portfolio
Grace Mathieson
Grace Mathieson 408 482 7622 grace.mathieson@gmail.com Master of Architecture UT Austin
TABLE OF CONTENTS ON THE ROAD
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LEARNING LABS
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ZILKER BOTANICAL PAVILION
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A STUDY OF LIGHT
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MENIL DRAWING INSTITUTE
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NUYORICAN POET’S CAFE
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PIER 42
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SKETCHES + STUDIES
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ON THE ROAD Spring 2014 | Technical Communication Studio Partner Andrew Wilson Jonestown, TX Professor Francisco Gomes
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On the Road was a project set in Jonestown, TX with a program that consisted of a community center, municipal center, dance hall/event space, and 11 proximate hotel rooms. In the study of Jonestown, we recognized that many struggle with creating and maintaining a specific identity. A main road may bring traffic and people, but unless there is some place or reason for them to stop or slow down, potential visitors just pass through. In Jonestown there are currently no sidewalks or stop lights, which deters people from getting out of their cars to move about. This makes it difficult to create a public space where residents and visitors can interact and help form an identity for the community.
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The design concentrated the program linearly along the road to create a marker along FM 1431 for people passing through so they could get a prolonged visual connection to a place that could be identified with Jonestown. The most public part of the program, the dance hall is dramatically perched on the ledge above FM 1431, so that it could become the identifier for a public place and a reason for people to stop and get out of the car.
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spring 2014 | on the road
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roof plan
ground floor plan
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spring 2014 | on the road
In our approach to the design, we strived for a place that is comfortable and contextual. We looked to the familiar vernacular of dance halls and other utilitarian structures located in the hill country and we chose the straight forward legibility and form of a shed roof profile. We thought this form would be approachable, but by stretching it parallel to the road, could help form an identifying characteristic of the new city center.
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spring 2014 | on the road
dance hall/hotel section
south elevation
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spring 2014 | on the road
Municipal
Library Atr
Dance Ha
dance hall view
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council chamber wall section
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spring 2014 | on the road
dance hall wall section
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courtyard view 19
LEARNING LABS fall 2013 | Advanced Interiors Studio texas public school system Professor Clay Odom
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The program assignment for this project was to create a portable classroom prototype that would more accurately and more sensitively respond to middle-school student learning needs. The Learning pods are an aggregation of three classroom spaces encouraging distinct learning styles through three programmatic zones: the library, for quiet and individual work, the review space, for cross-communicative and collaborative work, and the studio space, for creative and un-prescriptive work. The spaces encourage learning habits through their formal and lighting moves as well as curated interstitial spaces between the pods. The aggregation of the three pods allows for conversation between learning groups as well as serving the project based curriculum and provides shared spaces in between for communication and visibility in and around the pods and throughout the network. The pods are all made up of sequenced spaces, leading from the exterior condition to the settle moment before entering the learning environment.
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Middle Schooler ECOLOGY
Averages Boys (age 13) Height: 5’2” Weight: 100lbs
Girls (age 13) Height: 5’3” Weight: 105lbs
Interaction Modes
Personal Space Range
1.5’ 1.5’
2’
1.5’
2’
EXISTING
26 square feet / student
Interaction Modes
2’
2’
Surface Interaction Modes
SCHOOL 2’ 2’
1.5’ radius
1 User / Single workspace / Single viewport
2’
2’ 2’ radius
2’ radius
2 Users / Shared workspace / Shared viewport
Duration
Posture 3’
Volumetric Occupation
3 Users / Shared workspace / Shared viewport
Social Level
Personal Occupation
Instruction Distribution
Surface Qualities
4’
N
rough 3 Users / Shared workspace / Separate viewport
opaque transparent
Library
writable porous thick
Intrapersonal [local] Qualities
smooth 2 Users / Shared workspace / Separate viewport
flimsy solid
Review Spatial [whole] Qualities
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fall 2013 | learning labs
Storage Wall Strip Lighting Marker Board Wall Storage Wall Strip LightingWindow Seating Community Marker Board Wall Wood Flooring Highlighted Floor areas (36 sf) Storage WallWindow Seating Community To encourage program specific occupation Strip Lighting Sliding Display Panels Wood Flooring Student Storage Marker Board Wall Highlighted Floor areas (36 sf) To encourage program specific occupation Sliding Display Panels Seating Community Window Student Storage Wood Flooring Highlighted Floor areas (36 sf) To encourage program specific occupation Sliding Display Panels Student Storage
Storage Wall
studio lab planometric
