Recently I have had the opportunity to work on a series of identity projects for a diverse group of clients. One of the most exciting has been the challenge to re-design the visual language of Puerto Rico’s State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).

In a collaboration with Jorge Rigau FAIA and Miguel Ortiz, the approach intends to provide a framework on which SHPO can now establish a permanent visual structure. The project is currently being implemented, and a full system roll-out should be done in the next 2 months. Here I share some of the elements that have been generated.

Commemorative piece given to the 2009 recipients of Puerto Rico's Architecture Awards. Design and concept by Alberto Rigau. Fabrication by Roberto Pérez.

This past Thursday, Puerto Rico’s professional college of architects and landscape architects awarded the 2009 medals in architecture. These awards, named after Ricardo Alegría, are given to individuals and/or entities who are not directly related to the discipline of architecture but who have contributed to the field in a way that can be evidenced in a substantial body of work.

Previously, this prestigious recognition had been given four times, and to my knowledge, recipients were given only a certificate. This year I volunteered and gifted the College with a design of commemorative piece to be handed out in the naming ceremony.

The initial challenge was to suggest the quality of the object. Even though the award uses the term “medal“, I inclined for a piece that could be exhibited by the recipient in a more efficient manner, thus the creation of a table-top piece.

Conceptually, the composition represents the larger social context (outer square) inside which architecture unfolds (smaller square). The recipient reaches out from this larger context and crosses the architectural field (diagonally placed piece of glass), leaving his mark (smaller aluminum triangle on the lower right side of the inner square). He or she eventually keeps moving into other aspects. (the extension of the piece of glass beyond the smaller square).

*For those of you with a nerdy inclination towards typography, the initials of the award’s name are abstractly embedded in the design, with a lower case r on the left side of the diagonal piece of glass and an upper case A it’s right side.

My small book collection at Cornell.

Indeed for me, these times need of introductions. First, because most of you, who have decided to read posts by my rather keen brother, may not know me. Second – I have to admit ­- this would be the first time I bring my thoughts into a blog. And finally, I am getting acquainted with a new setting.

Two weeks ago, I arrived at Cornell University to begin my Masters in Architecture 1. The experience of meeting new people from widely different track records – architecture, furniture design, engineering, physics, business, among others – has been exciting, but has also motivated me to reflect back on my persona. Seeing how many already possess jaw-dropping abilities, I felt compelled to review what I had apparently done right to be accepted into the School of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP). Reviewing my application materials, I came across my essay, which began:

“I do not want to study architecture.”          These words quickly became my answer to those who presumed that as the son of an architect and the brother of a graphic designer, I would pursue an undergraduate degree in the arts.

Right there, in the opening sentence I referred (subconsciously?) to probably the most influential artists in my formation: my father and my brother. My family – including my mother and sister – has always been my harshest critic, demanding inconceivable versions of myself. (I don’t know if I heard this from one of my siblings first, but I like to joke around by saying that while in kindergarten, my finger paintings where never pinned up at the refrigerator if ugly.) Nevertheless, I now endeavor to create beauty, mainly out of respect for the work, talent, and dedication of the two designers in my home. I hope one day to feel as their peer.

Let me stress that when the time came to decide whether I would study design for my undergraduate education, I opted for a humanistic education. Shaping my character largely through philosophy, history, and literature significantly altered my perceptions about the world. Therefore, I now enter the M.Arch. 1 with my own set of apperceptions that actually fuel my curiosity. Introducing previously gathered knowledge into my (re)discovered passion towards design, particularly architecture, will hopefully lead to a kind of oneiric experience.

About the possibility of contributing in this blog, this interests me: the chance to expound my preconceptions, challenge my brother’s perspectives as well as mine and of others, amend my way of thinking, and finally, see how my thought process evolves. In the end, the blog will become a trace of deflections in thought.

So, let’s take my first entry as my official act of induction into the website, but my subsequent entries as my attempt to be inducted into a life of design.

A FINAL NOTE TO ANY READER: Consider all my musings as arguments, even if they can be (mis)interpreted as opinions or beliefs. I like to be reminded that usually I use frames that are too small to hold the pictures.

It’s been two years since blogging experiment was initiated. Two hundred and forty two posts later, I have carved a little corner in cyberspace for some of my thoughts and ideas. Up until now, the content of the writing has derived from my work in the Master’s of Graphic Design program at NC State University. As a result, this weblog has served as a documentation of my stay at the university’s College of Design.

Today I would like to announce that the content and focus of the site will be expanded as my brother, Armando Rigau, joins as a writer and collaborator. Coming from an undergraduate degree in Philosophy from Georgetown University, he currently pursues a Master’s Degree in Architecture at Cornell University. His different perspective will not only help to pluralize the content of this page, but hopefully challenge some of my own preconceptions on design as we both begin to build together a new collaborative framework.

If anything, this juncture can be seen as a canvas where we will share with each other some of our perspectives as we anticipate collaborative work in the future. We will learn as we go and see where it takes us…

Last summer I collaborated with Rebecca Tegtmeyer and Marty Maxwell Lane in the design of two projects for NC State University.

In May, Marty and I worked for the First Year College to design The Brick, a 120 page book to welcome and orient the 2008 incoming freshman class into the university. The rest of the summer, Rebecca joined us as we worked for the College of Design on Collective Intelligence, Collaborative Design, the college’s research publication.

