I am a Spanish Architect who graduated in 2012 from the Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design at Columbia University (NYC). I am currently working as an Architect for Nandinee Phookan Architects, while I continue my involvement in Columbia by the participation in an Independent Research in collaboration with the Government of Kauai (Hawaii), developing a new plan related to waste management and eco-tourism. This project has been included in the publication "Rebooting Urban Design", edited by GSAPP.
During my year at Columbia I had the opportunity to combine my European formation with a more internationally-based education, broadening constantly my architectural horizons and developing my ability to participate in multi-cultural teams. It has been an invaluable experience that has undoubtedly enriched my design skills and my capacities to reach a more mature and sophisticated conceptual approach towards architecture.
The experience acquired at GSAPP is merged with a more practical-oriented background obtained during my practice in NYC and my previous experiences in Spain, where I finished my degree in July 2010. This makes me a well-prepared candidate, with a solid formation to face the diverse stages of a project, from the conceptualization to the realization of construction and structural documents and construction management.
I hold a US employment card valid until October 2016 and I am a Licensed Architect by the Spanish Architects Association.
urbanplot architecture, SCQ + NYC, Co-founder and principal
As a complement to my architecture studies and works, I started an informal multi-disciplinary platform in 2008 together with the architect Pablo Costa, focused in developing challenging projects and enjoy architecture. Since then we have participated in numerous architectural competitions as well as in small architecture projects and furniture design, all of them approached from research and experimentation.
Mazaira & Garijo Architects, Santiago de Compostela [SPAIN], Architect
The two young architects - Carmen Mazaira and Carlos Garijo - have settled in Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and started their own firm, linked to the fields of art and innovation and working from the trans-disciplinarity that architecture allows. Both have being instructed in the most well-known offices of Spain and London, such as Andres Perea, Norman Foster or Zaha Hadid, and studied in the Polytechnic School of Madrid and the Bartlett School in London. Now they combine their architecture practice with the educational field as professors in the Polytechnic School of Madrid and invited faculty in Greenwich and Nottingham University.
While working with them I participated in the project of a thermal spa, conceived as an experimental project and that had the collaboration of research teams from Madrid, London and Latin America. I was involved in the development of architectural and technical innovative solutions for the building as well as in the realization of graphic documents. I was included as well in the team for the execution of a parametric-based urban planning for the city of Soria with a high research component.
Pablo Costa Architect, Santiago de Compostela [SPAIN], Intern Architect
Pablo Costa is a young architect that started his career in Santiago de Compostela after finishing his studies in the Polytechnic School of Madrid. After moving to NYC for studying a graphic design program in Parsons he worked for a year in Eisenman Architects and participated in the AAD program at Columbia University. He is currently an Architectural Designer at Richard Meier and Partners.
My involvement in his firm started as a student internship (during which I developed architecture drawings, 3d modeling and renderings) to finally turn into partners with the foundation of the platform UrbanPlot Architecture.
FCC Construccion, Santiago de Compostela [SPAIN], Intern Architect
FCC is one of the largest Spanish companies in the field of construction management, with a wide range of projects in both the national and international market.
During my internship period in FCC I had the privilege to collaborate in the building works of the History Museum, part of the complex of the City of Culture, a project developed by the architect Peter Eisenman. There I participated in detail drawings as well as in the realization of 3d modellings that in 2010 were part of the exhibition “Peter Eisenman. The City” about the origins of Eisenman´s project.
Columbia University, Columbia University [NYC], Masters, Master in Science of Architecture and Urban Design
The Urban Design Program a post-professional program offered by the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation of Columbia University. Its curriculum is focused on the state of the city in the 21st century in an age of rapid urbanization and cities of growth and contraction that face the transition to new forms and meanings.
During my year in Columbia I became engaged in an international environment, not only in terms of working in teams with multi-national students and being instructed by multi-national faculty, but also in having the opportunity to broaden my knowledge by working in projects in sites such as NYC, Ghana, Rio de Janeiro or Mumbai. This has provided me with an understanding of the different realities around the globe. I actively participated in the program by working as an Urban Design Assistant, having the responsibility of being the managing editor and graphic designer of the publication "World View. Global practices+Local experiences", as well as participating as a Research Associate in a project directly linked with the NEA, MICD and Kauai's government. Some of the works developed at GSAPP were included in the publication Abstract 2011/2012.
SEED, Barcelona [SPAIN], Workshop in Parametric Architecture "Design with Grasshopper"
Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de La Coruña, University of La Coruña, BArch, Architecture
The Technical School of Architecture of La Coruña Bachelor Degree is developed as an amalgam of Studios dedicated to Design, Structures, Construction and Urbanism, all combined with Seminars on Theory of Architecture. It is a five-year degree with a subsequent thesis project in which, not only concept and design have to be considered, but also construction and structural drawings and calculations have to be presented as if the project were more that academic but to be translated into the real practice.
During my undergraduate experience I complemented my education with the realization of workshops and courses not only related to architecture but also to tangential disciplines such as graphic and furniture design or photography. I was intensely involved in the school by working as a teacher assistant on the department of “Theory and representation” and being granted to collaborate in various research projects related with vernacular architecture. Some of my Design Studio projects were selected to be published in books and magazines edited by the university.
William Kinne Fellows Prize for study and travel abroad [Columbia University], Award
Competitively awarded to projects which demonstrate potential for academic enrichment through travel.
Under the title "Waste not, want not" the research will undertake Kauai [Hawaii] as a case study in regards to the eco-tourism “revolution” worldwide. Following up the conversation initiated by the County of Kauai during The Mayors’ Institute on City Design Conference in New York City last December, a feasibility study will be developed for a potential implementation in the island.
Participant in the I Urban Design Week of NYC [Columbia University], Award
Curated by the 2011 Urban Design Summer Studio of Columbia University, Studio X exhibited urban design concepts for the diverse and varying infrastructure systems that define New York City. The exhibit set the stage for an evening panel discussion based on a selection of the student’s final projects completed during the summer.
The project presented – "The Belt" – reframes the role of Redhook [BK] in the industrial sector in New York, incentivizing manufacturing to stay in the city and recovering the area's original character as a production region.
Competition for a facade restoration in Porriño [Granite Association of Porriño], Honorable Mention
The competition is focused as an innovative initiative to develop new uses of granite as a building material. The proposals were valued according to their creativeness towards the use of granite as a façade material.
The entry re-conceptualizes the use of the material through several transgressions: granite is light and flexible, it is not a metamorphic rock but a magmatic one and it absorbs tensile loads.
Finalist in the competition "Kid´s Universe" for furniture design [Maria Martinez Otero foundation], Nomination
The competition invites to think about children furniture in the current society, with the aim to promote innovative products and concepts that understand the needs of the children in the contemporary world.
The entry develops an element that can be used in a multiple number of ways and that serves as a dynamic playmate for the children more than just as a static element.
