LAURA SALAZAR ALTOBELLISelected Work | Summer.2012

Groundfloor

Firstfloor

COMMUNITY CENTER

My greatest critiques of Miesian architecture is the myopic obsession with the De Stijl-like plan without an equal consideration of sectional complexity. Mies van der Rohe’s architecture is powerful because the dynamic composition of lines in drawing translates to planes of elongated perspective, elegant thresholds, and transparency between interior and exterior spaces.

This community center project is a study in reconfiguring the Miesian language across four levels of a public building. Intersection, transparency and fluidity between exterior and interior were the key factors guiding the design to augment the spatial perception of that which is above, below, and adjacent.

MIT 4.114InstructorJan Wampler

CONSTRUCTED CLIMATES

wind flows & densities

Cultures of temperate world regions carry out their lives in the artificial interiors of HVAC systems. We are able, though not encouraged, to ignore the exterior.

This project explores the inversion: combined relationships in aperture, orientation, and porosity generate geometries that graduate the intensity with which we experience the exterior in an interior environment. A series of studies explore the amplification of wind forces, humidity, and temperatures. The subject progresses from one extreme of discomfort to another within the same enclosed environment.

MIT 4.113InstructorsNick Gelpi + Skylar Tibbits

40%

40%

60%

60%

0 5 10 ft

0 5 10 ft

.3 .3.4.4.5.6.5.5.6.6.6.6.6.5.5.4

.2.3.4.5

.2.3 .4

.4 .5.5

.4

.6 .6 .6.5 .3

0 5 10 ft

100 linear ft: wind flow

100 linear ft: solar dialation

100 linear ft: roof plan

sectional conditions

100’ roof plan

100’ schematic plan

A

B

C

A

B

C

THe SelF-ASSeMbly line

The Self-Assembly Line is a large-scale version of a self-assembly virus capsid, demonstrated as an interactive and performative structure.

A discrete set of modules are activated by stochastic rotation from a larger structure that forces the interaction between units. The unit is designed so to auto-align into locally-correct configurations. As more units come into contact, break away, and reconnect, larger elements emerge. By changing the external conditions, the geometry of the unit, the attraction of the units and the number of units supplied, the desired global configuration can be programmed.

For TED 2012By SJET

JointsShock cord

Poles

PASSiVe KineMATiC STRUCTUReS

POTENTIAL

Bundle

KineTiC

Objects

DEPLOYMENT

Joints

OBJECT

FRAME

NODE

How to design a bundle of primary elements which has the embedded potential to deploy - pop up - into any conceivable geometry? How to design a joint that fits any set of angles in any number of directions that can be constructed manually from planar material?

The Pop-Up Project for Passive Kinematic Structures encompassed the design, prototyping and coding of a complex system of joinery with embedded energy that could model a structural scaffold for objects of any scale or geometry.

Research for SJET

2D SYSTEM

EAST BOSTON ELEMENTARY

A system of lines governs the primary conception of a mat field. These lines exist without program, hierarchy or boundary in a 2.5-D universe; they are horizontally biased yet suggestive of thickness. As the line continues to acquire data, it evolves to articulate porosity, adjacencies, and volumetric figuration. The system’s dexterity is grounded in the simplicity of a set of parallel vectors. Each vector may be altered along its path by an external input and thus alter adjacent vectors.

The initial drawings leap into the physical world, allowing for the exploration of proto-architectural filters. As spatial qualities begin to emerge the information in every line becomes more specific. The reciprocal balance between unique data and systematic replicability is critical. The ability of 2-D lines to inform three-dimensional thresholds with variegated spatial qualities is the central axis of the proto-architectural system.

In the architectural development of the project as an elementary for East Boston, the building gently retreats from the site perimeter so that the development of line - which manipulates ground and ceiling - begins to emerge in the topography as benches, channels for the growth of plants, and boundaries for athletic fields. Circulation in the interior of the building is a system of branching that penetrates programmatic use from community-oriented to student-oriented educational spaces.

