Mixed-Use Hotel
Date: Summer 2025
Activity: ACE (Architecture, Construction, Engineering) Program, CU Denver
Medium: Pencil, cardboard, card stock
Process: Our project allocated half of a city block dedicated to the hotel. We reviewed requirements with our clients, the City of Denver, and landed on a mixed-use design with retail shops on the first floor and the hotel on upper floors. We profiled our guests and identified precedent designs with our clientele. Next, I started with initial schematic designs and iterated through requirements, followed by some blocking designs. Eventually, I created 3D visualization along with cardboard renderings of the commercial property. We did not have time to create 3D color renderings, but I created 3D renderings using Google Gemini (not part of the ACE project).
Working on this project taught me that design can be beautiful like art, but it cannot be done in a vacuum. It requires empathy toward its inhabitants’ needs.
The Caracol Wing
Date: Spring 2026
Activity: Independent art program
Medium: Pen, paper, and electronic tablet during the design process; paper and glue for draft designs, and card stock for final output.
Process: Created illustrations of snail shells for inspiration, adapting the layered design of the shell for the roof and the interior. Experimented with mockup drafts of the built structure, iterating on the layout. Created a template before transferring to card stock for the final design.
The project sought to build concepts for a wing of a museum. Caracol, or “snail” in Spanish, is my interpretation of that space, inspired from a shell’s expansive space narrowing to a tunnel. The central gallery hosts the art exhibits, purposely directing museum visitors left toward a ribbed spiral passageway that provides a level of intrigue and focuses the visitor’s mind to anticipate the journey of discovery. Built structures just don’t “hold” objects but can be influential on its inhabitant’s behaviors as much as it is responsive to their needs.
Ceramics portfolio
Date: Fall 2025
Activity: Advanced Ceramics II, LOHS
Medium: Porcelain clay
Process: As part of my Advanced Ceramics 2 class, we had to create 4 bowl formations out of porcelain clay. I decided to create 2 dish bowls, 1 vase, and a matcha bowl.
In ceramics, I explored how three-dimensional forms occupy space and how weight, balance, and proportion affect physical presence. When a bowl felt unstable in someone’s hands, I understood viscerally how architecture made people feel grounded or unsteady. These were insights that sketches could not easily provide.
Robotics: CAD and Built Model
Date: 2023-2026
Activity: FTC Robotics with team “All Hands on Tech”
Medium:
Digital design: Fusion 360
Built model: aluminum, extruded plastics
Process: As part of the FTC 2024-2025 season, my robotics team built three robots simultaneously to enable continuous progress and direct comparison of designs. I created 3D models in Fusion 360 to visualize iterations before finalizing “Two Fish,” which features a counter-rotator mechanism, dual BWT slides, active pitching, protective plating, and E-chain cable management.
This work taught me to navigate technical constraints through iterative design. Our cycle of CAD modeling, physical prototyping, and testing under competition pressure mirrors architectural practice, where concepts must be validated through working models. My outreach work reinforced that thoughtful design creates accessibility and opportunity.
Fusion360: Carbon Fiber Blade
Date: Summer 2025
Activity: Portland Community College, Fusion360 course
Medium: Digital design: Fusion 360
Process: As part of my Fusion 360 class, my final project was to create a parametric part that would also be moveable. I decided to create a prosthetic leg and researched and used assembly modeling, model sculpting, and 2D drawing creation.
The prosthetic blade from my Fusion360 class is focused on accessibility. I designed for affordability and 3D-printability because good design shouldn’t be expensive or exclusive. These constraints force innovation rather than limit it.
Bioluminescence: “Glow Big or Glow Home” Video
Date: Spring 2025
Activity: AP Biology Final Project
Medium: Video, Artificial Intelligence
Process: The Bioluminescence “Glow Big or Glow Home” project demonstrates how I think engaging storytelling can change education. Rather than a static report, I created a TED Talk-style video that would engage viewers through narrative arc, sourced visuals, and paced revelations about marine biology. The process required research, storyboarding, audio design, and post-production editing. But what mattered most was asking: how do I make someone care about organisms that glow in the deep ocean? Design becomes meaningful when it transforms passive information into active experience.