site specific

SITESPECIFICnew york

SITE SPECIFIC SITE SPECIFIC


Site Specific brings a multidisciplinary approach to environmental design. Inspired by social and community driven practices, we have put together a team with a high level of experience and innovation. We give practical solutions to the challenges of a world where the removal of pollutants, the balancing of nature in cities, energy efficiency, and food production is becoming more and more important to our everyday lives.

The outcome of our design draws on the historical, artistic, and ecological context of individual sites, and strives to create enriching and environmentally responsible spaces that are at the same time spatially and visually compelling.

Our aim is to reconnect people with nature, in their homes and in their neighborhoods to build a more sustainable future through landscape.

Our services include: Landscape Design / Edible Landscapes Interiors Master planning Consultation on Sustainable Practice Landscape Photography

SITE SPECIFIC

SITE SPECIFIC

MONICA HERNANDEZ PONTON Mexican born Architect, Monica Hernandez is currently working with Balmori Associates: an award winning Landscape and Urban Design office in New York . She has experience in the field of green design with a certificate in Permaculture and has experience in the fields of Architecture, Design, Hospitality and Marketing. The focus of her work has been in progressive thinking and design that creates change, emphasizing diversity, and improvement of quality of life.

Master of Landscape Design, Columbia University, New York 2010 Degree in Architecture, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, Mexico 2003Certificate in Permaculture Design The Open Center / Tri-State Food Not Lawns, New York .07

Balmori Associates New York Designer / Marketing Director 01.08- currentArchitecture for Humanity Classroom Open Architecture Challenge Competition Jury / Embassador for Mexico 07.09Lifeform Building + Architecture New York Landscape Design and Consultation 01.07- current Designer / Marketing Director 09.05 - 11.07Studio Gaia New York Designer / Marketing Director 07.04 - 07.05W Hotel Mexico City Concierge 01.04 - 07.04Cornerstone Management Chicago / Mexico City Administration 06.03 01.04Higuera + Sanchez Mexico City Designer 04.03 06.03Tonantzin Tlalli Institute, Oaxaca, Mexico Designer / Volunteer 09.02 03.03Ludens Taller ( Manoo ) Mexico City Designer 12.01 06.02Pascal Arquitectos Mexico City Designer 07.00 06.01

Constantly Variable Exhibition with Thomas Navin Arquitect, The Common Room, NY - Design Team .09Making Public Places Twitter Forum with Diana Balmori, NY - Organizer .09Making Public Places THE HUB ConFlux City, festival of Urban Interventions, NY - Exhibitor .09Youth in Architecture Museo de la Cuidad de Mexico, Mexico City - Exhibitor .99Nooks Exhibition with Fritz Haeg Dome Colonies X in the San Gabriels, X Initiative Dia Foundation, NY - Design Team.09Postopolis Lecture series StoreFront for Art and Architecture, New York - Speaker .07 Gel Conference, Good Experience, The Equitable Center, New York, - Speaker .05 Best Social Service Project Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City and Delegation Cuajimalpa - Finalist .02 Outstanding Architecture Projects Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City - Winner .98Outstanding Technical Drawing Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City - Winner .99American Institute of Architects AIA New York - Associate Member - since .05MAKING PUBLIC PLACES booklet- Publication .09Tra fiume e citt. Paesaggi, progetti, principi di Balmori Diana- Publication .09Collection, New Ideas - Library 2.0 Korea, Bob Magazine - Publication .06ATK Monografias, Pascal Arquitectos - Publication .06

Autocad / 3D Studio Max / Adobe Photoshop / Illustrator / In Design/ Quickbooks / Office

Education

Experience

Tecnical

Selected Exhibitions

Selected Lectures

Selected Awards

Publications


Lifeform Ltd, Library 2.0 the Culture Yard CompetitionHelsinger , Denmark, Design Team An interactive library that feeds on the information of its users and gives options back to the community.

Lifeform Ltd, Tsunami Memorial CompetitionNorway, Design Team A memorial to remember the hundreds that died in the tsunami uses water vapor to create memory and space

Publication in BOB magazine

childrens area

picnic area

view from public plaza

section of memorial

view from ocean

competitions / design team

SITE SPECIFIC






Education

Experience

Tecnical


Selected Lectures

Selected Awards

Publications





childrens area

picnic area


section of memorial

view from ocean








Education

Experience

Tecnical


Selected Lectures

Selected Awards

Publications





childrens area

picnic area


section of memorial

view from ocean


NGOC MINH NGO

Born in Vietnam, Ngoc Minh Ngo has lived in the France, Japan, and the United States. Her unique perspective on both Eastern and Western cultures brings a global outlook to Site Specific. Her work as a photographer has led to a deep appreciation of the relevance of excellent design. Her social and ecological committment inspires her to pursue landscape design as a way to contribute to the building of a more environmentally sustainable future.

