Sarah Tió

Category: Design and Innovation

Diseño en General

  • Línea del tiempo Materiales y Técnicas de Construcción II – Enero 2021

    Timeline Construction Materials and Techniques II – January 2021

    During the period January - May in Construction Materials and Techniques I at the School of Architecture of the PUCMM @EAD_PUCMM, where the interior design student develops criteria that allow understanding the behavior, physical and sensory qualities of the nature of the material, to apply appropriate construction techniques as the case warrants.

    Unit 3 of this course is about learning about materials and their use in history. That said, in order to understand the different periods of art history, it was assigned as a practice to develop a timeline graphically in a summary and understanding of the unidad.

    Below I share the Timeline made by interior design student Mayerling Taveras.

    Sarah Tió | Professor of Architecture and Design

  • Fundamentos del Color 1ra Edición – Benjamin Moore

    Foundations of Color 1st Edition – Benjamin Moore

    As an activity for teaching the color of the year and Benjamin Moore's chart of similar colors, Sarah Tió carries out the FUNDAMENTALS OF COLOR activity with the aim of understanding the product beyond a painting. 

    In this first edition it was aimed at professionals immersed in the world of design; attended: architects, interior designers, advertisers, marketers, graphic designers and any professional with an interest in color. 

    The talk is divided into 4 acts:

    1. THEORY OF COLOR. It is the theoretical part of the activity and the applied teaching methodology is through an interactive presentation and examples to associate what is exposed, it is explained where the color comes from. 
    2. HE COLOR OF THE YEAR. Starting from the description of the color chosen by Benjamin Moore, color is analyzed as an adjective and the terminology of color is exposed, as well as the characteristics that make it up. 
    3. COLOR HARMONIES. After understanding where the color comes from, the color combinations are presented, composition ranges of colors that have common characteristics, already identified in order to carry out the last act. 
    4. CREATE A MOODBOARD. After analyzing the possible combinations of color and understanding that this strategy is not static, that is, we can break it with a conceptual criterion of color intentions and therefore materials, textures, adjectives and qualities, to create our own designs. 

    Results

    At the end of the activity, each team formed by choice exposes the color combination created and describes the space where it will be used. 

    Sarah Tió | Professor of Architecture and Design 

  • Inspiración de época – Materiales y Técnicas de construcción I

    Vintage Inspiration – Materials and Construction Techniques I

    During the period January - May in Materials and Construction Techniques I in the Interior Design career of the PUCMM School of Architecture @EAD_PUCMM, where the interior design student develops criteria that allow understanding the behavior, physical and sensory qualities of the nature of the material, to apply the appropriate construction techniques as the case warrants.

    Unit 3 of this course is about learning about materials and their use in history. That said, in order to be able to evaluate the end of the unit and apply the knowledge acquired, a practice is assigned that consists of creating an inspiration from a period of studied history. 

    The activity consists of two acts: 

    1. Analyze the characteristic elements of a specific period of history of your choice. 
    2. Create a current inspiration based on the elements identified and through an analytical study of similarities, compare how innovative elements can be generated for an interior design today. 

    See the example marked in class of the Rococo artistic movement, where the taste for bright, soft and clear colors is identified and forms inspired by nature predominate. It is a basically mundane art, without religious influences, that deals with themes of daily life and human relationships, a style that seeks to reflect what is pleasant, refined, exotic and sensual.

    From this, construction materials that can reflect Rococo inspiration are identified to be applied to surfaces of an interior space. 

    See below the example presented in class. 

    This activity allows the student to carry out an identification analysis of elements, such as materials, textures and colors in order to distinguish them and associate them with a period in the history of art. 

    Results

    Sarah Tió | Professor of Architecture and Design

  • Architectural Interventions – Projects changing cities

    Architectural Interventions – Projects changing cities

    Este documento es expuesto en el idioma de la exposición.  Para leerlo en español dar click en el siguiente enlace.

    Intervenciones Arquitectónicas –  Proyectos que cambian ciudades

    2A Interaction Forum 2019

    Theme: Innovative Contextual Architecture in Dominican Republic.

    Abstract

    Architectural Intervention

    as a change in the image of the city

    The focus of the presentation and their role in creating architectural impact as an opportunity to change the image of the city with a sense of place and the necessities of the intervention. As a third world city and also part of an island when no initiatives are taken from municipal authorities and central government in a city of four million people and more than one (1) million cars on track to two million before a decade. 

    A non-walkable city designed for cars with nowhere to put them and how to approach it meaningfully as an architect citizen.

    This would be our topic of discussion through the lens of citizen first then as an architect with a world view that will open a discussion on where proposals have done right and learning from past experiences and projects.

    Living in an Upper Middle Income develop country, which means our economy is growing day by day.  Also, we are a part of an island when no initiatives are taken from central government to be a walkable city and to have better urban life so far. We are a city of four million people and more than one (1) million cars to two million before the end of the decade and it’s increasing.

    As you can see, we have a strategic location in the Americas, one of the facts that let us be the largest economy and we have stood out as one of the fastest-growing cities in the Caribbean and Central American Region according to the World Bank over the last two decades. 

    This is Santo Domingo City, the capital of my country. You can notice everyday the development of the new skyline which has grown in less than 40 years when you live, work and walk in the city. 

