Archinect
Laura Salazar

Laura Salazar

New York, NY, US

 

About 

I am a recent architectural graduate with professional experience designing single-family & multi-family residences, a high-rise, a beach club, facades, pavilions, installations, sculpture, products and objects. I have proven interest and experience working in the contemporary art environment, and I am proficient in 3D modeling, rendering, and graphic representation. I have extensive experience in the field of fabrication using 3D printing, laser cutting, and casting/mold-making in rubber, plastic and foam in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Fabrication Lab. I have used CNC milling and water-jets for the fabrication of architectural models and installation scale projects. 

I would like to investigate passive systems - material or mechanical - which respond to changes in environmental conditions. As energy sourcing solutions become ever more diversified, hyper-local, urban infrastructure will allow metro-regions achieve sustainability. I am interested in public infrastructure that functions independently of urban energy systems through biologically optimized feedback systems. As one example, an off-grid structure which employs certain material intelligence making it responsive to increased humidity, and in turn, provides rain/snow shelter to pedestrians. Research to date has been published on waterpotential.tumblr.com.

I would also love the opportunity to study fabric manipulation and knits structuring as an application to facade systems. Many buildings designed through generative computation are formally exuberant, yet conventional building technology applied in its construction merely simulates these effects. Instead, we could derive intelligence from the composition of textiles and apply it at an architectural scale to develop adaptable technology for building skins. I am interested in investigating the properties of knitting stitch patterns to innovate upon the structure, kinetic flexibility, and porosity of parametric facades.

Elsewhere:

Employment 

3D Nation Design, New York, NY, US, Lead Designer

I was Lead Designer and business advisor of 3D Nation Design, a company committed to transforming product ideas into real-life products. I worked directly with inventors and entrepreneurs to design and 3D model their vision into a product prototype.

Jul 2012 - Jan 2014
 

Lifeform by Rafi Elbaz, New York, NY, US, Architectural Designer

I have applied myself as Architectural Designer at Lifeform, an architecture firm in Tribeca, where I developed architectural proposals for new construction in New York, Panama and Tel Aviv. I led the design team in a competition for a storefront installation in Chelsea, and facilitated construction management and architectural detailing on-site in Brooklyn. In addition, I performed office management duties and assembled presentations/RFPs.

Aug 2012 - Apr 2013
 

SJET, Boston, MA, US, Fabricator

Prototyping + Fabrication, Research + Design Development

Sep 2011 - Feb 2012
 

Education 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston, MA, US, BSA

Visiting student

Sep 2009 - Jun 2012
 

Wellesley College, Boston, MA, US, Bachelors, Architecture

Sep 2008 - May 2012
 

Awards 

Alice C Cole Award, Award

For work of sculpture to be exhibited in 2014

2013
 

Global Engagement Grant, Grant

2011
 

Alexander Fellowship, Grant

For the pursuit of architectural research

2011
 

Areas of Specialization 

Skills