TH O MAS G U ER RA

SELECTED WORKS

AUSTIN ROWING CENTER

BIRDINGCENTER

EASTSIDE LIBRARY

EL ZACATAL ARROYO

RÉSUMÉCONCEALEDDENSITY

AUSTIN ROWING CENTER TOWN LAKE HIKE + BIKE TRAIL, AUSTIN, TX SPRING 2012INSTRUCTOR, ED RICHARDSON

A point of change occurs along Austin’s popular hike and bike trail – from a vast open field to a dense and narrow thicket of trees. Upon crossing this threshold, you enter another world defined by one’s relation to the landscape. In the woods, you become unaware of anything beyond your immediate surroundings. In the field, your view extends beyond to Town Lake and the rest of the city. It is at the edge between these two landscapes that the building inhabits – delineating the two as separate, but linked entities. The rowing center is anchored along a grove of existing trees, establishing a sense of place on a vast open field. Conventional bays of boat storage are rethought into an elongated form that funnels all boats out to a single exit point along the trail and towards the dock. A constructed berm, sitting above large water storage tanks, anchors the building to the field with integrated spectator seating to provide relief from the trail - allowing for informal meeting and observation. Within the building, voids cut through the roof plane at regular intervals. It is through these voids that a framework for systems integration is achieved. Daylighting, electrical lighting, HVAC systems, and rainwater collection are all organized around the void and its cavity

LAND TYPE | DENSE WOODS LAND TYPE | FIELDTHRESHOLD

longitudinal section

longitudinal section

transverse section

west elevation along grove

east elevation along field

12

3

4

5 6

7

8 9

WALL SECTIONSCALE: 1/2’’ = 1’ 1. Roof Construction

1/2’’ Corten Panel Support Plenums Vapor Membrane 5’’ Rigid Insulation Steel Decking OWSJ Finish Roof Frame Gypsum Board2. Flashing3. Wall Construction 1/2’’ Corten Panel Z-Clip Attachment Plywood Form Backing Vapor barrier Rigid Insulation Gypsum Board4. Double Glazing5. Drainage Gutter6. Skylight7. Aluminum Louver8. Air Duct9. Ventilation Grill

LEGEND

SECTIONSCALE: 1/8’’ = 1’

12

3

4

5 6

7

8 9

WALL SECTIONSCALE: 1/2’’ = 1’ 1. Roof Construction

1/2’’ Corten Panel Support Plenums Vapor Membrane 5’’ Rigid Insulation Steel Decking OWSJ Finish Roof Frame Gypsum Board2. Flashing3. Wall Construction 1/2’’ Corten Panel Z-Clip Attachment Plywood Form Backing Vapor barrier Rigid Insulation Gypsum Board4. Double Glazing5. Drainage Gutter6. Skylight7. Aluminum Louver8. Air Duct9. Ventilation Grill

LEGEND

SECTIONSCALE: 1/8’’ = 1’

detail investigation

12

3

4

5 6

7

8 9

WALL SECTIONSCALE: 1/2’’ = 1’ 1. Roof Construction

1/2’’ Corten Panel Support Plenums Vapor Membrane 5’’ Rigid Insulation Steel Decking OWSJ Finish Roof Frame Gypsum Board2. Flashing3. Wall Construction 1/2’’ Corten Panel Z-Clip Attachment Plywood Form Backing Vapor barrier Rigid Insulation Gypsum Board4. Double Glazing5. Drainage Gutter6. Skylight7. Aluminum Louver8. Air Duct9. Ventilation Grill

LEGEND

SECTIONSCALE: 1/8’’ = 1’

OWSJ spanning between double layer roof

concrete floor slab

secondary steel beams

primary steel + concreteframing structure

LEGEND

1. Roof Construction ½’’ Corten Panel Support Plenums Vapor Membrane 5’’ Rigid Insulation Steel Decking OWSJ Finish Roof Frame Gypsum Board2. Flashing3. Wall Construction ½’’ Corten Panel Z-Clip Attachment Plywood Form Backing Vapor Barrier Rigid Insulation Gypsum Board4. Double Glazing5. Drainage Gutter6. Skylight7. Aluminium Louver8. Air Duct9. Ventilation Grill