    Let me share with you some important facts of our context you need to know to understand this city. The black background in the south of the slide is the Caribbean Sea which is connected to the north with the Ozama River. In the west of the Ozama river is The National District where the city of Santo Domingo is.

    The red part is the metropolitan area right now, we call it Central Polygon where the headquarters of the most important companies are located.

    Also, the highest place to live in the center of the city, and where most of the traffic is concentrated. It’s where the headache begins around 7:00 o’clock in the morning and ends around at 7:30 p.m.

    The yellow fill is the historical center. So, we have grown from east to west and keep growing north to west.

    This is The Colon park. If you google Santo Domingo this is one of the first image you can find, and for me is the best place where you can feel “living urban life”. Maybe because the scale and the location. The second is Spanish Plaza, next to the river which is bigger and less green than this place but has different scenery.

    This is Malecon avenue. The avenue on the coast. Oh Yes, a 6.76 km avenue in front of the sea with amazing views in its journey.  Recently, a part of it was renovated in a first stage by a colleague firm with private investment interest. The clients realized that if they recovered this part of the avenue the future architecture development would be an assured success. They were right because any activities that need urban space in Santo Domingo it’s done here now. 

    It has its own hashtag, now you can google it and this photo will appear as image of the city as well.

    This Santo Domingo skyline so far. I really have to mention Kevin Lynch statement in his book The Image of the city, as a reflection. The city is a construction in space, but one of vast scale, a thing perceived only in the course of long spans of time. 

    So, we’re not simply observers. When we get a project, we have an opportunity to give something more to the city. That’s why I call myself citizen architect. I see through the lens of a citizen first, living everyday the urban space then I notice facts with the architecture sensitivity.

    Here’s one of the studio projects. It’s is Ilumel store located in the middle of the Central Polygon in the intersection of Abraham Lincoln Ave. from south to north and Jose Amado Soler Street from west to east. 

    Ilumel is an exhibition furniture store conformed by 4 building with a parking lot in the corner of the intersection and affiliation store to rent furniture called Divano next to the corner, also a project of the studio. 

    You can notice in the photo, Abraham Lincoln avenue traffic in peak time. The renovation consisted in the design, planning and integral construction of the previous building that make up this store, a leader in furniture and decoration market in the Dominican Republic. 

    In 2010, we started to work with this project with a master plan of future growth in 8 years. The store was composed of 4 separate buildings. The intervention of Ilumel added more than 10,000 square meters of construction for exhibition, and achieved the integrity  of buildings as one with blind façade idea from the outside.

    In facing the project, the studio was aware of the great challenge and opportunity to give the city a new building and as well a new image of that intersection. 

    In the design process various element such as the contour of the building was respected. The proportion change according the close context in every part of the building to intervene. 

    From south to north the topography let us be an interesting view because it is going from low to high level in the avenue, so we did a twist in the volume. A gesture from an entrance from south to north. Also, we took in account the building the next to the project and gave it a respite from how massive the volume could be in that point.

    Getting close to the intersection and the parking lot we have our first stage intervention. We tried to keep a connection from the city sidewalk and boundary space from the building. Enforced with landscaping decision and an extension of the roof volume that allows us to give another point of view entrance from north to south.

    This Divano store.  It is the other project part of Ilumel master plan. It located in Jose Amado Soler street next the parking lot I mentioned before. 

    The image we wanted to give to the city is two pure volume, the small one very massive achieved with concrete material, and the big one a warm light volume achieved a serial wooden plane arranged vertically. 

    Because of the scale, the concept of volume, the view we want to reflect, we convinced the client and we made the decision to have a completely connection with the city sidewalk and the result we got the image we wanted to have and as well change the image of the city in that place. 

    The point I wanted to express, it is the architects are in charge of generating a better environment. We are a little part of a sum of things that make us have a better quality of life and if we have that consciousness it becomes a great responsibility then the spaces will be of quality as well.  

    This is the view we achieved of Divano Store from W. Churchill avenue front. Also, is the parking lot next to the Ilumel building. For sure, in the future we want to keep this green area view in that point of the city. It’s like an exchange, it’s something we take away but return it with a holistic view with the city.

    Let me share with you 5 certaing points you need to take in account when you have the challenge to change the image of the city.

    1. Observation: see the space through the lens of as citizen first, what we need when use the city. 
    2. Experience: That needs we think as an observer, we should ask ourself if it works day by day living the city. For example, does that space according to the context need a green area?
    3. Empathy: Understand and be part of the experience with the buildings next to project. Is that form I’m proposing would be to massive? Is it what we want to achieve or what we’re not?
    4. Interaction: How the project it is part of the context. What will give to the urban needs and how it contributes to the architectural proposal to be better.
    5. Experimentation: Every project from the concept and digital documentation to reality is to put in practice what we understand for. In every practice we do, we need to make I reflection of it. Does it work in the first stage? If it’s not, how can we do it better?

    So, at this point am I to ask, what is good architecture? For sure it is not only about the look. It’s about the relation creating by the beauty with the context and its contribution to the society and nature context. It like a person. It’s not how pretty the person looks, it’s about what that person does for the others. Isn’t it?

    Because when you are committed to the space and context you automatically achieved answered to the city’s needs and change for a better way the image of the city.   

    Sarah Tió |Architect | Studio Manager at DL+A Architects.

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