Alejandro Toro-Acosta 2017 - 2023

alejandro toro-acosta
2017 - 2023

Hello! My name is Alejandro Toro-Acosta. I am a
graduate student, teaching assistant, and aspiring
architect. In my past work experience, I have
worked across multiple disciplines within in the
AEC industry and am eager to take the next step
as a designer. Looking forward in my career, I
see myself becoming part of a team of dedicated
practitioners who operate across multiple scales
and disciplines to deliver design excellency.
Please feel free to contact me if I can be of
further assistance.
Thank you,
contact
atoroa2@illinois.edu
ale.jav.toro@gmail.com
www.linkedin.com/in/atoroa2
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architectural projects
Hangar 4
adaptive reuse
Pg. 6 - 19
Around the Block
supertall building
Pg. 20 - 29
Stitching Santiago
transit-oriented
Pg. 30 - 37
Silos
additive manufacturing
Pg. 38 - 47
Pier 76
competition
Pg. 48 - 55
Production Habitat
net-zero housing
Pg. 56 - 61
A Space for Play
design exercise
Pg. 62 - 65
other projects
Design Classroom
teaching assistantship
Pg. 66 - 71
Deploy
transformable structure
Pg. 72 - 73
Sketchbook
creative works
Pg. 74 - 81
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hangar 4
adaptive reuse design project
Former Chanute Air Base, Rantoul, IL
Spring 2022
Collaborators: Stuti Bhardwaj and Sirisha Reddy
Prof. Scott Murray
Graduate Design Award Nominee
Continuing the history of Chanute Air Base as a place of training,
Hangar 4, also known as “Grissom Hall” is envisioned as a postsecondary
Construction Trade School where craftsmen, construction
managers, and designers hone their skills by participating in handson,
interdisciplinary projects. This proposal would revitalize the small
town of Rantoul by providing new opportunities for jobs in the skilled
trades to young people.
Link to Video Walkthrough
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Continuing the legacy...
The last vacant hangar from the former Chanute Air Base is over 220,000
square feet in size. The existing structure is defined by two typologies: the
“lowbay” characterized by the sawtooth roof that brings even distribution
of natural light into space, and the“highbay” where cadets were trained to
work on military aircraft.
Masterplanning
The building is zoned into Administrative, Student Life, and Learning areas.
We remove structural bays to create courtyards near the administration and
learning zones. The existing enclosure is separated from the new building
envelope to create a large garden entry.
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Ground Floor Plan

Classrooms
A variety of environments designed for multiple
learning styles.
Workshops
Eight workshops each customized to the need
of the respective occupying trade. The sawtooth
roof floods the space with light.
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Student Life
Students are given amenities such as a cafeteria, auditoriums, and study
spaces.
Gardens
Places to sit outside and enjoy natural daylighting enhance the study
environment.
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Structural Enhancement
Existing 40’ x 40’ structural steel bays are
cleaned and coated with fire retardant paint.
Enclosure Performance
Deteriorated roofing removed to expose plywood
sheathing. 6 inch insulation, metal roofing, and
solar panels are applied.
HVAC Systems Integration
Supply and return ducts retrofitted into the
existing trusses above.
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The Highbay
Where aircraft and
missile training once
occurred, full-scale mock
construction projects
can be realized. The
upgraded facade of the
highbay opens itself up to
activate the runway with
these integrated mockups.
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16 Carpentry students at work in the highbay as management students overlook in their classroom above.

