Alejandra Calderón

_Naranjo Mall, Guatemala City 2025

Over ten years ago, three friends shared sleepless nights and scale models in architecture school in Guatemala: Nancy Rojas, Gabriela Escalón, and myself.

Each of us later took different professional paths: Nancy in residential interior design, Gaby in residential architecture, and I focused on exhibitions and narrative spaces. A decade later, we reunited to create a project that would challenge us while celebrating what has always connected us.

From this collaboration, Ocean Expedition was born: a temporary immersive installation at Naranjo Mall that transforms 185 m² into an underwater expedition. Our goal was clear: to offer a pause in the midst of city life, a space where children (and the young at heart) could ignite their imagination through design, storytelling, and interactive technology.

The experience is composed of six rooms that build a continuous story:

1)A marine lab with aquariums, sounds, and interactive games.

2)A submarine with a moving platform, dynamic lighting, and animations simulating a deep-sea dive.

3)A fluorescent coral reef with hand-painted corals and projections, where kids design their own fish that later come to life digitally in room 5.

4)A ball pool, accessible via a slide, inspired by the calm of the ocean.

5)A space where the children’s animated fish are projected into a moving landscape.

Finally, a (6) cave of layered plans that marks the end of the expedition.

All spaces share a palette of blues and metallics, with fluorescent accents and moving projections. More than scenery, we aimed to create a spatial narrative that envelops visitors and connects them with the wonder of the sea.

Area: 185 m²
Year: 2025
Design: Nancy Rojas (Difra), Gabriela Escalón, and Alejandra Calderón
Execution: Nancy Rojas (Difra), Gabriela Escalón
Client: Spectrum
Collaborators: Local suppliers from Guatemala City
Photography: Emilio Paniagua

_Rotterdam,The Netherlands 2017

`The Liberation of the Kitchen´ challenges the traditional layout of the house and questions how we inhabit domestic spaces, when patterns of life are changing so fast. By challenging the traditional arrangement of the fitted kitchen and proposing a new model, alternative forms of experiencing the domestic space can emerge: a cooking experience that is fluid, flexible and fragmented -- It is a new model of living for the modern dweller.

The project presents an online platform where the blueprints are available to everybody. Being an open source project allows not only an easy implementation of the design, but also the introduction of new empty spaces as an opportunity for profit or to share space. For more information visit:

www.liberationofthekitchen.com

MIARD Graduation Project awarded with the Alumni Research Award: Design Process, Making + Materials.

Photos by Agnese Pellino

PUBLICATIONS:

https://www.designboom.com

https://www.treehugger.com

https://plainmagazine.com/alejandra-calderon-kitchen-mobile-work-units/

https://www.digsdigs.com/modern-module-kitchen/

https://revistamuebles.com/practico-y-flexible-sistema-modular-para-la-cocina/

https://www.efe.com/efe/america/cultura/una-disenadora-guatemalteca-revoluciona-la-cocina-en-art-rotterdam-week/20000009-3519042

_Amsterdam Diemen Zuid, The Netherlands 2019

OurDomain offers 21st-century urban living to students, young professionals, and all those that are attracted to vibrant and multicultural cities. Following the brand identity conceived by the Dutch creative agency KesselsKramer, Pubblik & Vos was assigned to make the story for the identity of the interior design for the common spaces of OurDomain.

“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances. If there is any reaction both are transformed ” This quote from Carl Jung became the starting point for the story behind the interior design. People’s behaviors were categorized into 4 quadrants. Each quadrant was assigned a material and color pallet and design elements that represented the qualities of this group. Combining the contrasting pallets of two different quadrants in each space created the spark that arises when complementary people meet.

My collaboration on this project, while working at Pubblik & Vos, started from design development until the construction documents phase. Responsibilities included choosing finishes and materials, making mood boards, and construction document production.

Pubblik&Vos. (2019). OUR DOMAIN AMSTERDAM DIEMEN - Urban home, amenities. https://www.pubblikvos.nl/nl/our-domain-amsterdam-diemen

All pictures belong to Pubblik & Vos

_Guatemala City, Guatemala 2015

Alessa Designs is a high-end jewelry based in Guatemala and Dubai. The project aimed to meet the luxury details of the brand, while creating a fresh and soft atmosphere for the clients. This was achieved by creating a contrast between natural textures, subtle curves, bold colors and the creation of “mini worlds” where the costumer could escape into an immersive experience. My collaboration on this project, while working at Taller KEN studio, started from schematic design until site supervision. During the construction phase I performed as project manager. Responsibilities included preparing schedules, dealing with clients and suppliers and choosing finishes and materials.

Collaboration with Taller KEN

Pictures are property of Taller KEN.

Finalist in the Biennial of Ibero-American Design (BID16).

_Zone 11, Guatemala City, Guatemala 2014

This project was inspired by the colors and vibrant culture of Rio de Janeiro. Enclosed in a natural wood facade, this restaurant is meant to be an escape. The facade is made of folding shutters allowing a dynamic open space when needed. The custom made ceramic floor consists of 14,300 tiles elaborated in collaboration with local artisans. My collaboration in this project, while working at Taller KEN studio, involves assistance since the schematic development until its final construction. Responsibilities include site supervision during the construction phase.