Ngoc Minh Ngo's photographic work has been published internationally, including:

Martha Stewart Living

Real Simple

Elle Decoration UK

AD France

Elle Decoration Italy

Vogue Taiwan

Elle Deco Japan

Elle Interior Sweden

Rum Interior Denmark

Vogue Brazil

Elle Decor USA

"Indigo Summer," Elle Decoration, UK"Wild Rose," Elle Decoration, UK"God Smag Pa Loftet," Rum Interior Design, Denmark"New York Zen," Marie Claire, Sweden"Bright and Beautiful," House and Leisure, South Africa"Une Vie en Rose," Maison Franaise, France

Bachelor of Science, Univeristy of California, Berkeley, 1984

Master of Landscape Design, Columbia University, 2010

Education

Photography

Selected Writings


Instituto Tonantzin Tlalli, Permaculture CenterOaxaca, Mexico , Architect / Designer / Volunteer 09.02 03.03Aided in the design and creation of the first Permaculture center in Mexico in the rural outskirts of Oaxaca. The master planning included design systems to create sustainable, abundant and efficient human habitats by integrating insights from ecology, organic gardening, indigenous farming, architecture, agro forestry and economics. Was part of a 11 person team, under the instructions of Permaculturist Goeff Lawton with whom we designed various projects for water systems, and sustainable constructions. During my stay I constructed on site a tool shed using alternative construction methods and transporter pellets from a nearby junkyard. www.grupedsac.org

The Site

groundwork

Mater Plan for site

Dry tropical landscape of Oaxaca

Earth movement for water systems

volunteer work

Aereal view of site

VOLUNTEER WORK


MONICA HERNANDEZ PONTONPORTFOLIO

SITE SPECIFIC


The Site

groundwork

Mater Plan for site

Dry tropical landscape of Oaxaca

Earth movement for water systems

volunteer work

Aereal view of site

VOLUNTEER WORK


MONICA HERNANDEZ PONTONPORTFOLIO

SITE SPECIFIC

SITE SPECIFIC

Constructions on site included tecnics of rammed earth and strawbale

cross ventilation studies

water catchment constructions foundation work final project constructed by Coop Himemblau

study model of material : plastic pallets found in near junkyard

Lead Designer for the Construction of a tool shed made with alternative buidling methods and recycled plastic pallets

VOLUNTEER WORK

SITE SPECIFIC

WORK EXPERIENCE / COMPETITIONS

ReNEWable Times Square Competition CORN IS THE COLOR OF MY CAB New York Design Team, Collaboration with Maura Rockcastle, Jeremy Wyatt Linzee, Ivan Hernandez Quintela, and Emilie Lucie BaltzThe premise of our design recognizes that the vision for the pedestrian areas is inextricably woven with art and the design of public space- each needs the other to succeed and in turn something new is created through strengthening the connection between these parts.Corn Is the Color of My Cab is ultimately a story of corn that set the course and form of the Broadway Corridor we know now- from trail to farm to street to city. It begins with the Lenape Indians, the first inhabitants of Times Square, whose main crop was corn, and goes forward to the delirious intensity of crowds, images, lights and traffic of today. This visual connection is intended to create consciousness about how corn makes up the majority of the signage in Times Square and the crisis of our native crops. Through the iconic yellow color of the New York cab - the most easily seen from afar, we allow the corn kernels to create a pixilated grid on the ground that is seen as topography from above. If we were to allow the yellow paint to make something that we see everyday suddenly disappear, taxis would be the neutral condition, in the same way that corn has faded into the background of our everyday objects.

CORN IS THE COLOR OF MY CAB

prepared byMonica Hernandez, Jeremy Wyatt Linzee, Emilie Lucie Baltz,

Maura Rockcastle and Ivan Hernandez Quintela

forThe reNEWable Times Square RFP

Various images from Manahatta ,A Natural History of New York City by Eric Sanderson that exemplifies New York 400 years ago including Lenape Indian mounded plantings of corn-beans and squash known as three sisters .

SITE SPECIFIC

SITE SPECIFIC

The proposal for a temporary solution for the public space of Gansevoort Plaza in the Meatpacking Dis-trict (MPD) used the citys streets for pedestrian use in a way that is flexible, inexpensive and contextually appropriate. Under the request of the Meatpacking District Initiative, Balmori Associates was given the task to re-imagine the public spaces created by the new traffic alignments and design a language of street furniture and planting that helped define the space . Before beginning to develop our design principles, we first had to ask, what should a public place be? We wanted to engage a wide audience in answering this question. We set up an online forum through live video and twitter and invited landscape architect Erik de Jong and planner Arnold van der Valk, with their 40 Dutch students to discuss urban public space in the American context. We extended the conversation to the neighborhood by participating in a street festival Conflux City, and we also made a video that could be shown in various online blogs. The discussion touched on topics that including ecology, funding, furniture and materials, program, public/private, public amenities, scale, and circulation/traffic. As a result we collected ideas on sharable space, urban decorum, contextual appropriateness. With them we developed our design principles that are: Re-use materials-design to avoid waste create rough, indus-trial aesthetics, Keep it simple-low tech and inexpensive construction and maintenance, and Anticipatechanging requirements-plan for easy reconfiguration.We turned this community engagement exercise into a preliminary design scheme where one simple and inexpensive piece of furniture with interchangeable components a pole and hollow pole base, canopy and rubber mats can perform the functions of planter, shading, space partition, seating, lightingeven a birdhouse. The flexibility of this solution allows for a variety of layout options, from grouped seating at right angles or in triangles, to a weekend market activities or event space.

