ABRAHAM N. RODRíGUEZ WORK

INDEX

academic

PROFeSSiONaL

cOmPeTiTiONS

SkeTcheS

milwaukee River Projects

equinox skin boat school

doctor darwin eye care

irene c. hernández middle School

kaSe Study

caesar’s park boathouse

europe Sketch Journal

in 2007, Greensburg, kS was hit by a tornado devastating the entire town. in the extreme weather conditions found here, the typical midwestern house does not respond well. kaSe Study is designed to greatly reduce the amount of damage sustained in a tornado while being environmentally sustainable. The design uses recycled limestone blocks, providing a strong structure and breathable walls. at the south elevation, the sun heats the trombe wall used as the center spine; while sliding doors in the main living areas maximize passive ventilation. a cool roof system prevents interior overheating. Rafter ties are utilized to secure the roof down to the foundation. The butterfly roof blocks sunlight in the summer; lets it pass in the winter and allows rainwater harvesting. Water is conserved through smart land use practices and energy efficient appliances. The design of the home strives to be affordable, energy efficient and sustainable.

KaSe StuDylocation: greensburg, ks design competitionsummer 2009partners: danny massaro & gail cavanagh

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PaSSive heaT aBSORPTiON

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SPaTiaL SePaRaTiON ROOF aRTicuLaTiON FLOOR PLaN

iOWa ave.

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bioswale

native plants planted along rammed earth privacy wall

vegetable/flower planters

grey water filtration swale

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sun path

white membrane “cool” roof with r-30 glass batt insulation

recycled corrugated metal cladding attached to recycled limestone wall

operable wood window assemblies with low-e glass and thermal break

voc free interior plaster

recycled limestone blocks filled with structural grout

recycled wood deck

rigid insulation and vapor barrier under floor decking on top of recycled aggregate fill , typ.

rigid insulation and vapor barrier at exterior face of foundation walls, typ.

engineered wood floor with recycled content over fsc certified floor joists, with r-30 glass batt insulation

recycled limestone trombe wall

WaLL SecTiON

The two projects in the following pages sought to explore the milwaukee River as a pocket of nature within a dense urban environment. While these two projects, the caesar’s Park Boathouse and equinox Skin Boat School, share a common programmatic element (skin boats); the academic focus of each was quite different. caesar’s Park Boathouse focused on an aesthetic and spatial solution to the program, while the equinox used a simple program to focus and materiality and skin options.

mIlwaukEE rIvEr SkIN boat projEctSlocation: milwaukee, wicourse: arch 420semester: spring 2006critic: james wasley

The design is driven aesthetically by the site’s variation, and pragmatically by the program’s need of surveillance. When you approach from the pedestrian bridge you pass a series of newly constructed structures and if you descend the trail from caesar’s Park you will be surrounded by trees as you go along. This is the main aesthetic driver for the building’s parti. When you approach the building from the park trail, you see the building engulfed in nature; merging into the landscape with its green roof. On the other hand, when one arrives to the boathouse via the pedestrian bridge, you see a strong rectilinear façade composed of cubic volumes that echo the surrounding development. Thus the cantilevered cube of the office becomes a unique object within the park’s landscape.

caESar’S park boathouSElocation: milwaukee, wicourse: arch 420semester: spring 2006critic: james wasley

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The cube of the office cantilevers out into the loading level outside, allowing the manager in charge of the boathouse constant views of all patrons using the boathouse. This cantilever allows for surveillance to the patrons out in the water, ensuring their safety. a split level glazed wall allows for constant surveillance into the skin boat storage bellow and the observation deck above. These simple moves come together to form a design that is both aesthetically pleasing and also highly pragmatic.

The eQuiNOX project was conceived as a sister project to the earlier caesar’s Park Boathouse, and as such they share opposite sides of the same site along the milwaukee River. The program consists of creating a school for the creation of traditional skin boats, and a small residence for the owner of the school in the back of the building. These skin boats would then be transported across the bridge in order to be rented out in the aforementioned boathouse across the river. after much deliberation, it was decided that the design exploration would take its starting point from the idea that the program can and would be best accommodated in a simple double story box; that the architectural richness of the project would be achieved via skin and material options.

