ISABEL FLORES
5th-Year Undergraduate at the City College of New York, Spitzer School of Architecture
My name is Isabel Flores, I am a 5th year B.Arch candidate. Before entering architecture school, I had immersed myself in different areas of design/technology. I was able to compete at Robotics events during my time in high school and it taught me how to manipulate technology to accomplish incredible feats. I’ve also spent the better half of my childhood cultivating and harvesting different types of crops, this has taught me to respect nature and appreciate all the bounty she provides.
Architecture school has allowed me to combine all my skills and interests to ultimately become a unique designer, inspired by my Mexican culture and motivated to advance our reputation as a nation.
Isabel‘s Fun Facts
Where are you from? Puebla, Mexico
I am from Puebla, Mexico but I was born in Queens, NY. I spent the majority of my childhood in Mexico, always surrounded by nature. My family owned a ranch and I remember taking care of all the animals and crops that we were cultivating. My upbringing and culture helped me stay grounded and true to my values. Growing up I took great pride in being raised in Mexico, I was lucky to grow up in a very humble and rough environment because it taught me so much and made me become the person I am today.
What is your favorite Latina/x dish?
My favorite Mexican dish would have to be Pozole, this dish is super delicious and important in my culture. We associate it with any large family gathering /special events, my family makes it especially during Christmas or when we celebrate birthdays in my family.
As an architecture student, I’ve witnessed first hand the massive amounts of coffee consumed by my peers. Interestingly enough, I’ve always preferred chocolate abuelita, a traditional mexican version of hot chocolate.
Also related to studio life, I love to listen to mexican cumbia while I’m drafting or modeling, it always makes me work faster!
Some of my hobbies include: Watercolor, color pencil and ceramics as well as gardening!
Gardening. - Courtesy of Isabel Flores.
What inspired you to study architecture?
I didn’t always know I was going to study architecture, it wasn’t until the end of my senior year in high school that I decided it could be something I would enjoy. Growing up I knew I wanted to go to a creative field but I also was interested in the building of things, my sister studied engineering and my dad works in the construction field. Both of them inspired me to eventually study architecture, and after the first few weeks in architecture school, I loved it.
DDC Internship Summer 2017. - Courtesy of Isabel Flores.
Which Latina/x architect/artist influenced you the most as an emerging professional?
Tatiana Bilbao has been one of the Mexican architects that influenced me throughout my education. Her works will often merge with nature, throughout different scales. That aspect is what really connected me with her work. Her unique way of thinking about the link between the built environment with the environment is what defines most of her projects.
Tatiana Bilbao’s firm uses the idea of “making places and spaces, by people, for people,” where she continues the tradition of traditionally building with people that need jobs in Mexico. Her goal is to provide jobs without replacing people with machines and so far she has successfully done so.
Tatiana Bilbao uses collages, rather than renders, to present her designs. - Courtesy of Isabel Flores, Credits to Dezeen.
Name a favorite project completed by a Latina/x Architect. Why is it your favorite?
Jardin Botanico de Culiacan, by Tatiana Bilbao, is one of my favorite projects. The form was based on a pattern traced from branches of trees that were already existing in the garden. The complex is situated inside the garden and is divided into three separate buildings, educational space, an auditorium, and a service building, as well as a small open-air structure. This project develops a dialogue between the garden and it’s users, and how people around it can become part of the dialogue with nature. What draws me to this project is it’s simplicity, materiality and how the whole complex sits within the site. The spaces between the three parts of the building serve as a reminder that you are in the garden, forcing you to experience the outside whenever you transition from one building to the next.
Botanical Garden
Culiacan, Mexico
Architects: Tatiana Bilbao S. C.
Year: 2012
Courtesy of Isabel Flores.
Are there any organizations that helped you grow in architecture?
In High School I was involved in a Robotics Club (FRC), and in college I was in the CCNY Concrete Canoe club, both of these organizations helped me develop skills that would prove to be incredibly resourceful throughout my architecture education. That is why I love architecture, because it is so diverse that even things like building a robot or a canoe from concrete, all of that knowledge links together and can be applied to architecture.
Concrete Canoe Club. 2018
Concrete Canoe Club. 2017
Robotics Team. 2016
Courtesy of Isabel Flores.
How does your culture affect the way you design?
I think that growing up I’ve always been connected with nature, somehow I always try to incorporate aspects of it with whatever I'm designing. I think that most of my projects from school can represent that.
If you would talk to your younger self, what advice would you give yourself?
Get out of your comfort zone, always embrace change and do things you would never think of doing.
Market. 2018. Watercolor on Watercolor paper. - Courtesy of Isabel Flores.
Horse. 2019. Colorpencil with watercolor on watecolor paper - Courtesy of Isabel Flores.
Koi Fish. 2018. Watercolor on napkin - Courtesy of Isabel Flores.
What do you want to say to the next generation of Latina/x architects?
Being an architect (or architecture student) is a lifestyle, you will have a different way of seeing the world, and it will change your life. Always try to bring something new and innovative to your designs, don’t forget that anything you learn outside architecture school can always be applied and brought back to architecture.
In architecture there is always something new, there can be new methods of designing constructions etc, but you should always mold it and shape it however you believe is right. This is your career and you are the only one walking this path so make it yours.
Evolve into the architect you want to become!!
Ceramics. - Courtesy of Isabel Flores.