entrance from field

boat storage

A path stretches between two bodies of water as well as two land typologies at Hornsby Bend. To the north is a meadow of grass and a lake, popular for bird watching. Travelling south leads you to into a dense woodland environment and eventually a cliff that overlooks the Colorado river. The birding center takes root along this path, mediating between the two conditions of the site. The path runs through the northern part of the building, creating an informal gathering space, a place to rest and access to bathrooms. As the building diverges away from the path, a central spine is carried down the structure. One side houses offices, storage rooms and mechanical space. On the other side, the building is opened up to allow for transitional spaces of meeting in the form of an informal meeting spot, a lobby, and a gallery space. A series of stairs are employed to develop separation between these spaces, as well as negotiate the elevation changes in the topography. At the southern termination of the building, the user is reunited with the path. They emerge into a forest of trees - contrasting the meadow at the entrance.

BIRDING CENTERHORNSBY BEND, AUSTIN, TXSPRING 2010INSTRUCTOR, SMILJA MILOVANOVIC

bathrooms

storage

offices

shop

exhibit space

exhibit space

exhibit space

rest space along trail

existing trail

EAST SIDE LIBRARYFIFTH + SAN MARCOS, AUSTIN, TXFALL 2010INSTRUCTOR, JUAN MIRONOMINATED FOR DESIGN EXCELLENCE AWARD

As the east side of Austin undergoes rapidly increasing change, the community of the neighborhood is not always held in the best interest of the developments. The branch library is located on an empty block of land between two separate neighborhoods to the north and south. Rather than serving one neighborhood, the library seeks to expand its reach and bring both communities together. In order for the library is to serve both neighborhoods equally, two entrances from two streets converge into a public courtyard space before the building is entered. Flanking the courtyard are two distinct wings of the library - one housing community spaces, including a community art gallery, and the other housing reading spaces and book stacks. Circulation and lobby spaces fill the middle portion. Openess between the reading spaces and stacks is given through the use of mezzanines and changes of levels- allowing for open views to be carried across the space. The top floor remains devoted as a reading space, perched above surrounding buildings, with views looking out to downtown. Copper plates cover the building, with openings following the same pattern of the panels. As the library ages, the copper will gain a patina - itself transforming as the community transforms.

EL ZACTAL ARROYOSAN JOSE DEL CABO, BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR, MEXICO SPRING 2014INSTRUCTOR, GABRIEL DIAZ MONTEMAYOR COLLABORATORS : IMPLAN + DANUTA DIAS, STEPHANIE KOPPLIN, ZHAO LIANG, YISHUEN LO, LIANGU LU, PATRICK MCGOVERN, CHRISTOPHER MYERS, BAILEY RANKIN, KATIE SUMMERS, AND WEN ZUO.

Rapid urbanization in Los Cabos has caused a pattern of growth that the city’s infrastructure is unable to keep up with. This is particularly grave in low income neighborhoods which continue to face issues such as illegal urbanization, lack of water, sewage, pavement, lighting, public space, social services, access to food, adequate housing, and public transportation. Working with the local planning department, IMPLAN, the master plan seeks to use natural systems as the main structural element of the project. Micro-watersheds and hydrological flows are used as a landscape-driven planning tool for anticipated future housing development, trail networks, vegetation, and program distribution. A great challenge to the project is the construction of a concrete channel in the El Zacatal Arroyo by the federal government. This goes against the local planning commission’s vision for stormwater management. In an effort to counteract the concrete channelization of the Zacatal Arroyo by the federal government, a decentralized infrastructure approach is utilized to lessen the run off volumes entering the channel. This allows for the interventions on the wash and its adjacent low income neighborhoods to have a polyvalent capacity to provide urban connectivity and social programs. The strategy is aimed at creating an implementable strategy that can stand as a precedent for future projects in Los Cabos and Mexico.

WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

preserving cultivating exploring living gathering interacting cultivating

PROGRAM DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY

filtering infiltrating collecting

longitudinal section

transverse section

anticipated future housing development

ampitheater and water storage polyfunctional skate park and water retention

existing water flow and filtration reclaimed vegetation playgrounds

longitudinal section

transverse section

existing water flow and filtrationbackyards facing parkspaceprivate gardens

trash collection

polyfunctional basketball court and water retention polyfunctional soccer field and water retention

botanical garden showcases natural flora reclaimed vegetation utilized as playground equipment

west elevation along tree canopy filtration areas allow for stormwater management during flood events malecón along channel provides gathering spaces for local community