EQuINoX SkIN boat Schoollocation: milwaukee, wicourse: arch 420semester: spring 2006critic: james wasley

With this in mind i set out to create a long linear box scheme that would allow plentiful natural light to enter the space, while exploring different high performance building skins. The double skin façade is composed of Structural insulated Panels (SiPs) clad in cement board, with a corrugated metal screen hung in front of them. This metal screen adds articulation to the façade and allows for clearstory windows with deep metal window frames to punch through the SiP panel walls in order to bring light across the workshop space bellow. This corrugated screen is continued over the railings of the balconies of the attached residence, unifying the building’s façade. above the workshop space a suspended gallery, allowing onlookers and students to view the creation of the skin boats bellow. The workshop space is further illuminated by low level frosted glass openings in the walls. Because of these openings and double skin when seen from afar, eQuiNOX brings to mind the idea of the classic modernist box on pilotis; a long narrow box that extends into space and is seemingly suspended in the air. SiTe PLaN

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structural insulated panel roof panels

long-span steel beam structure

corrugated metal screen wall

metal window frames & light shelves

structural insulated panel walls

steel truss

green roof insert

structural insulated roof panel

long-span steel beams and columns

frosted glass window wall

structural insulated wall panel

fly ash concrete floor slab

corrugated metal screen

metal window frames & light shelves

WaLL SecTiON

low e-glass clearstory windows

SiTe PLaN

This project sought to update the image of a small optometrist’s office in milwaukee. The project consisted of 2 phases: design a new logo for the office, and create a façade that would make the small building an stand out on a busy intersection.

The logo is a hybrid between an eye and the “darwin fish” logo; creating an instant correlation between the darwin name and an optometrist’s office. This logo is lasercut into plywood panels that clad the exterior wall of the office. a glass screen covered in Lumistry film is mounted in front of the plywood cladding. This film makes the logo blurred when seen from afar but clear when seen up close. The current overhang is clad in plywood and extended over the street to invite pedestrians inside.

cmu wall beyond

laser cut plywood anchored to cmu wall beyond

stainless steel sleeve

threaded rod anchored to structure beyond

glass with lumisty film coating

Façade WaLL deTaiL

The closer you get, the clearer the logo is.

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Doctor DarwIN EyE carElocation: milwaukee, wicourse: microcosmsemester: fall 2005partners: kris huisingacritic: kyle talbott

SiTe PLaN

Principal in charge: donald copperProject manager: daniel Sumita Project Team:elizabeth Fragosoabraham N. Rodríguezeduardo Bodmer Leah Lehr

126,507 SF; 3-Story middle School.includes Green Roof over 25% of the roof area, 1-1/2” Story Library, Science Rooms (5), art Room (1), computer labs (2), multi-Purpose Rooms (2), Full service kitchen/dining and Gym with Stage for School assembly functions. Leed Gold certified. Recently completed.

Responsibilities included: interior design, construction documents, design and documentation of casework/furniture. FiRST FLOOR PLaN

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IrENE c. hErNáNDEz mIDDlE School location: chicago, ilprofessional projectgrec architects, llc.2007-2008

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The following sketches represent some of the sites we studied in the Study abroad program i participated in the spring of 2005. While we studied historical, modern, and contemporary european architecture; early 20th century modernism made the most lasting impression on me in the trip, thus these are the buildings that most frequently appeared on my sketchbooks.

EuropE SkEtch jourNallocation: various countries in europecourse: study abroad programsemester: spring 2005critic: kyle talbott

BaRceLONa PaviLLiON 1

BaRceLONa PaviLLiON 2 TORRe TeLeFóNica, BaRceLONa

caSa BaTLLó, BaRceLONaÉvRy caThedRaL

NOTRe dame du hauT

2320 N Greenview Ave Unit 1F Chicago, IL 60614www.abrahamnrodriguez.carbonmade.comabrahamn.rodriguez@gmail.com787.306.5976

ABRAHAM N. RODRíGUEZ AssOciAtE AiA