This building consist of a variety of programmatic spaces that together create a Restaurant Gallery. For this project, I would like to focus on what inspired me to develop this structure. The shape of the building combines the diverse architecture found in Downtown Miami, it is inspired by the soft lines of the Arena and the straight edges of the MDC buildings and the Freedom Tower. The entrances and shape of the building are also a response to the site and the difference in population found in this area.

Developing an architectural or any design idea can be sometimes a complex task. Therefore, it is important to experiment with different techniques in those moments that our creativity is at its lowest point. Here is a video from Eric Reinholdt, an architect and entrepreneur, whose videos helped me to realize that you can find inspiration and ideas everywhere, you just need to look at your surroundings with an open mind.

This project was created during my Architectural Design III class at MDC. The purpose of this project was to design three spaces that create specific feelings on the visitor. One space would make the person feel small, another one that would make him feel big, and the last one must be an embedded place that would give the individual a sense of relief and privacy.

I successfully created those feelings in my structure by using different architectural techniques. In order to make a person feel small, I added to the room three main massive and tall columns that introduce the idea of miniature through the difference in scale. These also point to the sky while emphasizing their vertical axis and height. On the other hand, To make someone feel big, the person would circulate from the “feeling small room” to the “feeling big room” through several columns that gradually decrease in ratio making him feel a little bigger. In addition to this technique, there is a stand at the center of the room that invites individuals to step over and be the center of attention.

In order to fully understand this project I encourage you to watch my final animation: “Sense of Arrival.”

The goal of this project was to design an artist studio with three different spaces. One must be a small office or work place, the other one a place for communal or shared activities, and the last one and most important was a “secret” or inspirational place. This last place must be the most important and should be emphasized from the outside and the inside. When a person enters the building through the communal area, he or she can acknowledge the presence or a second floor or central place through the dropping of the ceiling and special treated that creates both a contained area in the main floor and it also points the existence of an extra room through curiosity or partially revealing this area.