Collaboration with Taller KEN

All pictures taken by me.

_Santa Catarina Pinula, Guatemala 2014

The project principal premise was to produce a space that differentiated from the existing rigid mall structure. For accomplishing this, a composition of four house-shaped tubes were located in between the concrete columns of the shopping mall.

My collaboration in this project, while working at Taller KEN studio, started from schematic development, construction documents until its final construction. Responsibilities include site supervision in construction phase.

Floor details include 10x10 cm cement tiles. The tiles were custom made by local artisans inspired in the traditional colonial floor of Guatemala. 

The bathrooms were designed in a way where complete privacy is replaced with a playful insight were mirrors and curtains help to distort the reality. These curtains were developed along with social project of an organized group of mothers living in the surrounding settlement communities of  the Guatemala City garbage dump.

Collaboration with Taller KEN.

All pictures taken by me.

Winner of AIA|LA Restaurant Design Awards, People’s Choice 2015.

_Rotterdam, The Netherlands 2016

Although internet has allowed people to collaborate remotely from different parts of the world, there is a point where a face to face meeting is needed. Usually one of the persons has to travel long distances to meet the other. Traveling for business comes with disadvantages that are hard to tackle since the time zones can be challenging. Fatigue, high prices, jetlag and discomfort are all associated with having to meet abroad.

Thinking how to make this process and the encounters easier, more fair and enjoyable for both parts, BEAT THE TIMEZONE is a platform that brings solutions to the traveling coworkers and digital nomads. Based on the location of both users, it finds the middle point in the world where the meeting should happen. 

Following this collaborative concept, the work space where the meeting will take place is created by the users in an interactive approach by providing flexible modules in a preselected building that allows them to create the perfect working space for their needs. Personalizing the space together creates a collaborative atmosphere that encourages a real sense of a shared mission.

In collaboration with Jadranka Sic.

_Dubai, United Arab Emirates 2015

Savas Milano is a brand of luxury leather handbags and accessories produced in Italy and designed by the Swedish Rasmus Ringberg. The concept for the 80 m2 monobrand store was to reflect the inspiration of the designer about mixing his Swedish heritage and his experience of working and living in Milan, Italy.

The status of this project stayed in Schematic Design.

In collaboration with Stephanie Ponsa.

_Rotterdam, The Netherlands 2016

“It was another day at the office for Albert Smith. His day had started at 6:30 am when he woke up in his small flat in Amsterdam, which he shared with 3 people. It was small, dirty and overpriced, but the endless nights looking for a place in expat websites, Facebook and agencies, due to housing shortage, led him to take this room in the outskirts of the city. Albert had been working for a year as a customer service agent for a new services company located in the second floor of the Haka building in Rotterdam. He didn’t like commuting every day, but once he got into the building he enjoyed working in a clean environment, having a proper heating system and most of all he fancied his Herman Miller desk which he kept clean and tidy. Albert was so focused on finishing an email that he didn’t realize it was time to leave. When he was done, it was already 7:30 pm. He looked around the place. It was closed, empty and quiet at night. After 5 pm, the space became unused, vacant. The panorama of almost 80 empty desks made him think that the space could have another use in the night. He asked himself “Why couldn’t I make use of it?”

After-hours aims to make a comment on the actual architectural, social and economic situation of the workplace in relation to other aspects such as urban policies, commuting and housing. Using the Haka building as a scenario of the typical office of the present, the project presents an opportunity to reflect on alternative uses of space.

Read the whole story here:

https://issuu.com/alecalderon2/docs/after-hours

_Rotterdam, The Netherlands 2016

Advances in technology have contributed to the creation of interior environments that function independently from their physical exterior surroundings. We can spend long periods of time indoors without any knowledge of the behavior of the exterior. This cycle results in a dwelling experience in which very little stimuli is given to our everyday lives.

This situation is enhanced with how the information on outdoor conditions is provided by liquid screens, i.e. our smartphones, which disable us from experiencing it physically and emotionally. When we check the conditions of the exterior through our devices, we get numbers, rather than experiences. Websites and apps announce the weather without giving any change in the passive behavior of the interior spaces.  There is an urge to break the static environments while creating an understanding of the daily variations and characteristics of the outdoors.

We introduce another way to perceive the conditions of the exterior. The ‘Wind~IT’ app allows real-time wind data to be showcased in any part of the interior. Each hour, unique wind patterns are generated based on the speed and direction of the wind in the current location of the user. It makes possible to visualize the invisible force that constantly surrounds us, through a playful yet subtle experience. This project attempts to embrace existing conditions of technology and living to include the exterior environment in our daily lives.

For the complete research process follow this link:  www.issuu.com

In collaboration with Teo Sandigliano.

The project was part of the exhibition OUT OF SIGHT presented at Milan Design Week 2016 at Ventura Lambrate.  

Examples of 3d Visualisations for different projects. Main softwares:

-Rhinoceros

-3d Max

-Photoshop