under design

STATUS

BALMORI ASSOCIATESLANDSCAPE & URBAN DESIGN833 WASHINGTON STREET 2FLNEW YORK , NY 10014212 431 9191WWW.BALMORI.COM

Meat Packing DistrictInitiative833 Washington Street #12New York, NY 10014

CLIENT

BUILDING AN URBAN LIVING ROOM : REDESIGNING THE MEATPACKING NEW YORK, NY WORK EXPERIENCE / LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Building an Urban Living Room, Redesigning the Meatpacking Meat Packing District, Manhattan NYDesigner, Organizer, Collaboration with Balmori AssociatesThe proposal for a temporary solution for the public space of Gansevoort Plaza in the Meatpacking District [MPD) used the citys streets for pedestrian use in a way that is flexible, inexpensive and contextually appropriate. Under the request of the Meatpacking District Initiative, Balmori Associates was given the task to re-imagine the public spaces created by the new traffic alignments and design a language of street furniture and planting that helped define the space . Before beginning to develop our design principles, we had to ask, what should a public place be? We set up an online forum through live video and twitter to discuss urban public space in the American context. We extended the conversation to the neighborhood by participating in a street festival Conflux City, and we also made a video that could be shown in various online blogs. The discussion touched on topics that including ecology, funding, furniture and materials, program, public/private, public amenities, scale, and circulation/traffic.


under design

STATUS



CLIENT

BUILDING AN URBAN LIVING ROOM : REDESIGNING THE MEATPACKING NEW YORK, NY

SITE SPECIFIC


under design

STATUS



CLIENT

BUILDING AN URBAN LIVING ROOM : REDESIGNING THE MEATPACKING NEW YORK, NY WORK EXPERIENCE / LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Building an Urban Living Room, Redesigning the Meatpacking Meat Packing District, Manhattan NYDesigner, Organizer, Collaboration with Balmori AssociatesThe proposal for a temporary solution for the public space of Gansevoort Plaza in the Meatpacking District [MPD) used the citys streets for pedestrian use in a way that is flexible, inexpensive and contextually appropriate. Under the request of the Meatpacking District Initiative, Balmori Associates was given the task to re-imagine the public spaces created by the new traffic alignments and design a language of street furniture and planting that helped define the space . Before beginning to develop our design principles, we had to ask, what should a public place be? We set up an online forum through live video and twitter to discuss urban public space in the American context. We extended the conversation to the neighborhood by participating in a street festival Conflux City, and we also made a video that could be shown in various online blogs. The discussion touched on topics that including ecology, funding, furniture and materials, program, public/private, public amenities, scale, and circulation/traffic.


under design

STATUS



CLIENT

BUILDING AN URBAN LIVING ROOM : REDESIGNING THE MEATPACKING NEW YORK, NY

SITE SPECIFIC

SITE SPECIFIC

For this renovation of a 1950s house in the town of Bedford, we collaborated with Balmori Associates to create a scheme that weaves interior and exterior as well as Main House and Pool House together by juxtaposing materials, surface, and planting.

Inside the houses cedar-clad darker perimeter shell is a refined folded surface made of custom concrete, exterior pavers, and drywall. This internal surface links the multi-leveled interior space and extends the inside out to the Pool House in the back, where it exposes itself fully as a dramatic folded concrete structure.

Linking architecture to landscape is a stacked bluestone wall that brackets the Pool House in the lush sur-rounding landscape. The wall disappears into the hill on one end while slowly folding itself into the pool on the other end. Different types of vegetation create a pattern that continues from front to back of the

house, also taking part in the dynamic landscape of the house.

Scheduled Completion November 2009

STATUS


BEDFORD HOUSEBEDFORD CORNERS, NY

$3.3 Million

COST

3200 SF09SIZE

WORK EXPERIENCE / LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Bedford House Bedford Corners, NYConstruction Drawings and Administration, Collaboration with Balmori AssociatesFor this renovation of a 1950s house in the town of Bedford, we created a scheme that weaves interior and exterior as well as Main House and Pool House together by juxtaposing materials, surface, and planting. Inside the houses cedar-clad darker perimeter shell is a refined folded surface made of custom concrete, exterior pavers, and drywall. This internal surface links the multi-leveled interior space and extends the inside out to the Pool House in the back, where it exposes itself fully as a dramatic folded concrete structure. Linking architecture to landscape is a stacked bluestone wall that brackets the Pool House in the lush surrounding landscape.






