“Design is more about observing the world around you, then about personal creativity”  

Cam Shaw

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”

Steve Jobs

“Less is more”

Mies Van Der Rohe

ZONING-CHECKLIST-

Mountain Rd. Photo survey

14th Street Photo survey

Pueblo Revival Photo survey (Old Town)

Vegetation and Animal life Photo survey

Immediate Site Photo survey

site analysis

PROGRAM

area analysis

I am here, standing in front of an empty lot, next to what appears to be a lifeless tree. It is Sunday morning and it is so quiet. It feels peaceful but lonely as if I was the only person alive.  The ground looks dry and dead. The other plants seem to be lifeless as well. The air feels cold and dry. Above me the bright blue, clear sky is the host of the sun which is providing a nice warm blanket in the middle of winter. In the distance I see the Sandia Mountains over the buildings of east part of town. I close my eyes and wonder how it would feel to be over there.  I open my eyes, and above me I see birds flying west towards the Rio Grande. I close my eyes once again and imagine how it would feel to be over there.  In the distance, the slight sound of a church bell helps me remember of the place where I grew up. A place that is very similar to Old Town. Full of history, full of culture, full of life, where people would gather in the plaza to socialize and enjoy the outdoors. I opened my eyes with a smile and remembered how it would feel to be over there. I looked at the empty lot and saw a different place. With all of the natural surroundings, the history, and the culture of this place; this empty lot was full of life. I saw my future house.

I closed my eyes yet again to imagine the possibilities. I imagined my house as a place where the perfect blend between nature, history, and culture, would bring joy to my life. My house would create spaces where architecture and nature are viewed as one. It would be a pavilion that could serve as a shelter when needed, but open to the exterior to maximize life in the outdoors. My house would be like the Rio Grande, full of vegetation and full of life, giving life to all of the surroundings. My house would act as the Sandia Mountains to provide shelter, when needed, but exposed to the natural elements to direct wind, water, heat, and shade. My house would be build to reference the Hispanic history and culture of Old Town where social interaction take place in the exterior, in patios and plazas. Full of possibilities, full of options, full of excitement, full of mystery, full of opportunities for evolution and change, but most of all full life. I open my eyes, and the smile had not gone away. I was again exited that this place will host my dream house.

I started to walk west looking back at the site; I couldn’t stop thinking how my house would be. At the core, a pool of water gives life to the house. Gardens of flowers would surround the courtyard emerging you in a fragrance of emotions while socializing in the courtyard.  Stretching north-south, the clean smell of nature would connect two buildings.  The main house, on the north, would be located to provide a massing element that would be shape responding to site conditions. The idea would be to have a combination of both, large open spaces for hot months and enclosed tighter spaces for the cold months. The massing would be substantial for maximizing thermal gain reflecting the presence of the mountains that appear in the distance. The ground floor would be the public space (kitchen, dining, and living) to allow accessibility to the courtyard and patios.  The private rooms would be elevated into the second floor to allow for privacy and better views to the surrounding environments. The main house goal would be to intertwine the outdoors with the indoors to allow publicity to be in the interior. To the south of the property, a separate entity would be located. In this place the exposure would be more significant than the privacy of its interior because the office/studio would push out to Mountain Rd to create a presence/attraction for the public realm. The boundaries of the house would be as green as possible to provide privacy and sound proof to the interior space while creating a mask for a sacred garden. Just thinking about it brought happiness. My future house, my pavilion would be the perfect place for living.