MIT 4.115InstructorWilliam O’Brien Jr. S

URFACIAL SYSTEM

UNIT

inTeRiOR THReSHOlD

STRUCTURE

POROSITY

LIBRARY

GYM

EXTERIOR

LAB

CLASSROOM

EAST BOSTON ELEMENTARY

CORE SAMPLE MODEL

CELLULAR AUTOMATA TOWER

CA Set of Seeds Visibility Group ID Assign Apt. Type Exterior Walls

N = 1U

V

Srf Division Mapped facade

A cellular automata code for visibility is reconfigured at the dimension of a residential tower. Visible cells identify other active adjacent cells and group together through a Genetic Algorithm. The number of cells in a group informs the Apartment Type. Within the Apartment Group, cells identify interior and exterior boundaries. Interior divisions are eliminated while the exterior boundaries are extruded into planes. The base geometry is specified into floor slabs, ceiling slabs, and planes of glass wall. Wall surfaces are divided and a facade system with mullions and fins, which varies according to apartment type, is mapped to the surface. The Cellular Automata code, combined with a Genetic Algorithm, produces unique overlaps and cavities which defy the normative extrusions of a highrise tower.

MIT 4.553InstructorsTakehiko Nagakura + Juhong Park

N=1Apartment[1]Studio

N=2Apartment[2]1 BRKitchen

N=3Apartment[3]1 BRKitchenLiving

N=4Apartment[4]2 BRKitchenLiving

N>4Apartment[5]3+ BRKitchenLivingAmenities

Laura Salazar Altobelli

laura.salazar.altobelli@gmail.com(617) 416-7392

laura-salazar.com

E d u c a t i o n

E x p e r i e n c e

S k i l l

Wellesley College

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The American School of Lima

BA Architecture, Economics Minor, 2012Coursework includes: Architecture & Urban Form, Modern Architecture, Art History, 19th Century Art, Drawing, environmental Economics, Environmental Studies, Physics, Comparative Politics, Sociology of Globalization, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Econometrics. Recipient of the Global Engagement Grant and TheAlexander Fellowship for Architecture. GPA 3.3/4.0

Visting Student, Coursework includes: Architecture studio sequence (4.111/4.112/4.113/4.114/4.115), Digital Design Tools and Fabrication (4.500), Programming Conceptions (4.553), Downtown (11.026), The Once and Future City (4.211).“Veneto experience” Study abroad program based on Carlo Scarpa, directed by Shun Kanda.

International Baccalaureate Diploma, 2008. SAT score 2000/2400.national Honor Society; American Ambassador Award for “The Promotion of Understanding and Relations between People of Peru and the United States of America”, english Award, Science Award.

SJET LLC, intern

Davis Museum, Artist

MiT Sustainability Planning & MiT energy initiative, Researcher

GreenHome nyC, intern

Peru Green Building Council, Intern

Fabricated installation of virus capsids for TED 2012. Modeled interiors and developed porosity patterns with Python for an office space. Designed pop-up structures as a scalable technology for installation art, construction, and undulating scaffolding systems.

Exhibited hand-crafted couture at the Davis Museum in a joint exhibit with the El Anatsui Retrospective.

Researched consumer preferences & provided informed strategies to improve sustainable “green-con-scious” consumer behavior.

Profiling sustainable buildings in nyC; wrote grant proposals; development and management of fundraising initiatives; conducted & published interviews with lead nyC architects on topics of leeD and sustainability.

Co-authored Council’s Business Plan. Market research. Membership and communications management. Created marketing materials and event planning.

Software Rhino 5.0, AutoCAD; Python; Adobe Creative Suite; Raiser’s Edge; STATA

Hardware laser cutter, 3D printer, casting & woodshop tools

Fluency English, Spanish

06/11-02/12|Cambridge, MA

04/11-06/11|Wellesley, MA

09/10-01/11|Cambridge, MA

07/10-08/11|New York, NY

05/10-10/10|Lima, Peru