STATUS



$3.3 Million

COST

3200 SF09SIZE

REFRI

GERA

TOR

SITE SPECIFIC






STATUS



$3.3 Million

COST

3200 SF09SIZE

WORK EXPERIENCE / LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Bedford House Bedford Corners, NYConstruction Drawings and Administration, Collaboration with Balmori AssociatesFor this renovation of a 1950s house in the town of Bedford, we created a scheme that weaves interior and exterior as well as Main House and Pool House together by juxtaposing materials, surface, and planting. Inside the houses cedar-clad darker perimeter shell is a refined folded surface made of custom concrete, exterior pavers, and drywall. This internal surface links the multi-leveled interior space and extends the inside out to the Pool House in the back, where it exposes itself fully as a dramatic folded concrete structure. Linking architecture to landscape is a stacked bluestone wall that brackets the Pool House in the lush surrounding landscape.






STATUS



$3.3 Million

COST

3200 SF09SIZE

SITE SPECIFIC

SITE SPECIFIC

LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Courtyard for Plastic Surgery Group NY Brooklyn, NYConcept DesignBands of color wave through a symetrical courtyard playing wwith the role of a manicured landscape within wilder plantings.

PLANTING DESIGN COURTYARD FOR PLASTIC SURGERY GROUP NY ,

SCALE 1/4 +1

KEY Common Name Botanical Name Size Qua. Spacing

TREESAa Downy serviceberry Amelanchier arborea 16-28 ft B&B 3 as per plan Bp Gray birch Betula populifolia ( whitespire ) 12-14 ft B&B 10 as per plan Cf Flowering dogwood Cornus florida 12-14 ft B&B 1 as per plan

SHRUBSQb Scrub oak Quercus berberidifolia 5 gallon 8 30" o.c.Gb Black Huckleberry Gaylussacia baccata 5 gallon 19 30" o.c.Mp Northern Bayberry Myrica pensylvanica 7 gallon 9

GRASSES/ PERENIALS , BULBSCp Pensilvania Sedge Carex pensylvanica 2 gallon 189 as per plan Mc Canada Mayflowers Maianthemum canadense 1 gallon 42 as per plan Gp Wintergreen / teaberry Gaultheria procumbens 1 gallon 39 as per plan Es Purple lovegrass Eragrostis spectabilis 2 gallon 33 as per plan Eg Blue wildrye Elymus glaucus 2 gallon 34 as per plan Ls Shasta daisy Leucanthemum x superbum 1 gallon 19 as per plan Nf Six Hill's Giant' catmint Nepeta x faassenii 1 gallon 27 as per plan Ep Purple Coneflower Echinacea purpurea 1 gallon 63 as per plan Ai Swamp milkweed Asclepias incarnata 1 gallon 10 as per plan Ah Japanese Anemone Anemone x Hybrida 1 gallon 66Al Bluebird Smooth Aster Aster laevis 1 gallon 27 as per plan

FERNSPa Braken fern Pteridium aquilinum 1 gallon 67 as per plan Dp Hay Scented fern Dennstaedtia punctilobula 1 gallon 79 as per plan Di Intermediate Wood Fern Dryopteris intermedia 1 gallon 43 as per plan Cl Hairy Lip Fern Cheilanthes lanosa 1 gallon 46 as per plan

KEY

PLANTING LIST

Amelanchier arboreaDowny serviceberry

Betula populifolia ( whitespire )Gray birch

Cornus florida Flowering dogwood

TREES

Quercus berberidifoliaScrub oak

Gaylussacia baccataBlack Huckleberry

Myrica pensylvanicaNorthern Bayberry

SHRUBS

Dryopteris intermediaIntermediate Wood Fern

PteridiumaquilinumBraken fern

Dennstaedtia puncti-lobulaHay Scented fern

Cheilanthes lanosaHairy Lip Fern

FERNS

Carex pensylvanicaPensilvania Sedge

Elymus glaucusBlue wildrye

Eragrostis spectabilis Purple lovegrass

GRASSES

view 2

Aster laevisBluebird Smooth Aster

Anemone x HybridaJapanese Anemone

Asclepias incarnataSwamp milkweed

Echinacea purpureaPurple Coneflower

HERBS / PERENIALS

Nepeta x faasseniiSix Hills Giant catmint

Leucanthemum x superbumShasta daisy

Gaultheria procumbensWintergreen / teaberry

Maianthemum canadenseCanada Mayflowers

PLANTING DESIGN COURTYARD FOR PLASTIC SURGERY GROUP NY ,

SCALE 1/4 +1

KEY Common Name Botanical Name Size Qua. Spacing

TREESAa Downy serviceberry Amelanchier arborea 16-28 ft B&B 3 as per plan Bp Gray birch Betula populifolia ( whitespire ) 12-14 ft B&B 10 as per plan Cf Flowering dogwood Cornus florida 12-14 ft B&B 1 as per plan

SHRUBSQb Scrub oak Quercus berberidifolia 5 gallon 8 30" o.c.Gb Black Huckleberry Gaylussacia baccata 5 gallon 19 30" o.c.Mp Northern Bayberry Myrica pensylvanica 7 gallon 9

