and community resilience in San Antonio. With its unique design and range of programs, it is sure to become a hub for the community and a model for sustainable design.

AQUAPONICS/GREENHOUSE

PUBLIC COMMUNITY CENTER

SUPPORT SPACES

NORTH WEST ELEVATION

1/16”= 1’

NORTH EAST ELEVATION 1/16”= 1’

SOUTH EAST ELEVATION

1/16”= 1’

COVERED EXTERIOR SPACE

COURTYARD PERSPECTIVE

AXON PERSPECTIVE

BUILDING SYSTEM AND ENVIRONMENTAL DIAGRAM

1 SHADING DEVICE

2 NATURAL LIGHTING

3 REUSABLE RAINWATER

4 GREEN ROOF

5 AIR CIRCULATION

6 HIGH PERFORMING GLASS

1 SHADING LOUVERS

2 NATURAL LIGHTING

3 REUSABLE RAINWATER

4 GREEN ROOF

5 AIR CIRCULATION

6 HIGH PERFORMING GLASS

1 FEED FISH

2 PUMP WASTE WATER

3 BENEFICIAL BACTERIA FOR PLANTS

4 PLANTS REMOVE NITRATES FROM WATER

5 CLEAN WATER IS DRAINED

6 CLEAN WATER RETURNS TO FISH TANK

CALM AMONGST CHAOS

DESCRIPTON

“Calm amongst chaos’’ is an art gallery walk that expresses a sense of tranquility, peace, and calmness. Situated in between two buildings, the objective of this project is to create an area to showcase artwork. The contrast between the two buildings and the art gallery is what inspired the name “calm amongst chaos”. When someone walks from a chaotic environment of stress, meetings, deadlines, and work, the art gallery gives them a chance to pause and relax before continuing to the other chaotic building.

DESIGN

The gallery has been designed to maintain a clean and modern feel, while the room becomes a piece of art itself. The idea behind the design of the stairs is that somebody slows down to notice and enjoy the art while also having the sense that they are floating in the air. As artwork is displayed throughout the gallery, indirect sunlight is a key element for this project due to the damage direct sunlight creates on certain artwork.

INDIRECT LIGHT

Therefore the roof is designed to bounce off the direct sunlight and disperse it throughout the gallery. Triangulated panels were added to allow natural light to enter the room, and setting them at an angle to where the direct sunlight is bounced off from them and diffused throughout the room. The strip of light to the side of the rooms adds more indirect lighting to the bottom of the room meanwhile it creates a sense of separation of the ceiling and the floor.

SPATIAL EXPERIENCE

DESCRIPTON

The objective of this project was to design a staircase that descends a slope and covers the entire path in a geometric tunnel that would be covered by triangulated shaped panels. This tunnel would be accessible to the public and provide a unique experience. The tunnel would be built on a hill, so that the bottom would be at a higher elevation than the top. This would allow visitors to ascend and descend the tunnel, which would provide a unique experience.

DESIGN

By designing all the triangular panels to point towards the top of the project, a sense of direction is generated and people are drawn to the stairs in order to reach the top. This would create an immersive experience as the visitor ascends into the space, which is also created from a series of voids that are revealed as they walk through the stairs. The voids are set on top of the landings to provide a view of the sky and spark interest in the surrounding landscape. This creates a sense of discovery as they walk through the stairs, and invites them to explore the space. By manipulating and generating a variation of lines on the top and bottom of the project the topography was created which is where the stairs sit on.

EXPERIENCE

This project connects the land and the sky, creating a unique spatial experience for those who visit. The stairs are a metaphor for the journey people take when they come to the site, which is a journey of discovery and exploration. This metaphor is enhanced by the linear shape of the stairs and the triangulated panels, which make people feel like they are moving forward, rather than endless back and forth.

