My trip to Thailand, in 2016. Highly recommend.
A Designer's journey:
I was born and raised in between San Juan and Loíza, Puerto Rico. Ever since I started studying architecture in 2013 I’ve worked as a freelance designer, working in architectural renderings, rural development proposals and graphic designs, as well as making musical arrangements for songwriters (another passion of mine). In 2016 I had the honor of graduating from La Universidad de Puerto Rico in Río Piedras. Among the architects I’ve collaborated with in rural development proposals since then are Coleman-Davis Pagán Arquitectos and Carlos Salazar Architects. One of my greatest passions lies in the sustainability of these projects and the bio-construction involved. I’ve been in workshops using materials such as Bamboo, Rammed Earth and Superadobe; I’m highly interested the use and research of eco friendly alternatives.
I've been living in NY since early 2017. A newcomer, I started working as a full time designer, BIM manager and drafter at a small firm, Skoda Design + Architecture, PLLC in Long Island City. We had been working with Passive House certified residential renovations in Manhattan, and an affordable housing development for Habitat for Humanity in Brooklyn, alongside FullStack Modular, LLC. These, of course, were great experiences as a newcomer. Currently I serve as an Assistant Project Manager at the MWBE Manhattan-based firm Aaris Design Studio since late 2017 in which I've had the opportunity to collaborate both in EDC community renovations as La Marqueta Plaza in Harlem, and culturally-rich ground-ups as 11 Terry Drive in Sag Harbor.
I'm always in search of a new out-of-the-box experience. In August 2016 I had the opportunity to collaborate with architect Roger Martínez in Colombia for the design-build development of three bamboo-structured buildings in La Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira whilst it being in construction. That same year in September 2016 I collaborated in a short but substantial design charette in Frankfurt with Choe Hackh Architekten for the competition of The Museum of the 20th Century in Kulturform, Berlin in which we were one of the first 15 finalists. Whilst working and studying in 2014, I was a coordinator and designer in the submittal of competition proposals of Madrid-based team Urban Denizens, some of which we won.
Throughout time I’ve been able to gain some digital skills; these include the use of Autodesk’s Revit, AutoCad and 3D’s Max, Trimble's Sketchup, Adobe’s Illustrator and Photoshop, and Maxwell Render. I'm looking forward to the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM), as I believe it is the most efficient way to achieve a well coordinated design these days.
Thank you for having an interest in my services. I hope to talk to you soon and start collaborating in great proposals with conscious decisions for a better built environment.
Xavier I. Lind-Domènech, Assoc. AIA