GRASSES/ PERENIALS , BULBSCp Pensilvania Sedge Carex pensylvanica 2 gallon 189 as per plan Mc Canada Mayflowers Maianthemum canadense 1 gallon 42 as per plan Gp Wintergreen / teaberry Gaultheria procumbens 1 gallon 39 as per plan Es Purple lovegrass Eragrostis spectabilis 2 gallon 33 as per plan Eg Blue wildrye Elymus glaucus 2 gallon 34 as per plan Ls Shasta daisy Leucanthemum x superbum 1 gallon 19 as per plan Nf Six Hill's Giant' catmint Nepeta x faassenii 1 gallon 27 as per plan Ep Purple Coneflower Echinacea purpurea 1 gallon 63 as per plan Ai Swamp milkweed Asclepias incarnata 1 gallon 10 as per plan Ah Japanese Anemone Anemone x Hybrida 1 gallon 66Al Bluebird Smooth Aster Aster laevis 1 gallon 27 as per plan

FERNSPa Braken fern Pteridium aquilinum 1 gallon 67 as per plan Dp Hay Scented fern Dennstaedtia punctilobula 1 gallon 79 as per plan Di Intermediate Wood Fern Dryopteris intermedia 1 gallon 43 as per plan Cl Hairy Lip Fern Cheilanthes lanosa 1 gallon 46 as per plan

KEY

PLANTING LIST

Amelanchier arboreaDowny serviceberry

Betula populifolia ( whitespire )Gray birch

Cornus florida Flowering dogwood

TREES

Quercus berberidifoliaScrub oak

Gaylussacia baccataBlack Huckleberry

Myrica pensylvanicaNorthern Bayberry

SHRUBS

Dryopteris intermediaIntermediate Wood Fern

PteridiumaquilinumBraken fern

Dennstaedtia puncti-lobulaHay Scented fern

Cheilanthes lanosaHairy Lip Fern

FERNS

Carex pensylvanicaPensilvania Sedge

Elymus glaucusBlue wildrye

Eragrostis spectabilis Purple lovegrass

GRASSES

view 2

Aster laevisBluebird Smooth Aster

Anemone x HybridaJapanese Anemone

Asclepias incarnataSwamp milkweed

Echinacea purpureaPurple Coneflower

HERBS / PERENIALS

Nepeta x faasseniiSix Hills Giant catmint

Leucanthemum x superbumShasta daisy

Gaultheria procumbensWintergreen / teaberry

Maianthemum canadenseCanada Mayflowers

SITE SPECIFIC

SITE SPECIFIC

Barn in the ForestUpstate New York DesignThis modern house designed by Angela Patterson is one of four barn-like structures that have been adapted to become modern homes. The project proposes that if the house is readapted farm structure then other aspects of the agricultural language could also be readapted and transformed into a contemporary language. By blending an agricultural model into the forest the landscape is tranformed. Fences, water, fences and trails and the idea of cycles are turned into a pool, stonewalls, and a mobile gallery that follows the sun. The crop squares are reinterpreted into incisions on the land that have been planted as native grass fields, meadows, and fern terraces. Edibles are also introduced into them to enhance this idea. One of the most emblematic elements of the house is that is split in two by a thin ramp that cuts into the forest. This ramp is elongated in each direction creating a spine which organizes the entire program. It creates access into the house and give the owner an opportunity to walk the entire property.

LANDSCAPE DESIGN

BARN IN THE FORESTBLENDING A MODERNAGRICULTURAL MODEL INTO THE FOREST

BARN IN THE FORESTGENERAL PLAN MONICA HERNANDEZ / COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY / LANDSCAPE DESIGN STUDIO

SCALE 1: 20


BARN IN THE FOREST

CONTOURS MONICA HERNANDEZ / COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY / LANDSCAPE DESIGN STUDIO


BARN IN THE FOREST

CROP CUTS AND PLANTING MONICA HERNANDEZ / COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY / LANDSCAPE DESIGN STUDIO

SITE SPECIFIC


LANDSCAPE DESIGN



SCALE 1: 20


BARN IN THE FOREST



BARN IN THE FOREST


SITE SPECIFIC


LANDSCAPE DESIGN



SCALE 1: 20


BARN IN THE FOREST



BARN IN THE FOREST


SITE SPECIFIC

SITE SPECIFIC


Tsunami Memorial Competition Norway Design Team, Collaboration with Lifeform LtdA memorial to remember the hundreds that died in the tsunami uses water vapor to create memory and space




childrens area

picnic area


section of memorial

view from ocean





childrens area

picnic area


section of memorial

view from ocean


Library 2.0 the Culture Yard Competition Helsinger , DenmarkDesign Team, Collaboration with Lifeform LtdAn interactive library that feeds on the information of its users and gives options back to the community.

SITE SPECIFIC

SITE SPECIFIC

Lifeform Ltd, Pataya Bay CondominiumsPatay Bay, Thailand, Project Visualization This development spreads along a narrow lot in the Pataya Bay of Thailand and includes luxury amenities.

