GERARDO SUAREZ

Architects: Stenfors Architects

Photography: Paul Turang

Working under Lighting Design Alliance, the team was asked to provide lighting design services to the new student dining 24-hour facility located in the University of California San Diego campus. The main element throughout the space was a series of square skylights that are introduced in the ceiling through splayed pyramidal components. This introduced the lighting challenge of providing even lighting while integrating into the skylights, and still keeping within the tight budget. 

A series of L-shaped lines of light were introduced at the skylight shafts to illuminate the space from above and still give the impression of natural daylight through electrical lighting, thus allowing for a well-lit diffused space even during nighttime hours. A limited amount of recessed adjustable accent lights were strategically deployed to keep the splayed surfaces as clean as possible, but still accenting programmatic aspects of the space such as casual seating areas and food displays. 

Due to Title 24 requirements, the dining hall's control system also contains daylight harvesting capabilities, and occupancy sensor capability in secondary spaces such as restrooms. This coupled with all LED lighting allows for an energy-efficient dining hall that can be used at any hour. 

Architects: TVS Design

Photography: Brian Gassel

Working under Lighting Design Alliance, the team was hired to design the site and interior lighting for the new headquarters of LPL Financial. Consisting of two six-story buildings, the new headquarters had various programs: lobby, dining area, servery, café, training/conference rooms, a gymnasium, open offices, private offices, break rooms, and an HOV suite that would house the executives of the company. The team was asked to create the most energy-efficient lighting system. All lighting specified in the project was LED, reducing the overall wattage consumption significantly. 

Another factor in reducing energy consumption was the lighting control system implemented in the design: each fixture had its own addressable control sensor that also doubled as a daylight harvesting sensor. With this incredible amount of flexibility and granulity, each fixture would only be on when necessary. 

During working hours, the lighting would respond to daylight and be off or dimmed to required light levels. After working hours and at nighttime, light fixtures would only turn on through occupancy movement. This would also allow flexibility for workers working over-time; having lights on only right above their desk instead of having the entire open office on. The control system also allows for energy reports, showing the most frequently used areas in the buildings, and which light fixture needs repair/LED replacement. 

The visual concept for the lighting design was the idea of lines of light. Linearity is used in the site to provide a visual separation between walkways and the adjacent lake. The interior conference rooms, elevator lobbies, and dining areas are just a few of the areas that use linear lighting to not only provide general lighting, but to also accent walls and custom millwork. 

The overall lighting consumption was calculated at 0.39 W/SF and the project achieved LEED Gold rating.

Instructors: Elizabeth Danze and John Blood

One of the first exercises assigned in the Visual Communications course involved drawing blind contours of hands. These hands would be shown interlocking in various positions. From these drawings, a wood joint was produced from the initial inspiration of a chosen blind contour drawing.

The chosen drawing depicts fingers interlocking by lacing together. The conceptual take-off point for the project was derived from the idea that every joint would interlock, creating a parallel abstraction between fingers and finger joints. The finger joints used in the exercise, made of poplar wood, would holistically form a perfect cube. Yet, the assembly of the individual pieces was left up to the user.

Instructor: Keith Simon (In collaboration with Cynthia Pyke and Emily Sutton)

Programs used: AutoCAD, Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop

The group project for the Environmental Controls class was to design a luminaire of our choice. Luminaires are described as an element that usually shades or enhances a light source. Our group decided to design a pendant fixture that would use only LED lights. The initial concept for the design was to immerse the viewer into a lazy summer sensation, one that would provoke thoughts of catching fireflies in jars and sitting out on the porch enjoying the sun set. 

Using only found materials the group collected mason jars, which were sprayed with a frosted glass finish in the interior surface of the jar. The LED lights were placed inside and grouped together to form the pendant fixture. Holes were drilled on the lids of each jar to wire the electric current into the ceiling. 

Proenza Schouler is a fashion brand that was started by designers Jack McCullough and Lazaro Hernandez. Their aesthetic adheres to a masculine and sometimes androgynous air to the clothing. After analyzing the designers’ various collections, lines with sharp angles were graphically implemented as the driving concept. The goal of the studio semester was to develop a popup shop that can be deployed in various environments, as well as a permanent fashion boutique that would be the first of its kind in Austin, TX.

The concept of sharp graphic lines was further abstracted to create a three-dimensional panel-system wall. This wall was further manipulated to become a “wrap” for the designer’s popup shop. 

Using a system of fins to create an enclosure, the system was able to be manipulated to produce necessary programs; fitting room, shoes and accessories display, seating, cash wrap, and clothes rack area. Parts of the exterior fins are vertically flattened to mount mannequins onto the wrap for display of pieces of the collection. The fins also make for easy transportation and assembly with the ability to be flatpacked. 