Crates: Modular Workstations
To assist students in their training activities, these
“Crates” house folding benches, tool and material
storage closets, and built-in power supply They
are designed to adapt to the users needs and
store easily within the highbay. Each trade may
customize the toolset depending on their uses.
closed
open
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Detailed Section Model
One of three detailed section models each
designed and built by one team member. This
model details the intersection between the
highbay and the carpentry workshop.
Studio-style classroom (bottom left)
Carpentry workshop (bottom right)
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around the block
supertall residential tower
Streeterville, Chicago, IL
Fall 2021
Collaborators: Jesse Torres-Bello and Mansi Sanghvi
Prof. Paul Armstrong
Along the north side of the Chicago riverwalk, the city’s newest
residential super-tall building presents a new node of activity within
Chicago’s riverside urban network. The form was generated by
translating the figure ground onto the elevation of the tower. Units
push and pull within the structural frame to create identifiable “skyblocks,”
or vertical neighborhoods. Open-to-air sky atriums between
units facilitate social activity while providing users with naturally
ventilated gardens, pavilions, and amenities.
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Streeterville, Downtown Chicago
Locate Podium and Core Aggregate Units Structural Frame
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Sketches
Sky Gardens Diagram
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Integrated TENSION SUPPORT Systems
The structure, HVAC,
and elevatoring are
TRANSLUSCENT SOLAR PANEL
all considered in the
detailing of the project.
Outriggers brace the
megacolumns to the
HVAC
central core at every
mechanical floor.
113F - END OF RESIDENTIAL
MULLION
R.C FLOOR SLAB
INSULATION
DOUBLE-PANE GLASS
CORE WALL
R.C BEAM
BRACKETS
43F - TRANSFER AT AMENITY
41F - END OF HOTEL ELEVATOR
FLOOR FINISH
CEILING FINISH
C-STUD
U-CHANNEL
FRAME
ELEVATOR DIAGRAM
RESIDENTAL ELEVATORS
HOTEL ELEVATORS
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Core and Outrigger Structural System
RETURN DUCT
SUPPLY DUCT
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Podium
The Tower engages the street with commercial areas and a restaurant that
overlooks the Chicago River
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Second Floor Plan

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Podium Section Perspective

A central atrium unites the lobby, restaurant, ballroom, and leased commercial spaces.
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stitching santiago
transit-oriented mixed-use development
Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
Fall 2022
Independent Project
Graduate Design Award Nominee
Through the lens of a Mixed-Use Residential and Commercial
center, a human-centric urbanism in Santiago de los Caballeros,
the second largest city in the Dominican Republic. Located at the
gateway of Santiago de los Caballeros, the urban proposal seeks to
address the urban condition of the adjacent highway that bisects the
neighborhood of Rincon Largo from the adjacent commercial zones
as well as the Universidad PUCMM.
First, the transformation of Avenida Estrella Salvador into a boulevard
that places public transit over car-centric urbanism is proposed. A
mixed use residential center stitches the community together by
opening itself up to neighboring users for exchange. The ground
level houses retail, a theater, and a library that all community
members can engage. The facade tectonics celebrates both local
typologies as well as the tropical climate.
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City Development
In an ordinance to break up
the severe congestion of
car-based traffic throughout
the city’s main arteries, the
Municipality of Santiago
de los Caballeros plans
to implement a series of
bike-paths, green belts, and
a metro line to implement
healthier and greener forms
of transportation.
We envision that the
highway that used to bisect
the site’s urban fabric is
to be transformed into a
boulevard with a monorail
connecting major hubs
within Santiago.
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Urban Infrastructure Proposal
PROPOSED TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT
MONORAIL STOP
BUS STOP
ELECTRIC BIKE STATION
URBAN TRANSIT + CITY DEVELOPMENT MAP
250m
10m
Street Condition
The metro station is introduced on the main
boulevard. A ribbon of commercial areas activate
the ground plane.
Structure
Pre-stressed concrete flat plate system creates
enough stiffness to resist heavy lateral loads from
hurricanes.
Towers
Four residential towers step up to the office
tower, which is oriented to maximize views to the
mountains and monument.
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Urban Context
Entrances to the courtyard follow urban axes, stitching together what was once two bisected neighborhoods.
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Learning to Design
Design is an endless, yet everrewarding
process.
Learning to design is learning to think.
Its a long path of unlearning, learning
to learn, and learning what works for
you.
It is not a linear path, but one that
goes forward, backwards, sideways,
and upside down.
I have learned to keep following that
path. You have to trust it will take you
somewhere great.
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silos
an exploration in verticality
Champaign, IL, USA
Fall 2020
Independent Project
Prof. Aaron Brakke
This project imagines a new climbing center in Champaign that utilizes
futurist 3D-Printed concrete technology to generate the structure. The
focus was to create formal experimentations with Boolean operations and
reinterpreting the typology of the grain silo as nodes of verticality within the
flat Illinois landscape.
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Climbing in Central Illinois
Rock climbing is an activity seeing increased
popularity in recent years. Because the flat
natural topography of the Midwest limits outdoor
excursions to a few select regions, climbing
gyms are essential in breeding vertically-inclined
hobbyists.
Conceptual Collage
Urbana Boulders
Site Location
The ARC climbing wall
Map of Champaign County
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Form
Program
Extrusion
South Elevation
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Process
Despite this project’s was conception in the
spatial confines of quarantine, I figured it was
essential to experiment with modeling techniques
to begin to generate the cast cylindrical forms
with real cement. Sketching was also heavily
utilized to be able to visualize new spaces to
climb.
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Cylindrical forms and openings create new climbing experiences. 45

