Portfolio victoria patricia lopez cabeza (eng)

Victoria Patricia Lรณpez Cabeza PORTFOLIO Selected Works 2011-2016

Housing complex in Mojacar hills, Andalusia, Spain Year_2011 Projects II

Development of a housing complex and facilities in a rural area in the Hills of Mojacar.

After a careful analysis of the landscape and its harsh topography, the common buildings are placed taking advantage of a few existing artificial terraces, in a way that they will perfectly blend with the landscape. From here, the residences are distributed following the lines of minimum slope of the land. Therefore, the main building, which is the central point of the life in the community, structures the project.

Research center in lowlands of Toledo, Spain Year_2012 Projects III

The project creates a new research and exhibition center in the natural environment near the Tagus River in Toledo. Based on the idea of an “exhibition promenade�, the building is a path in itself that covers the differences in height that naturally exist in the river banks between the bridge and the higher area where the access road is.

Three pieces rest on each other and on the soil, the building adapts to the environment and, by a detailed study of the position of the pieces, it is possible from here to admire the best views of the iconic city of Toledo, which lies on the opposite side of the river.

Researchers’ residence in the City Centre of Toledo, Spain Year_2012 Projects III

In addition to the rooms for scientists, the functional program includes different common areas as well as a restaurant that is open to the public. The main idea of the project is the creation of a central iconic piece that houses the private rooms and is surrounded by the common areas, and another piece for the public area which is accessible from both streets in which the building is located. In this sense, the ground floor becomes the extension of the public space of the street.

The treatment of the façades is different, being progressively more open depending on the use. The various areas are articulated by longitudinal courtyards which lie at different levels (due to the slope of the plot) using this to our advantage for the natural illumination of the building.

Housing prototype in Guadaira Park, Seville, Spain Year_2013 Projects IV

This project is the result of a research in prefabricated housing using a prototype based on the modulation of the inhabitable space and dry construction.

The building combines different types of housing, from galleries to duplex apartments, aiming to adapt to the diversity of types of families existing nowadays. The urban conditions of the area determine the outline of the building.

Health center in Seville, Spain Year_2014 Projects V

Health centers usually have a really strict functional program. The aim of this project is to innovate in the shape that is usual in this kind of buildings as well as fulfilling all the construction conditions (building and planning regulations). For instance, it was necessary to keep the previous vegetation in the area.

The building combines two usual typologies, longitudinal and fishbone arrangement.

This allows the building to adapt to the plot and create an urban icon as well as a public space shielded by the building itself.

Philosophers residence in Walden Pond shore, Massachusetts Year_2014 Projects V

The main idea of this project comes from the reference that Thoreau mentions about the well known “Allegory of the cave” of Plato, one of the most famous philosophical ideas in history. In the project, a cave is built for each philosopher, each of them being forced to follow the way that takes them out of the cave to find the knowledge. This happens in two different levels: inside the philosopher’s room and in the whole of the building, which houses the common areas above the cave that encloses the rooms.

On the other hand, this strategy tries to minimize the visual impact that the building makes in such a unique environment, hiding the building under the ground or between the top of the trees and leaving the ground floor as free as possible.

“Hardly a man takes a half hour’s nap after dinner, but when he wakes he holds up his head and asks, “What’s the news?” as if the rest of mankind had stood his sentinels. Some give directions to be waked every half hour, doubtless for no other purpose; and then, to pay for it, they tell what they have dreamed. After a night’s sleep, the news is as indispensable as the breakfast. “Pray tell me anything new that has happened to a man anywhere on this globe,”—and he reads it over his coffee and rolls, that a man has had his eyes gouged out this morning on the Wachito River; never dreaming the while that he lives in the dark unfathomed mammoth cave of this world, and has but the rudiment of an eye himself. (...)"

Henry David Thoreau, "Walden or Life in the Woods"

Extension of Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art Cornell-University, Ithaca, New York Year_2014 Projects V

The project suggests an extension to the museum that consists of three stepped pieces that surround the existing building without touching it, only at its entrance and exit. The extension evokes the nature of observatory of the landscape of the previous building and it opens up to where the other building is closed.

The galleries make an ascending path so that, going through the former hall to the new one, the new building is visited from floor to floor in a stepped sequence, and it finishes again in the old building, therefore, a continuous route is assured.

The section of the building comes from the idea of getting a double lighting in the entire gallery: light from above and from the wall. That is why there are double heights all the way through, allowing lighting from above in all the floors of the building. The light is filtered by the translucent cladding that covers the outer part of the building extension, providing a uniform image outside and an appropriate lighting inside.