The Brackenridge Tract is a 355 acre site, owned by the University of Texas, that has been largely undeveloped - especially unusual for it’s proximity to downtown Austin. Surrounding single family home nieghborhoods, with strong political influence in the city, largely hinder the viability for a high density neighborhood to be developed. This presents the challenge of creating an urban design scheme that is highly sensitive to it’s context while facilitating the need for density in a rapidly growing city. The public golf course on site is treated as a superblock development in which this balance of scales would be negotiated. Large canopied areas within the golf course are treated as miniture woodlands that are to be preserved as a base from which development can grow around. Buildings and road infrastructure are carefully weaved into the space of the former fairways of the golf course. Height restrictions keep much of the buildings at, or below, the canopy line as too “conceal” them and preserve the low rise scale of development in the surrounding neighborhoods. A number of slender towers will be allowed to break this height restriction to allow for an increased amount of density and living arrangements. Trails connect the canopied areas together, facilitating active lifestyles as well as providing a link into the greater town lake trail network. The phasing scheme for the development will gradually phase the golf course fairways out for new development - allowing for a gradual introduction of density.

CONCEALED DENSITYBRACKENRIDGE TRACT, AUSTIN, TX SPRING 2009INSTRUCTOR, JUAN MIROPRESENTED TO UT BOARD OF REGENTS

existing canopy canopy density building arrangement road infrastructure trail system

SUPERBLOCK SCHEME DEVELOPMENT

A

B

D

C

D

E

F

G

investigation of a block within the larger superblock.

PLAN DETAILS

A. UnitB. Private outdoor living spacesC. AccesswayD. Commercial shopsE. Communal outdoor spaceF. Existing tree canopiesG. Trail network

buildings integrate with trail network trails utilize existing areas of enclosure within woodlands

building in context

CONTACTAddress | 4800 Red River St, Austin, TX 78751Email | thomas.guerra@utexas.eduTelephone | 254.624.2293

EDUCATIONThe Universi ty of Texas at Aust in Bachelor of Archi tecture May 2014

WORK EXPERIENCEOBRA ARCHITECTS - NEW YORK, NYArchi tectura l Intern | August 2013 - December 2013Worked with in an intensive env i ronment of rapid product ion on large scale masterp lanning, mid-s ized bui ld ings, and smal l -scale art insta l lat ion pro jects. Responsib le for the product ion and modi f icat ion of archi tectura l drawings, d iagrams, models, and proposal packages for c l ients. Served as lead intern wi th in the off ice and c losely col laborated with team members in OBRA’s Seoul and Bei j ing off ices.

UT DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY - AUSTIN, TXStudent Assistant | September 2010 - May 2013Operated department’s f ront desk, updated department websi te, handled phone cal ls , greeted v is i tors, d ist r ibuted mai l , compi led and entered data, and performed indiv idual ly requested tasks f rom facul ty and staff . References avai lable upon requests.

• Adobe Creat ive Sui te• AutoCAD• Rhinoceros 3D• V-Ray for Rhino • Revi t ( fami l iar )

• Ecotect Analys is• Archi tectura l Model ing, Laser

Cutt ing, and Plaster Cast ing • HTML + CSS ( fami l iar )• GIS ( fami l iar )

SKILLS

AWARDSFal l 2009, Design I Studio | W inner, Design Excel lence (1 of 5 f ina l is t )Fa l l 2010, Design I I I Studio | Nominee, Design Excel lence (1 of 5 f ina l is t )Spr ing 2012 | Nominee, Archi type Review Travel Pr izeSpr ing 2013 | Mebane Travel Scholarship to SpainSpr ing 2014 | Mebane Travel Scholarship to Mexico

EXHIBITS / PRINTDecember 2009, Mebane Gal lery | 2009 Design Excel lence Showcase November 2011, Aust in Ci ty Hal l | Design for Resi l ience Exhib i t ionISSUE 007, ISBN 978-0-9786228-6-2 | B i rd ing Center, Design I I

HONORS

ISSUESpr ing 2011 - Spr ing 2013Worked on the edi t ing, graphics, and layout committees for ISSUE, an annual student-run publ icat ion featur ing undergraduate and graduate work at the UT School of Archi tecture.

NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF MINORITY ARCHITECTURE STUDENTSSpr ing 2011 - Spr ing 2013 Member of an organizat ion that st r ives to promote the work and exposure of minor i ty archi tects wi th in the School of Archi tecture through annual lectures and community outreach.

ACTIVITIES