WORK IN PROGRESS
The vitality of a great city lies in its diversity of uses and users, a cluster of sub-worlds within a single atmosphere.
Spatial exploration through graphic expression.
As a means of spatial exploration through graphic expression, I began designing a city from scratch. During my architectural education, I never had the chance to explore design fields considered outdated—classic styles like modernism, Victorian, art nouveau, art deco, among others. That’s why, in the process of designing and illustrating this city, I started incorporating various elements from historical styles, convinced that for many of the world’s great cities, the passage of time is a fundamental part of their essence and mystique. Different eras are etched into the facades of their buildings, telling countless stories of the events their streets have witnessed, from the laying of the first stone to the present day.
Just like the baroque nature of its image—loaded with visual information—the vitality of a great city lies in its diversity of uses and users, a cluster of sub-worlds within a single atmosphere. For this reason, I included different people walking, shopping, talking, playing, engaging in various activities, along with the design of different elements that shape this diversity, such as: interior spaces of cafés, restaurant logos, store and brand logos, a university logo—I even went as far as creating the work uniform for an auto repair shop. I also fully designed a vehicle, adding more graphic details like the logo of the fictional automotive company that manufactures it and more.
How it started
YEAR
Ciudad Milagro
Multi-design project focused on architectural illustration
2019-Constant Development
DISCIPLINE
Combines product, graphic and apparel design.
Some design elements serve as references or memories of things belonging to San José, Costa Rica, as well as other existing cities around the world—from a wall to a park. It is in the freedom of reinterpretation that I find my most sincere way of creating, hence the Milagro brand’s attribute: a copy of a copy of a copy.
A Copy Of A Copy.
This fictional city offers so many design possibilities that I keep imagining and drawing spaces, businesses, logos, uniforms, and countless elements of a diverse urban life. Some of these elements find their way onto garments, while others remain as digital art or prints.
The Products
Many of these city elements have been reflected in garments and illustrations across various collections over time.
The lookbook images for Milagro City are always shot with the intention of visualizing spaces within the city itself—a collection of urban scenes and moments as I envisioned them while drawing.