Last night, our work was recognized with two Merit Awards from the AIGA Chapters of Charlotte and Raleigh in their Fifth Biennial Design Competition, BOOM!

In addition to our work, other students of the College of Design were also recognized. Becca Mayfield, Nicole Kraieski, Lena Bondar and Ioana Balasa received a Merit Award for the design on the 2008 Windhover; while Libby Levi, Josh Smith, Paul Venturo and Becca Mayfield won a Silver Award for the 2007 Windhover.

The event, carried out at Charlotte’s Mint Museum of Art, meant to celebrate design that makes an impact—creative solutions that leave an impression, demand our attention, make us think and initiate change.

It was a fun night of design!

BOOM! Identity designed by ABZ Design Group.

The judge's pics for the editorial category included 5 publications, and I am happy to report that 4 were designed by College of Design students.

Collective Intelligence, Collaborative Design, designed by Rebecca Tegtmeyer, Marty Maxwell Lane, and Alberto Rigau.

The Brick, designed by Alberto Rigau and Marty Maxwell Lane.

The awards presentation.

A Merit Award for the design of Collective Intelligence, Collaborative Design.

A Merit Award for the design of The Brick

[/caption]

The award winning pieces were all showcased for the public to enjoy.

The main lobby provided a space for us to congregate, mingle, eat and have some fun.

Charlotte's Mint Museum of Art.

All photos by Gus Pantell.

The early part of the XXth century witnessed the construction of an extensive web of irrigation channels to distribute water to homes and farmlands in Puerto Rico along more than 35 kms. Still in operation to this day, throughout time different individuals and groups have acknowledged the scenic value of these channels; however, to most they remain unknown.

Conceived by the architectural firm, Jorge Rigau FAIA, Architects, the pilot project was designed to garner support from government officials, institutions, and the general public for the development of Isabela’s irrigation channels as a key ecotourism attraction in Puerto Rico. The “canales” travel across plains, mountains, and forests of varying microclimate, flora, fauna, and views. Maintenance paths that run continuously next to them could today be refashioned as nature trails accessible to the general public, children, senior citizens, and handicapped people alike. This pilot project set out to prove the feasibility of this initiative.

After public access to these facilities had been denied for eighty years, one kilometer of channels was opened up for two days, attracting an audience of over 3,000 registered people, including key decision-makers like the Island’s Interim Governor. Environmental leaders and university professors joined the long lines of visitors from all over the Island.Advocacy is often linked to demonstrations, more than often committed to stop something from happening. In our case, we chose to demonstrate otherwise: How something can, in fact, happen. Letters of support have started to come and decision makers – already engaged – have invited us to sit and dialogue. This is what we planned for.

Participants were instructed about the history and design of the irrigation system, how it works, its cultural impact, and the changes endured by the neighboring rural landscape. Oversize words in environmentally-sensitive foam were “sprinkled” along the route to underline key questions concerning both the system and the proposed project: WHAT? WHERE? HOW? WHY? WHEN?

Elements that required a “footnote” from the interpreters were highlighted with an asterisk.

Insertion of texts within the landscape owes much to the reinterpretation of precedents: Robert Smithson’s site-specific works; Jenny Holzer’s linkage of words to movement; Robert Indiana’s supersized treatment of typeface; as well as Dieter Kienast’s joint validation of typographic strokes and counters, using the latter as windows unto the landscape.

Professionals, academics, architecture and landscape architecture students – as well as volunteers – guided tours along the canal to make visitors aware of the potential of these trails from which the Island’s natural landscape and its early-20th century industrial heritage can be enjoyed.

The local Architects and Landscape Architects Foundation funded the pilot project, which included a day dedicated to K-12 schools within the canal region. Participants were requested to fill an assessment form, freely formatted to accommodate ideas, concerns, and recommendations. Upon completing the forms, each person received an informative brochure, specially designed to urge everyone to action.

All photography by Gus Pantell.

[flashvideo file=http://blog.estudiointerlinea.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/Canales.flv width="400" height="266" /]

PROJECT CREDITS

Executed with the support of the Foundation for the Association of Architecture and Landscape Architecture of Puerto Rico and the collaboration of the county of Isabela, the Energy Authority (AEE) and the School of Landscape Architecture at the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico.

Concept and Project Design Jorge Rigau FAIA, Architects Project Coordination Miguel Ortíz Graphic Design Alberto Rigau, Estudio Interlínea Archaeological Consultant Gus Pantell Construction and Renovation Consultant Beatriz del Cueto Landscape Consultant Maria Isabel Rodríguez

At the end of last semester the graduate class came together to work on a calendar for 2009. The project, headed by Caroline Prietz, Liese Zahabi and Lauren Waugh, was hand letterpressed and distributed to our family and friends. Each of the months was divided among the participants.

To showcase the process to the faculty, I made this short video which pretty much tells the story of that one particular weekend when thinner became our therapist and biscuits were king.

Project
The best way to shape the future is to…

Created for
Option Shift Control Symposium
North Carolina State University
College of Design

Executed by
Gretchen Rinnert, Bryan Rinnert, Marty Lane, Alberto Rigau

November 30th 2007

Jaime Suárez and Joel Ramos keep working on the sculptural aspect of the Vieques Main Plaza Fountain designed by Jorge Rigau FAIA.

[All of these images where drawn with light on a 30 second exposure photograph.]