Strip Lighting Projector Screen Display Walls/ Partitions ProjectorWall Storage Strip Lighting Glass Sliding Doors Projector Screen Display Walls/ Partitions Partition Track System Projector Wood Flooring Highlighted Floor areas (36 sf) Storage WallDoors Glass Sliding To encourage program specific occupation Strip Lighting Sliding Presentation Panels Partition Track System Projector Screen Student StoragePartitions Wood Flooring Display Walls/ Highlighted Floor areas (36 sf) Projector To encourage program specific occupation SlidingSliding Presentation Glass Doors Panels Student Storage Partition Track System Wood Flooring Highlighted Floor areas (36 sf) To encourage program specific occupation Sliding Presentation Panels
review lab planometric
Student Storage
Storage Wall Pendant Lighting Acoustically Absorbtive / Tacking Panels Storage Partition Wall Track System Pendant Lighting Glass Sliding Doors Acoustically Absorbtive / Flexibile Partitions Tackingscalar Panelsshifts/ Group settings Allows Partition Track System Carpet Flooring Highlighted Floor areas (36 sf) Glass Sliding Storage WallDoors To encourage program specific occupation Flexibile Partitions Pendant Lighting Allows scalar shifts/ Group settings Window Seating Acoustically Absorbtive / Student Storage Carpet Flooring Tacking Panels Highlighted Floor areas (36 sf) Partition Track program System specific occupation To encourage Glass Sliding Doors Window Seating Flexibile Partitions Student Storage Allows scalar shifts/ Group settings
library lab planometric
Carpet Flooring Highlighted Floor areas (36 sf) To encourage program specific occupation Window Seating Student Storage
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rev iew
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dio
rev iew
lib ra r y
dio
rev iew
lib ra r y
fall 2013 | learning labs
library lab
review lab
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fall 2013 | learning labs
studio lab 27
Screen Roof Plan
75%
50%
Interior Partition Plan 25%
Pod Roof Plan
partition plan
Screen Roof Plan
pod roof plan
75%
50%
Interior Partition Plan 25%
screen plan
Through formal manipulations of the roof scape on each pod, light entry becomes a key feature in defining the program of the space. The library lab, quieter Podfor Roof Plan and more personal learning approaches, has it’s oculus facing north with a fabric diffuser. The review lab has the option to allow for bounced light through a louver system or to close off during a presentation. The studio space’s oculus faces due south to allow for the most direct light for the creative learning approach.
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fall 2013 | learning labs
library lab A
library lab B
review lab A
review lab B
studio lab A
studio lab A
sectional light studies 29
library lab
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fall 2013 | learning labs
studio lab
review lab
The footprint of the labs remains the same as the standard classroom space, but with modifications to reflect the learning styles within each of the pods. The studio lab’s primary function is to encourage messy and creative learning and does so with increased natural light and ample pin up space, the bright yellow color fades up to white, emphasizing the light. The review lab houses the most flexible partitions to adjust to any range of situations and is painted a desaturated purple to reflect a collaborative and communicative attitude. The library lab achieves a quiet space through absorptive carpeting and cork panels with a soothing dark green on the walls and ceiling to create a compression of space.
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ZILKER BOTANICAL GARDEN fall 2012 | Vertical Studio austin, tx Professor Danelle Briscoe
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This project was set in Zilker Botanical Gardens in Austin, Texas which is home to a variety of Austin and Texas local vegation in a sprawling, organic organization. The site is also home to a number of intermittent pavilions and stops along tree grove to direct sunlight. The desired effect for the pavilion in this location was to create a gradient between the density of tree line to the open corridor through not only a stepped space but a space that would provide shade but also rest and views out to the gardens. The parameters for the assignment were to create a component based pavilion, through a number of studies of construction, the individual unit piece measures 3 feet tall and with its particular geometry flexes and fits with 4 other units around it making a self-dependent construction with a unique sidedness to its shell when assembled. The space touches down and secures in front arching over the walkway to encourage passerby to pause and rest or give a lean space to bend to look more closely at the vegetation in this part of the park.
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25.5”
27” 36”
18”
25.5”
27” 36”
18”
25.5”
27” 36”
18”
component mapping
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fall 2012 | zilker botanical garden
rfly te
t bu tra il
zilker botanical garden site plan
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fall 2012 | zilker botanical garden
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fall 2012 | zilker botanical garden
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A STUDY OF LIGHT spring 2013 | Vertical Studio site-less Professor Joyce Rosner
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A space for light was a project that prioritizes light as a material rather than an afterthought. Considering the profile of the stereotypical house as a baseline for the form, light becomes the ornament and the driver for formal response. The form cracks in half about a diagonal median to reflect the movement of the sun throughout the day, opening up more at the entryway to the east and narrowing as the sun gets more intense to the west. Moving into the space there is a processional path that draws the user up and around to the eastern entry, the form pulls out to guide the visitor then inward into the space to pause and reflect the drama that the light and shadow creates, and then moving on through the northern opening. The space evolves from an iteration process to carve the interior into a space that would cause the visitor to stop and pause. Though a small scale project, it made a profound effect on my understanding of the individual in terms of scale, occupation and movement in symphony with light.