Lifeform Ltd, N7 The Modern Williamsburg Apartments Brooklyn, NY, Project Visualization A nine Loft apartment building in the trendy Williamsburg area.

areal view

lobbybathroom

kitchen

building

living area

project development / visualization WORK EXPERIENCE / PROJECT DEVELOPMENT

N7 The Modern Williamsburg Apartments Brooklyn, NYProject Visualization, and Development. Collaboration with Lifeform LtdA nine Loft apartment building in the trendy Williamsburg area.

Lifeform Ltd, Pataya Bay CondominiumsPatay Bay, Thailand, Project Visualization This development spreads along a narrow lot in the Pataya Bay of Thailand and includes luxury amenities.


areal view

lobbybathroom

kitchen

building

living area

project development / visualization

Pataya Bay Condominiums Patay Bay, ThailandProject Visualization, and Development. Collaboration with Lifeform LtdThis development spreads along a narrow lot in the Pataya Bay of Thailand and includes aseries of outdoor pools, courts and luxury amenities.Lifeform Ltd, Pataya Bay CondominiumsPatay Bay, Thailand, Project Visualization This development spreads along a narrow lot in the Pataya Bay of Thailand and includes luxury amenities.


areal view

lobbybathroom

kitchen

building

living area

project development / visualization

SITE SPECIFIC

SITE SPECIFIC

WORK EXPERIENCE / INTERIOR DESIGN

Pascal ArquitectosMexico City, DrafterPascal Arquitectos is an internationally recognized firm with luxury residential projects. As a drafter in the firm I worked on Design Development drawings and Construc-tion Details for the interiors of Sheraton Hotel of downtown Mexico City. This project was the first project done in 40 years in Mexico Ciys Historical downtown, and my drawings have been featured in several publications. www.pascalarquitectos.com

Higuera + SanchezMexico City , InternshipA competition to remodel the interiors of an old Girls School into modern apartments.

drafting

Marketing New York, NY Marketing director, Collaboration with Balmori Associates, Lifeform LTD, and Studio GaiaAs a marketing director in various firms I created press releases, graphic, media and marketing material. I helped organize exhibitions such as New York Now Exhibition for the AIA in the Center for Architecture, events and conferences such as the Gel Conference in which I was required to lead a group of entrepreneurs to our projects in the city. I created graphic presentations for W Hotel in Miami, the W Hotel Costa Rica, Disney Tokyo, and de-signed the signage and branding of 24, 000 square foot corporate cafeteria the Alliance Capital building on 55th street. During my I submitted the follow-ing winning awards: James Beard Award for Best Restaurant Design for Solea; 2005, Best Hotel Design Worldwide Golden Key award for excellence in Hospitality Design by Interior Design Magazine and HOTELS magazine for the W Hotel Mexico City 2004 and W Hotel Seoul 2005.

Sheraton Centro Historico Historical Center, Mexico CityDesign Team, Collaboration with Pascal ArchitectosDesign Development drawings and Construction Details for the interiors of Sheraton Hotel of downtown Mexico City.

Studio GaiaNew York, Designer / Marketing Director 07.04 - 07.05Studio Gaia is one of the most influential hospitality design firms. As a marketing director I created digital presentations, attended media requests, created press re-leases, press kits, graphic and marketing material. My job required some public relation work, such as representing the firm at exhibitions, New York Now Exhibition for the AIA in the Center for Architecture, events and conferences such as the Gel Conference in 2005 in which I was required to lead a group of entrepreneurs to our projects in the city. As a designer, I created graphic presentations for W Hotel in Miami, the W Hotel Costa Rica, Disney Tokyo, and designed the signage and branding of 24, 000 square foot corporate cafeteria the Alliance Capital building on 55th street. During my I submitted the following winning awards: James Beard Award for Best Restaurant Design for Solea; 2005, Best Hotel Design Worldwide Golden Key award for excellence in Hospitality Design by Interior Design Magazine and HOTELS magazine for the W Hotel Mexico City 2004 and W Hotel Seoul 2005. www.studiogaia.com

Solea Restaurant W Hotel Mexico / Cornerstone Management Mexico City, Office ManagerOversaw operations and administration of new restaurant Solea. Also assisted in image branding and restaurant styling, as well as all menu translations. www.soleamexico.com

marketing / office management










SITE SPECIFIC



drafting




drafting



drafting

Casa Covadonga Competition Historical Center, Mexico CityDesign Team, Collaboration with Higuera + SanchezA project to turn an old girls school into 40 apartments adn 6 commercial lts by rehabilitating the building.

SITE SPECIFIC

SITE SPECIFIC

Two critical parts of public space use need a fresh look: the places and ways of sitting in it, and the places and ways of walking on it. We have become very interested in playing with these elements and the piece that we produced for the Dome Colony in the San Gabriels, for Fritz Haegs two month long exhibition at the X Initiative Art Space was a way of playing with seating and planting. Envisioned as dynamic space and furniture piece; in form, it is a garden that engages the Colony. It is not only designed for visitors to move and play with, it is a social community space that invites them to linger, and just be.Can you work with some units for seating which people can assemble themselves (varying the height close-ness to others etc. )? Using this as a premise the units allow you to make nooks where one person can be alone, or some can be for two or a large group. We named the experiment nooks for this reason. The secondary idea grafted on this was if plants could be incorporated into the system. This time they are shown conceptually by providing paper flowers that people can plant in the space. The Garden narrates a story of landscape taking over and expanding over the Public Space, therefore changing the way that the

space is perceived and read by the user. The users that plant flowers in it, transform it with time.

on exhibitOctober 2009

STATUS


Fritz Heag Dome Colny X at San Gabriels at X INITIATIVE, 548 West 22nd Street, New York, NY (former Dia building)

CLIENT

NOOKS FOR DOME COLONY X IN THE SAN GABRIELS NEW YORK, NY WORK EXPERIENCE / ART / LANDSCAPE DESIGN

NOOKS For Dome Colony X in the Saint Gabriels Manhattan NYDesigner, Organizer, Collaboration with Balmori AssociatesThe piece that we produced for the Dome Colony in the San Gabriels, for Fritz Haegs two month long exhibition at the X Initiative Art Space was a way of playing with seating and planting. Envisioned as dynamic space and furniture piece; in form, it is a garden that engages the Colony. It is not only designed for visitors to move and play with, it is a social community space that invites them to linger, and just be. Using this as a premise the units allow you to make nooks where one person can be alone, or some can be for two or a large group. We named the experiment nooks for this reason.The secondary idea grafted on this was if plants could be incorporated into the system. This time they are shown conceptually by providing paper flowers that people can plant in the space. The Garden narrates a story of landscape taking over and expanding over the Public Space, therefore changing the way that the space is perceived and read by the user. The users that plant flowers in it, transform it with time.




STATUS



CLIENT

NOOKS FOR DOME COLONY X IN THE SAN GABRIELS NEW YORK, NY




STATUS



CLIENT


SITE SPECIFIC




STATUS



CLIENT

NOOKS FOR DOME COLONY X IN THE SAN GABRIELS NEW YORK, NY WORK EXPERIENCE / ART / LANDSCAPE DESIGN

NOOKS For Dome Colony X in the Saint Gabriels Manhattan NYDesigner, Organizer, Collaboration with Balmori AssociatesThe piece that we produced for the Dome Colony in the San Gabriels, for Fritz Haegs two month long exhibition at the X Initiative Art Space was a way of playing with seating and planting. Envisioned as dynamic space and furniture piece; in form, it is a garden that engages the Colony. It is not only designed for visitors to move and play with, it is a social community space that invites them to linger, and just be. Using this as a premise the units allow you to make nooks where one person can be alone, or some can be for two or a large group. We named the experiment nooks for this reason.The secondary idea grafted on this was if plants could be incorporated into the system. This time they are shown conceptually by providing paper flowers that people can plant in the space. The Garden narrates a story of landscape taking over and expanding over the Public Space, therefore changing the way that the space is perceived and read by the user. The users that plant flowers in it, transform it with time.




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CLIENT





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CLIENT


SITE SPECIFIC

LANDSCAPE DESIGN

FAMILY GARDEN - CROWN HEIGHTS, NEW YORK The project is the family residence in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. The clients wanted a welcoming entry that fits the context of the sur-rounding neighborhood and a child-friendly garden where they can entertain family and friends in pleasant weather. The program elements include en entry garden; a family garden that will provide a safe and inviting play area for the children, a sense of privacy, space for entertaining, as well as a vegetable/herb garden and some ornamental horticulture for color and fragrance.

The design of the garden is based on the metaphorical meaning of the circle, a symbol of the hearth. Just as the hearth is the center of the home, the center of the garden is a large sunken circular area that is the gathering place for the entire family. All other activities or programs, namely the vegetable garden and the childrens play area, radiate from this central focus. Given the small space, this simple arrangement gives the garden a graphic underlying structure that will stand on its own aesthetically in the winter months when the vegetation is dormant. A medium sized ornamental tree, Cornus florida, placed di-rectly behind the main circle, will provide the focal point for the garden as well as shade for the dining table. Trellises for climbing vines along the fence and on the back wall will extend the visual interest vertically.

The circle is also a symbol of renewal, and in the spirit of sustainability, the majority of the materials used will be salvaged sources, from places such as Olde Good Things and Build It Green New York. In addition, the removed trees will be used to build the childrens teepee and path. The plantings will be primarily native in the effort to maintain an ecological stewardship of the environment.

Another symbolic meaning of the circle is that of magic, created here with the teepee, reserved strictly for the children as their own domain within the garden. A meandering path leads from their bedroom and cuts through various parts of the garden to the teepee, which is ensconced among the shrubs

in the back garden.

SITE SPECIFIC

NGOC MINH NGOPORTFOLIO

FAMILY GARDENCROWN HEIGHTS, NEW YORK

The project is the family residence in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. The clients wanted a welcoming entry that fits the context of the sur-rounding neighborhood and a child-friendly garden where they can entertain family and friends in pleasant weather. The program elements include en entry garden; a family garden that will provide a safe and inviting play area for the children, a sense of privacy, space for entertaining, as well as a vegetable/herb garden and some ornamental horticulture for color and fragrance.

The design of the garden is based on the metaphorical meaning of the circle, a symbol of the hearth. Just as the hearth is the center of the home, the center of the garden is a large sunken circular area that is the gathering place for the entire family. All other activities or programs, namely the vegetable garden and the childrens play area, radiate from this central focus. Given the small space, this simple arrangement gives the garden a graphic underlying structure that will stand on its own aesthetically in the winter months when the vegetation is dormant. A medium sized ornamental tree, Cornus florida, placed di-rectly behind the main circle, will provide the focal point for the garden as well as shade for the dining table. Trellises for climbing vines along the fence and on the back wall will extend the visual interest vertically.

The circle is also a symbol of renewal, and in the spirit of sustainability, the majority of the materials used will be salvaged sources, from places such as Olde Good Things and Build It Green New York. In addition, the removed trees will be used to build the childrens teepee and path. The plantings will be primarily native in the effort to maintain an ecological stewardship of the environment.

Another symbolic meaning of the circle is that of magic, created here with the teepee, reserved strictly for the children as their own domain within the garden. A meandering path leads from their bedroom and cuts through various parts of the garden to the teepee, which is ensconced among the shrubs

in the back garden.

SITE SPECIFIC

TeepeePerennial Bed

Vegetable Garden

Compost

Barbeque

Window Box

Children's Path

Herb Containers

Vertical Green Wall

Flowering Dogwood

Children's Room

Master Bedroom

Living Room

SITE SPECIFIC

LANDSCAPE DESIGN

UNDULATING LANDFORM, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK Taking inspiration from a black and white photocopy of an abstract painting, the intrinsic concept of Undulating Landform is a simple weav-ing of vertical and horizontal elements. Strips of moss supported by steel emanate from a plaza in front of the building and go on to rise and fall gracefully in a rhythmic pattern and ending in different points. Intersecting with the strips of moss are rills embedded with river pebbles. Envisioned as a living sculpture, the landform is as dynamic as the ever changing conditions of light, weather, and the seasons. The path of the sun in the course of a day will change the shapes of the shadows cast by the landform, emphasizing its sculptural aspect. With the morning watering of the moss, backlit by the rising sun from the east, the landform becomes a radiant fountain. LED lights attached to the underside of the steel support will give the landform a beautiful glow at night. In winter, the snow-capped landform will be transformed into an ice sculpture.

SITE SPECIFIC

Shadow StudyAfternoon Sun

Design Process

LEWISOHN

SITE SPECIFIC

PHOTOGRAHY

PRIVATE COMMISSIONESPESSIAC is a former monastery in the Southwest of France that had been left in a state of ruin. Over a period of 13 years, the owner slowly restored the building and made a new garden with a large lavender field that blends seamlessly into the surrounding farm fields. The photographs were commissioned to document both the interior and exterior of the property.

SITE SPECIFIC

SITE SPECIFIC

172 ELLE DECORATION DECEMBER 2008

ICONIC HOUSE #5

The Glass House, Connecticut, 1949Built by Philip Johnson in 1949, the Glass House is an icon of mid-20th century Modernism. Its simple structure, precise proportions and use of transparency has inspired a slew of contemporary architects WORDS TRISH LORENZ PICTURES NGOC MINH NGO

Sheats-Goldstein house Beverly Hills, California, 1963Some houses affect the way we think about architecture and even the way we live. In the first of our exclusive series on iconic homes, we look at American architect John Lautners cliff-side mansion...

ICONIC HOUSE #1

PRODUCTION AMANDA TALBOT PICTURES NGOC MINH NGO WORDS TRISH LORENZ

170 ELLE DECORATION JUNE 2008

SITE SPECIFIC

PHOTOGRAHY & WRITING

BOOK PROJECTFLOWER EVERYDAY: BRINGING NATURE HOME is a book about having flowers in your home throughout the year as a way of charting the seasons and reconnecting with nature. The aim is to extend the range of flowers and foliage commonly used in floral arrangement, incor-porating plants from the vegetable garden, herbs, and twigs that can be salvaged from the roadsides. The book would offer ideas on simple and original arrangements and ways to incorporate flowers into everyday life.

SITE SPECIFIC

VOLUNTEER WORK

BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDENHorticulture assistanceThe Cranford Rose Garden is one of the most diverse rose collection in the US, containing more than 5,000 rosebushes of nearly 1,200 different species and varieties. I am part of a group of volunteers who help the rosarian maintain the garden, making it a special place for the thousands of visitors annually.

site specific

Documents

mexico city exhibitor

mexico designer volunteer

master of landscape

environmental design

ny design team

new york speaker

urban design office

w hotel mexico city