As I walk towards 14^th street I closed my eyes and my house felt real. I could see it! I could feel it!! I stretch out my arm reaching out for a green wall (hedge/ vine). The feeling was fresh and soothing.  The wall seemed to enclose a sacred place. At the corner, I could see that a space was carved out from the green wall. A building stood out with a vine covered patio. It was an architecture office space. The space was open to day light and designed for public exposure with big store front openings. As I continued my journey to 14^th street, the green wall wrapped around the corner, above the wall there were trees. Dense trees that stood above the wall giving privacy to what was behind it. I started to wonder off along 14^th street, trying to find a way to enter the space. The midway through the wall, there was another void. A void that was carved out to provide a space large enough for a carport. The carport was enclosed by nature [to the south a forest of trees with a trail, to the north a green wall with a hall mysterious tunnel created from vines, to the east a tall green hedge] As I got closer to the hedge the sound of water penetrated the green wall. It sounded like a calmed river, like a slow moving arroyo, like a water flow that was hiding behind the hedge. The only two options to go over the hedge and find the water source were to take the path by the trees or explore the vine tunnel. At the end of the vine tunnel there was a deceiving green wall that was penetrated by light from the sides. The short/narrow tunnel ended by entering the house; however, there was no door there, I was suddenly in the interior of the house. It was a void in nature that opened up for sustaining life. To the south the tunnel ended with a small bride that crossed over a stream of water that cascaded down and settled along the west side of the plaza. The plaza had the pleasant smell of roses, a grill for a cookout and was surrounded by green walls and a pavilion that emerged from the green wall. Opposite to the plaza the tunnel continued and opened up to a patio that had a water fountain and a fire pit that connected two pavilions. The first pavilion, which is connected to the tunnel, consisted of a living room/reading area that had a fire place for those cold winter days. The north façade had a glass wall facing outward to a workout/meditation space. I continued to venture across the patio to the other pavilion where big glass openings allowed the possibility to look inside. As natural light penetrated the pavilion, so did my eyes. This pavilion hosted the kitchen and the dining room that had access to the patio and the courtyard. Further inside, the dining room had access to a different patio. This space was open to the sky with small soccer goals at opposite ends. The play area was enclosed by green walls, trees and two buildings: the dining and the media/office for her.  The adventure was not over. The media room was enclosed by a green wall envelope with small opening on the sides and a big window on the north. I set out to investigate what was back there. As I approached the west pathway a hidden door emerged from the green wall. It was a back entrance to the building that was exposed along the street side. I passed the door and encountered a vegetable garden. Surrounded by fruit trees, grape vines. The vegetable garden had been located on the southern edge of the property for the best exposure to sunlight. I continued to walk around the media room and I was back to the small soccer field where I was looking back at the house. Behind the dining and kitchen rooms that there was a water storage unit next to another fruit tree that extended above the first floor. Above the first floor there was a terrace. I wondered where the stairs are. I walked inside the house through the dining, continued through the kitchen and I did not see stairs. As I started to head out I notice a hidden door, it was the access to the second floor. The stairs were open to the sky and at the top; two rooms were in opposite ends connected by the restroom. All the openings were directed to the plaza. From the windows I noticed that the other pavilion had a second floor as well. I looked and looked for the access to but no luck. Finally when approaching the tunnel, yet again another hidden door gave access to the master suite. A big terrace covered by vines pointed west to the sunset. The master bedroom followed it with view to the plaza, view to the sunset, and a chimney. Beyond the bedroom, a big walking closet divided the master bedroom and the master bathroom. The master bathroom had exterior access to a private bath tube that was covered by juniper trees and tall railing walls.

I imagined every detail of my house. The experience of living in it felt so pure and in connection to nature that will allowed the senses to be active. My house would grow out of nature and evolve with it as the seasons past to create an oasis for me and my family where the perfect blend between architecture and nature would exist.

narrative better

Description

I started to wall west looking back at the site; I couldn’t stop thinking how my house would be. At the core, a pool of water gives life to the house. Gardens of flowers would surround the courtyard emerging you in a fragrance of emotions while socializing in the courtyard.  Stretching north-south, the clean smell of nature would connect two buildings.  The main house, on the north, would be located to provide a massing element that would be shape responding to site conditions. The idea would be to have a combination of both, large open spaces for hot months and enclosed tighter spaces for the cold months. The massing would be substantial for maximizing thermal gain reflecting the presence of the mountains that appear in the distance. The ground floor would be the public space (kitchen, dining, and living) to allow accessibility to the courtyard and patios.  The private rooms would be elevated into the second floor to allow for privacy and better views to the surrounding environments. The main house goal would be to intertwine the outdoors with the indoors to allow publicity to be in the interior. To the south of the property, a separate entity would be located. In this place the exposure would be more significant than the privacy of its interior because the office/studio would push out to Mountain Rd to create a presence/attraction for the public realm. The boundaries of the house would be as green as possible to provide privacy and sound proof to the interior space while creating a mask for a sacred garden. Just thinking about it brought happiness. My future house, my pavilion would be the perfect place for living

winter plans

summer plans

sections

before

After

Mid review panels and critique

Comments:

• There are a few issues with the entry (try to open it up a little more, make it bigger)
• Show the difference between interior and exterior.
• Balance the amount of interior and exterior
• Create a time-lapse of living in the space
• Prioritize spaces?
• Treat vine wall as a wall ( mass wall and vine wall might be conflicting with each other