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Traversal climbing walls ungulate along the exterior wall. 47

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reclaim pier 76
acsa steel competition studio
Hudson Yards, NYC, New York
Spring 2021
Independent Project
Prof. Erik Hemingway
ISoA Earl Prize Nominee
In the spring of 2021, the former NYPD tow pound on Pier 76
on the Hudson River was issued to be decommissioned. This
proposal envisions the site being transformed into a shell space for
community activists to adapt to their needs. This project examines
shipping containers as the primary activators for small-scale urban
intervention, evoking New York’s history as a port city. A market
is introduced under the existing structural system, while a storage
pavilion provides space for these containers to be transformed into
resilient, inhabitable shelters that can be deployed for commercial
use as well as for disaster conditions.
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Arts along the Hudson
Welcome to Manhattan, home of some of
the world’s most renowned museums, artists,
and movers and shakers of the art world in
the post-industrial era. It is also a cultural
hub for graffiti culture.
MANHATTAN Arts
From the “Warhol superstars” who made art and held hip parties with Andy Warhol at The Factory to the young,
brash urbanites who risk their criminal records, and often their lives, tagging subway cars for street cred, NYC
has always been a hub for the boldest and most revolutionary visual artists worldwide.
Public Parks
Street Art Hotspot
UPPER WEST SIDE
The Guggenheim
The Met
Whitney Museum of
Art [Former]
As Midtown sees increased inequality of
investment in areas along Central Park and
the Hudson Yards, how can we imagine
a space for New Yorkers to “tag” these
developments?
Art Museum
Art Gallery
Famous Work
Artists’ Studio
Jean Michel Basquiat
Andy Warhol
With such a rich art history as Manhattan, Pier 76
could become a new space for the next generation of
urban creatives
HELL’S KITCHEN
MOMA
Banksy
Keith Haring
Gordon Matta-Clark
The Shed
An iconic tag from the anonymous graffiti artist from
England, Banksy, comedically celebrates NYC’s vibrant
graffiti culture. It lasted hours before another cunning vandal
covered it with his own tag
CHELSEA
Whitney
Museum of Art
Rubin
Museum
Gordon Matta-Clark, renowned for
creating art pieces by carved large
sections out of buildings, once carved this
piece out at Pier 52
The Factory
Graffiti Art, both illicit vandalism and commisioned murals, are at the
heart of urban culture. It paints the urban fabric into a street-level public
art gallery
GREENWICH VILLAGE
In 2016, the Whitney relocated from its long standing location
in Midtown to art hub Chelsea in this Renzo Piano-designed
building
The Museum of
Street Art
Before Jean Michel Basquiat would sell his most prized
paintings to the most esteemed art museums, he began his
public art career with the SAMO, in collaboration with artist
Al Diaz
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
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Progress
Development of
the project was
continuously
translated on
four boards that
would ultimately
serve as the final
submission.
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production habitat
mass timber housing project
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Spring 2020
Independent Project
Prof. Sergi Serrat
With the goal of creating sustainable communities, timber
construction and energy production were the two driving strategies
in the design of this mixed-use residential building. Passive
climatization within the units is achieved by the facade’s operable
functions, whereas thermal mass is created within the living units.
These functions filter the dialogue between the living spaces and
the exterior. Translucent perosvkite solar cells are implemented
in the enclosure, creating a texture that mimics the terracotta
color of the neighboring buildings. By using the double skin to
control climatization within the timber masses, it allows the building
to produce a net positive in energy production, which is to be
redistributed for public use by means of the ground floor program.
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Bike Shop Sketch Bar Sketch Alley Sketch
Thermal Mass
The building utilizes an operable transparent
polycarbonate shroud that allows the structure to
generate heat through solar mass.
Operability
Bi-folding panels on the balconies allow residents
control in climatizing their unit. Glass louvres
allow for natural ventilation.
Solar Energy
Translucent solar cells on the glass louvres
harvest carbon-free energy.
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Atrium vignette
Bar entrance vignette
Ground Floor Sketch
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Longitudinal Section

