4 minute read

Maria Paulina Pelaez

Master of Architecture candidate ‘24. Background in Architecture. My undergraduate program was focused on Urban Design. My main interests throughout my career have been in design thinking, urban design, and landscape architecture. I am responsible, disciplined, and I enjoy teamwork.

Education

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University of Virginia, VA. United States

Master of Architecture Candidate | May 2024

- Two-year advanced placement program.

- Candidate for the Urban Design Certificate

Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín, Colombia

Bachelor of Architecture | May 2020

- Award for the best project of the Vertical “Specific Building Studio” | 2017

Software Knowledge

Autocad | Sketchup | Photoshop | Indesign | Illustrator | Rihno | Revit | Microsoft Office | Lumion | Vrey

Languages

English - Spanish

Extracurricular Activities and Interests:

- Member of the ultimate frisbee team at the Pontifical Bolivarian University for 5 years and currently a member of the Ultimate Frisbee team at the University of Virginia.

- Interest in Photography, Drawing, Traveling, and Sports.

- Research Topics of Interest: Urban Design, Landscape, Natural Ecosystem, Social Infrastructure

Work Experience

Contact: 8502920017 paulinapelaez11@gmail.com - adb7my@virginia.edu

University of Virginia | 2022

Graduate Student Instructor

Class: Lessons of the Lawn

- Weekly discussion session for a 15 undergrad students group in their second-year Topics included history, architectural design, and landscape. As well as politics and its relation with the architecture of the institution.

- Support the professor with Student assignments and Readings

Nicolás Hermelin | 2020

Part-time entry level designer

- Work on confidential projects directly under the lead architect

- Develop 2D image templates to be used in the proposal graphics.

- Assist in the development of schematic designs.

Carlos Palacio Arquitectos | 2019

Junior CAD drafter

- Consult with architects and contractors to obtain key projects details

- Create and modify 3D models in SketchUp to use in conversations with the client.

- Draft design and blueprints using Autocad for permit drawings and construction use.

- Organize material needed for the AutoCAD drawings.

Pontifical Bolivarian University | 2019

Teacher assistant for the “Urban Design Studio”

- Assist professors in the logistics of the studio.

- Office hours and advising for the students of the class.

Urreta Arquitectura del paisaje | 2018

Landscape architecture intern.

- Assist in the development of financial proposals for various projects.

- 2D and 3D modeling using SketchUp and Photoshop to share designs with clients.

- Assist with the coordination of subcontractors by making consistent visits to the project sites.

HOUSING

Towers: Storage units for residents, Co-working spaces, Videogames rooms, Reading and Movies rooms.

The site is located in Brooklyn, New York City. Specifically, at 425 Delancey St. It is in a very relevant and busy intersection where two main urban perpendicular axes of the city meet. The Williamsburg bridge and the highway, instead of acting as connectors act as “barriers” when the scale is shifted down. This condition set such a challenging urban condition that causes the isolation of the site from the rest of the neighborhood.

This is why the project seeks CONNECTION as the main goal. To connect the existing Waterfront Park to the neighborhood and the neighborhood within itself.

The studio aims to work with a Hybrid Housing model that integrates housing with collective and public programs to rethink the relationship between private and public spaces and that enables this mixed-use architecture to simultaneously support the city and operate as an urban catalyst and activator.

To meet the expectations of the course, the project’s design is composed of three urban strategies, three spacial strategies, and one program developing strategy that will be presented below.

Direct access from school Towers: Library, Movies and Audiovisual rooms, Indoor Playgroun, Open Play areas, Yoga studio, Interactive Museum For Kids, Open Theaters For Performance, Main Art Galery (Kids)

HOUSING Towers: Auditorium, Library, Play areas, Fine arts academy, Day care

PUBLIC SPACE

Towers: Library, Open theater, Playgrounds, Courtyards, Comercial

SITE PLAN

URBAN STRATEGIES

Continuation of the park condition: “courtyards of the city”

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

The site is located in Downtown Medellin, between Avenida de Greiff and Calibío street, bordering the Antioquia museum and the Zea

Park placed in a very important historical axis of the city. It also has a direct connection with the administrative center La Alpujarra and is easily accessible by the metro station Parque Berrio.

This studio aims a design that promotes the inclusion of new uses and activities that activate the area. The neighborhood has different urban dynamics related to cultural interests, informal commerce, and public services. Thought time Medellin downtown has been segregated and deteriorated. It has a significant social challenge in order to recover the area. The goal is to design a building that acts as a rehabilitation “device” for Downtown Medellin.

The site is also located next to a creek. The project intends to preserve the ecosystem within the biological corridor that is generated by the creek.

It also seeks to embrace and preserve the cultural existing dynamics that are favorable for the community but complement and support these activities by generating a new program that allows opportunities for the community.

ECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS

TRANSVERSAL CONNECTORS

LONGITUDINAL CONNECTORS

Transversal Section Gallery

The composition of the project is based on three specific functions based on the project program requirements. The three courtyards that are generated for each building of the project hold each main program setting. The programs located in the modules are in response to the urban conditions of each side.

The site is located outside of Medellin, Colombia in the countryside surrounded by nature and mountains.

The project was developed as a short-term design lab that aimed for the initial design of a single-family vacation house outside the city. The purpose was to explore different options in the first stage of the creative process. The client required the house to be embedded in the terrain and seamless. This is why the roof is accessible from the front of the site, and the height of the house was a single story. The layout of the house was also intended to have the social space as the center of the house. The private rooms were around this central space so that the users meet in the middle of the house, making the social component the design driver for the distribution of the space. (Here, only the three initial schematic ideas of the form and the materials are been shown.)

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