Instructor: Igor Siddiqui

Programs used: Rhinoceros, VRay, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, AutoCAD

The fashion boutique was a continuation of the Proenza Schouler wallpaper and popup shop design. Proenza Schouler is a group of two designers whose philosophies in fashion involve experimentation with androgyny, rebellion in socio-normalities, and an affinity towards angular silhouettes and patterns. Located in downtown Austin’s Starr Building, the boutique offers a translation of the brand’s ideals through formal elements in the space and materiality. The "spine" element of the design acts as an important divider between two programs.  The designers’ clothing is completely separated from their accessories. Proenza Schouler is famous for their bags and wallets. As such, the accessories were placed in the entrance of the store, leaving the garment side of the store for discovery.

Proenza Schouler is known for using natural textiles in their garments, opting for leathers and cottons. Using this information, the material palette was derived from natural materials to nature-invoking elements. The spine and ceiling element is comprised of plywood and the blue, polished concrete floor is indicative of water, sealing the floors with a high level of gloss. 

Instructor: Tamie Glass

Programs used: Revit, Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, AutoCAD

The sound building studio consisted of designing a private social club, where construction documents had to be made as a inclusion to the final project. 

The title of the private club was an autonomous decision. This club is meant to be a sister organization of the already established Austin Headliners Club. The Headliners are a group of well-known authors and writers in the city. This design is meant to commemorate the new, up-and-coming designers who may not have established themselves in the industry yet.

Instructor: Wilfried Wang (In collaboration with Jesus Valdez and Juan Verdeguer). Project location in Cordoba, Argentina.

Programs used: Rhinoceros, VRay, SketchUp, Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign

The advanced design studio traveled to Argentina for a week. This crucial time was meant to not only view the site in person, but to better understand the cultural and sociopolitical implications that are apparent in Argentinian urbanism. This time was also used to study the material that would be studied throughout the semester and be applied to the project: brick.

As an urban fabric, the blocks of the site were cut in half to introduce pedestrian thoroughfares, an element that would provide less intense density and encourage a sense of community. This new pathways served to allocate entrances to commercial spaces on the ground floor and residential spaces in the upper floors.

Emphasizing the party walls would benefit from the idea of varying architects coming in and designing separate lots in the blocks. The varying heights were also an important design decision to humanize the urban intervention and relate to the existing fabric in the city. 

Instructor: Benjamin Ibarra

Programs used: Rhinoceros, VRay, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign

West Campus' current bus stop has no shelter for the sun. This project aimed to solve that problem using traditional and rudimentary techniques studied throughout the course: vaulting systems, compressive loads and transfers, and stone/brick stereotomy.

The design consists of a forest of columns suspending triangular, brick vaults. These vaults gradually rise to better shade the western sun, a major problem in the bus stop area.

During the last Visual Communications course, a chosen shoe was used to develop 3D modeling skills in Rhinoceros. Using this shoe as well as a 3x3x3 array of cubes, a part of the shoe was subtracted the the array and used as a void. This void was further studied through scale. 

I chose to further develop idea of a this sculpture by locating it in a desolate environment, somewhere where one could only happen upon it arbitrarily. Other renderings were used to explore the void as an inhabitable space. 

The final part of the exercise was to design a second element to the solid / void study that would serve as an abstract addition to enhance the chosen spatial void. By locating the object in a snowy, white environment, red served as a sharp contrast and as a beacon to wandering passerbies. 

Instructor: Igor Siddiqui

Programs used: Rhinoceros, VRay, GIS, AutoCAD, Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Google Earth

The SXSW festival in Austin was used as a means to design a temporary installation that would resolve a specific need or problem. Using personal experiences made throughout the festival, the main design concept was derived from the idea that SXSW goers could have a site exclusively for respite and recharging. This installation would serve to offer a way to relax if need be, so that traveling would not be necessary if one wanted to take a break from SXSW.

Biodegradability was crucial to the “temporary” aspect of the design. The D-Shape 3D printer, utilizing multi-material technology, was chosen to create varying components for sitting or laying. Alganite was used for the soft, layable material while PLA plastic was used to form the rigid and structural perimeter of the object. At the end of the festival, the objects would start to biodegrade in the soil, or can be removed from the soil and placed for permanent exhibition.

Instructors: John Blood, Elizabeth Danze

Programs used: Rhinoceros, Revit, Illustrator, AutoCAD, Photoshop, InDesign

Social housing in Paris has become a staple in Paris suburban cultural. The socio-economic consequences have shown failures and well as successes in the building typology. The site was located in the 17th Arrondisement of Paris, braced by train tracks to the southwest and a public park in the northeast.

The contextual circumstances of the sites inspired the conceptual approach to bring a contrast of stereotomic and tectonic characteristics to the two buildings. Floating "boxes" of glass were suspended by a diagrid held up be three vertical concrete cores. This building was nearest to the train tracks, the "boxes" varying in different length to emphasize movement. The ground floor is left completely open for markets and vendors.

The housing is allocated next to the park and connects with a school and public library. A much more solid material, concrete, was used to give a more earthen quality within the proximity of the park. Bush hammered concrete was used on the ground and public floors.