THE PARASITE

DESCRIPTON

Located at the Commons Ford Ranch in Austin, TX the ecology center strives to provide an educational and experiential environment that can inspire people to learn more about their surroundings, the environment, and to get involved and make a difference in their community and the world. This is a gathering space for the community to learn about the restoration going on at the Commons Ford Ranch, enjoy nature, and get involved with the environmental restoration. The name “The Parasite” comes from the exhibition hall’s shading device that mimics a parasitic element that takes over the entire ecology center. This is a representation of the invasive plants that have taken over the native plants at the Commons Ford Ranch and how we as humans are a parasite to the environment.

FORM

By placing the exhibition hall on the ranch’s trail, the ecology center was able to be more informative. The trail sees a lot of foot traffic, so the exhibition hall was placed on the trail to force visitors to walk through the exhibition hall and walk out with some knowledge about the ranch’s restoration project. Because of this, the ecology center was split into two triangular sections; this divided the offices from the rest of the building. An open place of rest was added in the middle of each building, to bridge the gap between the building and the natural surroundings of the ranch; an open space in the middle of the building would provide workers, students, and visitors with a place to take a break from their day and relax. To allow more sunlight into the building and into the place of rest, the height of one side of each building was decreased by ten feet, resulting in a sloped roof. The ecology center appeared to be two separate buildings with an exhibition hall in the middle. In order to connect these two buildings, a triangular-shaped shading device was added to the hall. The shading device still looked like a separate structure apart from the buildings to connect them, the shading device took over the buildings going through, inside, outside, over the roof and sides of the buildings. Creating the parasitic element that took over both buildings and connected them.

EXHIBITION HALL

PARASITE

The parasitic nature of The Parasite is also a metaphor for how humans are a parasite to the environment, taking resources without giving back, and causing harm. The parasitic element is not just limited to the exhibition, but it can be felt throughout the entire space. It is expressed through the lighting, walls, gathering space and roof design, which creates an immersive experience and will have visitors asking themselves, “what did I just experience?” ,“how did I feel?”, “how can I take action?”.

SOUTH WEST AXON 1/64”= 1’

SECTION CUT 1/32”= 1’

SECTION CUT 1/32”= 1’

FLOOR PLAN 1/32”= 1’

THE VEIL

The Vail located in downtown San Antonio, is a mid/high-rise building whose main function is to house students from different colleges located in the San Antonio area. Consisting of 20 floors, the veil has a variety of functions such as a restaurant, gym, laundry room, dining hall, and many more. This building creates a better environment for the students to learn and grow, by providing them with modern facilities, and a supportive environment. It will provide a better learning environment for the students, which will ultimately allow them to reach their maximum potential. It is also used as a gathering space for students to express themselves and learn from one another. The building will be a great addition to the downtown area and will become a popular place for students and tourists to go.

CONCEPT

The wooden model seen at the bottom is the concept of this project, both halves of the square when separated leave a mass of blocks in the middle. This is a metaphor of how the surroundings of The Vail are what shape it and contribute to its design. It was important to have two facades for this building because it is located in front of the Historical Paseo Del Rio Riverwalk and in front of the Commerce St. It seemed that the street and river facades where two different entrances, to connect these two a spacious open stair/resting area was added from the Commerce St. doors out to the Riverwalk. Since the Riverwalk is a tourist attraction the river level for this building was designed to be a restaurant, to allow tourists to eat while they have a great view of the river. The main entrance had to be the street level as it includes the lobby, retail, and management offices.

DORMS SCALE 1’=1/16”

DESIGN

Smaller floors are found in the club and dining levels, this creates indoor and outdoor gathering areas for students with a view to the Riverwalk. Other amenities that are found in this building include gym, study rooms, dining floor, club area, rooftop garden, and a rooftop pool with views of downtown San Antonio. This building gets its name from the shading device that was added around the entire building which seems to cover the buildings as a veil. The shading device was designed to cover the building while it pointed towards the Frost Tower as the building mimics their sharp architecture. At the Commerce street level a street wall was included to preserve the historical architecture that is found throughout the downtown of San Antonio. This wall also blocks the modern architecture from reaching the pedestrians and provides the pedestrian point of view a natural uninterrupted stone architecture. This design provides a modern look while still keeping the historic feel.