Courtyard Elevation
Typical Residential Floor Plan
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a space for play
children’s pavilion
Champaign, IL
Fall 2018
Independent Project
Prof. David Emmons
A semi-permanent playscape is envisioned in the adjacent lot to the
Orpheum Childrens’ Museum in Downtown Champaign. Elevated
platforms are enshrouded by overlapping curvilinear planes, creating
a framework for inhabitants to construct their own rules of play.
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Analog Production
After observing the immediate context, a
playscape was generated through a curvilinear
basswood model that was then drawn
orthographically in plan and section.

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design classroom
graduate teaching assistantship
Arch 171 / Arch 172
Fall 2022 / Spring 2023
Prof. John Clark
Led one section of over 10 students for two semesters. As a TA, I
see myself as a facilitator of design; I allow the unique experiences
of each student inform their creativities while sharing my knowledge
and expertise based on own experiences to help guide themselves
forward as designers. Before one can learn how to teach, one must
learn how to learn.
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Final Reviews
Students spent the semester iterating on a
series of 3d paper collages that where then
recreated digitally and represented in a variety of
orthographic drawings and diagrams. The project
culminated into a graphic novel depicting stories
within the spaces they designed.
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In-class demonstrations
Organized and coordinated among other TA’s to
deliver thoughtful and informative demonstrations
on a variety of modeling techniques, including
casting, lasercutting, 3D-printing, sculpting, and
carving.
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deploy
transformable dome structure
Fall 2022
Collaborators: Urvi Varma, Lukas Elisha, Sree Vandana Bendalam
Prof. Sudarshan Krishnan
As a team, we designed, iterated, and executed a 3 ft x 3 ft
transformable dome that utilizes centrally connected cross bracings
of varying lengths. My responsibilities included resolving the
geometry, 3D modeling, laser cutting, assisting in construction, and
producing the final construction video.
Link to Construction Video
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Level Green
A reinterpretation of
the J. Mayer. H project
of the same name. This
drawing mixes digital with
hand drawn techniques
to generate a vortex of
platforms that distorts
notions of dimensionality.
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sketchbook
selected creative works
Because I came into the field of architecture from the fine arts, It
is important to me to maintain a creative output in the visual arts
outside of my design studios. I primarily engage in this through
hand-drawing, but I also have experience in painting, photography,
video editing, graphic design, linoleum block printing, screen
printing, ceramics, and aerosol.
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Travel Sketches
During my junior year
in Europe, I had the
opportunity to explore
new drawing techniques
through my travels. It was
there I developed what
I feel is my favorite and
most distinctive sketching
style: toned paper with
white charcoal.
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Fine Arts
Ever since I was young I have found comfort in
making art. By allowing myself to grow through
the freedom of expression, I have opened
my perspective to remain searching for new
mediums and ideas.
Kingfisher
Linoleum print, 2017
Gesture
Watercolor, 2022
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Split
Ceramic sculpture, 2017
John Hancock from Lincoln Park
Acrylic, 2023
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Photography
Schönbrunn Palace Gardens
Vienna, Austria
Plaza
Teruel, Spain
German Pavilion in Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain
Cathedral
Geneva, Switzerland
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JTI Headquarters
Geneva, Switzerland
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did you find them all?