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short section
long section
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spring 2013 | space for light
physical model sequencing
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MENIL DRAWING INSTITUTE spring 2013 | Vertical Studio houston, tx Professor Joyce Rosner
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The project’s program stemmed from a legitimate design competition for the Menil to have a place to house drawings in spaces that are sensitive to the fragility of drawings. Considering the parameters of the program, it was crucial to create spaces that reflected the necessary viewing proximity of drawings versus paintings. The design reflects that by creating an underground gallery with a hierarchy of space to create more opportunities for closer viewing relationships to the pieces. By placing the artwork underground, it created not only a way to maintain the subtle character of the above ground buildings in connection to the Menil campus but also allowed for more sensitive manipulation of light through the use of light-diffusing wells. The desired subtlety of the overall design was to make a structure that would serve as a noncompete but a participating partner in the site as a whole. The shifting densities of occupation allow for moments of pause, gather, and reflection inside the museum but also about the site.
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preliminary diagrams
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spring 2013 | menil drawing institute
diagrammatic site plan
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short sections
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spring 2013 | menil drawing institute
short sections
long section
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entry view
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spring 2013 | menil drawing institute
gallery view
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spring 2013 | menil drawing institute
ground floor level
gallery floor level
section perspective 55
NUYORICAN POET’S CAFE fall 2014 | Residency lower east side NYC Leroy Street Studio
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LSS as a part of the Design Excellence list of architecture firms through the New York City Department of Design and Construction is on the list of potential clients seeking out architects through the DDC. The Nuyorican Poets Cafe was one of the Request for Proposals (RFPs) that LSS recieved. I was one a 2-person team in charge of working on a preliminary design to renovate and restore the Cafe, located in the Lower East Side. LSS wanted to preserve the program and the character of the space but activate the whole of the building through structural renovations while maintaining the flexibility of the slam poetry and performance spaces.
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Maintain the current strategy of an open, flexible performance space with loose furniture and “found� objects
Apply glazing as acoustical treatment along the west brick wall to maximize sound isolation while highlighting the charismatic quality of the brickwork
Insert a minimal framework for showcasing existing artwork and props, as well as new work from emerging artists
Core-Shell Strategy: 3 4
1 Add two separate exit stairs and an elevator to bring the building up to code; possible rear stair addition to maximize interior spaces. 2 Locate second theater space. 3 Analyze programming requirements to determine if there is a need for an additional two floors.
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4 Identify the appropriate mechanical strategies that would allow for seamless adaptation should additional floors be added in the future.
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5 Research the feasibility of future use of the easement for egress. 6 Phase construction work to allow for continuous use of the existing performance space.
Preserve Existing preserve existing Brickwork brickwork
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Maintain Flexible Space maintain flexible space
towards a collective goal. Hester Street Collaborative has a strong reputation as a key player in the development of the Lower East Side and is part of an extensive network of nonprofit organizations. Together with Leroy Street Studio’s experience modernizing historic structures, our team is wellpositioned to work with the Café’s community in the shaping of their space.
Community Visioning Session
• Compile relevant community data to identify key uses and programming for the space as well as key essential features needed that will dictate the spatial needs and impact the final design of the space.
Design Workshop with End Users
fall 2014 | nuyorican poet’s cafe
Architecture Reflects Community Input
Case Study: Practical Steps to Inclusive Design
Preserve andwithHighlight Highlight HSC/LSS completed two public school library renovations the Robin Hood Foundation. HSC/LSS conducted workshops with the students from which artwork inspired by books from the library’s new collection Artwork Performer History highlightwas performer history preserve and highlight original created. The student work was installed in a Original eye-catching display at the entry of the artwork library and became
the point of departure for the color, lighting, and furnishing of the space. Such workshops provide a voice for the building’s users, but also instill a social codification of how a community can affect change. This process will also create an opportunity to protect the current public art works on site while providing the potential for additional Percent for Art investments.
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fall 2014 | nuyorican poet’s cafe
character elevation
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PIER 42 fall 2014 | