This project was truly one of my greatest/most difficult achievements while in school. It’s also been the best conversation starter from my website. Thought it would give you a bit more insight into my design background.

Part 1 of 2 of my B.Arch Thesis:

Truth in Making, Craft: An Architectural Inquiry

Lee Olvera Studio

The second assignment of three in this semester's thesis studio was one that required students to go far beyond our typical comfort zone. The studio, "Truth in Making, Craft: An Architectural Inquiry,” unfolds along a series of exercises intended to help students explore process, materials, and space in new, tactile ways. This material research project pushed the traditional limits of architectural pedagogy and, forced students to come out from behind mere representation of objects.

Much like the way a building comes together, a designer must make deliberate choices as to what materials will meet others, how they will do so, and the consequences and results of such decisions while maintaining the necessary tenets required to yield a successful product. Each student was required to recreate a Mao Jacket based on the same design pattern, while using only two unconventional materials to create the surface. Any sorts of fabrics were off limits. For my design I chose to experiment with light, transparency, and optical illusion by manipulating a single line to create a plane that would become the Mao Jacket. I used 1,200 linear feet of medical grade vinyl tubing and fishing wire to create seamless connections between each layer of tubes. The final result yielded a functional, resilient, vinyl jacket that reflects and absorbs light based on the light source and background, allowing the design to either stand out or blend in to its environment.