portfolio

I am Daniel Gonzalez Sandoval

I was born in Maracay, VVenezuela on May 5th, 1985. I was raised by a Pediatrician and a Veterinarian right where the city ends and the Henri Pittier

National Park begins. At the age of 17 I ended up in Eau

Claire-Michigan, a town of 500 people in the north of the United people in the north of the United States where I lived for 1 year. When I returned I was ready to face chaos in the city of Cara-cas where I went to study archi-tecture. The school of architec-ture of the UCV in Caracas

opened up a wide spectrum of stimulus and motivation in the vast realm of art in which my innate creative side would

enrich and grow much stronger. In 2010 I enrolled in a double degree exchange programme with the Politecnico di Milano with the Politecnico di Milano

where I would later complete my studies in architecture.

All along this journey I have been materializing a wide range of creative ideas, some of which are shown in this brief selection of works. Projects divide in academic and personal.

m

Designing and building a bench from a single element: the brick. ApAprenhension of the material’s nature and assembling logic: stacking, joints, arch and cen-trings. Acknowledgement of the unique correlation between the

parts and the whole.

University campus of the UCV Unesco world heritageCaracas-Venezuela

bricks

The program required an office tower and a lower commercial

building of three levels in the core of Caracas. The main issues in this project were to provide the right ilumination and ventilation of all spaces. Public space was also a concern. The building also a concern. The building presents itself as a crack or pause in a very dense zoning while the tower stands at the

back of the lot.


Confi-ned lot

The location was the Guri Dam, the biggest dam in the country. The focus of the in-tervention were a group of

concrete piles and their foun-dations left aside the dam, originally built to support a

railway used to bring in all the concrete needed for the dam. While all the metal was taken apart and away, demolishing the concrete structure made no sense in any way, therefore there it remained. The project featufeatures a tower at the highest

point of the hill were the remaining columns stand

overviewing the dam and it’s surroundings. A long set of steps lead visitors from the bottom of the hill to the top where the tower stands.


Guri’sdam

Forming an urban border around Alfredo Sadel’s

square. Rethinking the apart-ment building and its ways of grouping. Mixture of programs [commercial ground level +

residential block].


Housing

Project for a house in an 18 x 18 meter lot in Caracas. The project was part of the ap-proach to residential building in a Laboratory with architect

Walter James Alcock.


Home

Dwelling in an urban orchard

Design and construction of a Design and construction of a small dwelling in an urban or-chard in the south-east pe-riphery of the city of Milan. All the material involved comes from recycling and the build-ing techniches are those learned during a 3 month collaboration with a local in

his orchard.


Thesis


Top: perspective drawing of the project.

Bottom: sectioned isometric view of the construction

assemblage.assemblage.


Thesis


Different stages of theconstructrion process.


Thesis

Un techo para mi pais is the name of the organization

curcurrently operating in south, central and north america

that builds low-cost prefabri-cated wooden houses for

families in extreme poor con-ditions with the help of volun-teers. Back in 2010, after two days of hard work, me and a gruop of other seven volunteers assemble all the parts of a house for a family in the comunity of Limon de Soapire, just outside of Cara-

cas, Venezuela.

techo

Portrait by Alan Milliken

Un

A set of wood planks from an old bed are re-assem-bled to build a small piece of furniture for keeping

books.

shelf


Book

240 triangles of cardboard glued together, in a certain way. Unidad Docente 9 Art Competition, Caracas.

First prize.

ture


Sculp

Table lamp project born out of an architectural

scale model. Balsa wood left overs gave birth to these double veil light cases that are entirely

hand crafted.The nThe next page displays a pentagonal model that is currently on display at the Gogol Ostello in Milan.

lamps


Wood

Acrylic on canvas. 35 x 27 cm. Marriage present for two dear friends. Private

collection.

paint


Acrylic

Color wheel of concentric rhombuses on a cotton

t-shirt.


T-shirt

Internal view of the bed-room of Renato Casati, a painter and a good friend.

Graphite on paper. 33 x 24 cm.

ing


Draw

12 canvases hung in milli-metrical allignment to an hexagonal nylon structure in a courtyard in Maracay, Venezuela. All canvases measured 55 x 55 cm.

Private collection

allation


Art inst

After taking part in the building of emergency houses in the slums of Limón de Soapire, just outside of Caracas in 2011, I had the chance to speak to all the volunteers regarding this experience. Every time that voluntary

work is carried out to communities in poor conditions, it is likely to sense a common spirit of altruism among the volunteers involved. We want to help and give some-thing to those in need —we think. The tendency is to thing to those in need —we think. The tendency is to

think of oneself as benefactors. Instead I was sure to be there solely to receive, to learn something. I felt as a

poor being seeking enrichment, and that is what I tried to pass onto my fellow volunteers when I addressed

them. I was sure the people from the community had a lot to give, as it turned out to be.

I think a similar misunderstanding of roles is taught in ar-chitecture nowadays. I was educated to believe that ar-chitecture beautifies, heals and overwhelms wherever it lands. I didn’t believe it all that much, for I think architec-

ture has a much modest role. Even if done with the heart, i feel that architecture nourishes in time and feeds

on organic matter. I like to think of architecture as a frame: anonymous, modest and silent.

A good friend and painter that i got to know in Milan has the habit of painting over some of his old painted can-vases. It’s unknown to everyone whether he does it out of a lack of new canvases or just out of distaste against his own work. The fact is that when no one interferes, he continues endlessly to recreate his own private micro-cosmo onto the same canvas. I believe architecture to

be responsible for keeping this canvas tight and stretched, nothing else.

festo


Mani

portfolio

Documents

university campus

residential building

guri dam

biggest dam

lower commercial building

office tower

urban border

urban orcharddesign