Prototype for the rehabilitation of undefined areas Year_2013 New Technologies

This is a research project in possible actions/solutions that could be taken in deteriorated or forgotten areas of a given city. A construction system is designed based on an industrialized piece that allows creating and defining spaces that meet the necessities of a certain community.

In this example, the intervention is made in a plot surrounded by blocks of apartments. A new gathering area is created to serve the community, which acts also as playground, all of this using this prefabricated module, which also has been used to delimit the plot and secure the area.

Intervention in ETSIAM of Córdoba, Spain.

New research and residence center for rare diseases.

Year_2015 Thesis Project

The project develops the implementation of a research center for rare diseases and a residence for patients in the former building of the Agronomic Engineering Technical School of Córdoba, an important building of the Modern Movement style of the city, designed by Architect Fernando Moreno Barberá.

The idea is to treat the building and its extensions as a city itself, because of its urban and functional conditions and, with this in mind, it is possible to set a strategy for the intervention. As a reference, there are projects of reconstruction of cities after World War II, i.e., the city center of Frankfurt by Candilis, Josic and Woods, or the Free University of Berlin, by the same authors. It is unavoidable the research into the Mat Building idea when analyzing these and other projects.

Therefore, a system is designed to develop the extension of the building; an orthogonal pattern and a habitation module are combined whose association create the residential area that complements the research zone of the former building. The great versatility of the system allows its adaptation to the plot and, based on the necessities, it is possible expand it or not. Moreover, the modulation allows the usage of an industrialized architecture that reduces the costs and speeds up the building process.

In conclusion, the intervention is respectful with the former building and uses its potentiality, emphasizing its main qualities, and blending it with a new urban structure that didn’t exist before.

PARALLELISM BETWEEN TWO CITIES

MOSQUE OF CÓRDOBA AND JEWISH QUARTER. FIGURE-GROUND PLAN.

EXTENSION DESIGNED TO THE ETSIAM BUILDING. FIGURE-GROUND PLAN.

INDUSTRIALIZED CONSTRUCTION PROCESS 1. The construction of the modules is made in the factory. Despite having drawn only the structure, all the finishes are done, as well as the facilities. The module will be equipped with a drop ceiling and the wall has removable panels to be able to reach the structure and facilities in the construction works.

The industrialized construction allows the reduction of the time of the works while improving the quality and precision of the construction process, as well as the sustainability, flexibility and the possibility of extension of the building.

2. Once finished the process in the factory, the modules are driven to the work place by road transport. The modulation of the building is made following the regulations for maximum size that it is possible to transport by road (four modules of 3.2 x 3.2 m).

3. In the building place, the modules are assembled, screwing the structure and making the needed connections in the facilities, through the walls and the drop ceiling designed for this purpose. Finally, the remaining finishes are implemented and the ventilated façade and the slats in the windows, which have to be made in works simply because they join two modules. This will provide a uniform image of the building.

NORTH FAÇADE IN RESIDENTIAL AREA

Restoration of Testar Mill in Paterna as Museum of Energy, Spain Year_2016 REhabitando Competition

The competition, sponsored by ASA Association and Toshiba, propose the restoration of the space in the Testar Mill, in Paterna, in accordance with criteria of sustainable architecture.

GUIDELINES OF THE PROPOSAL - Design a brand new element that becomes the spatial and functional link between the main building in front of the complex, where the facade is, and the mill, which is located at the back. By doing like this, the two most valuable areas of the old building are preserved, creating a seamless image of the whole complex for its cultural use as a museum.

- Maintain and redesign the patio as remainder of the history of the building, providing it with a strong bioclimatic intention as a passive system of climatic conditioning and, at the same time, allowing the natural illumination of the interior rooms.

- Along with the patio, the new volumes allow a new relationship with the irrigation channel, which is the main element in the setting. The power of the energy of the water as a passive system of conditioning creates a favorable atmosphere for architectural relations with the environment.

PASSIVE CONDITIONING WINTER

STRATEGIES - Energy demand reduction by means of the use of good insulation and high-performance glazing to minimize unwanted heat loss.

- Ventilated facade and roof.

- Patio as a traditional passive strategy to reduce energy comsumption.

- Passive heating of the air making it pass through the underground chamber in contact with the water.

- Passive heating by the greenhouse effect.

- Heat recovery system.

- Maximum solar gain.

SUMMER - Energy demand reduction by means of the use of good insulation and high-performance glazing to minimize unwanted heat gain.

- Ventilated facade and roof.

- Passive cooling of the air making it pass through the underground chamber in contact with the water.

- Protection from solar gain reducing south openings and protecting those already existing.

- Make used air (still conditioned) pass through the chambers in roof and walls.

- Free-cooling.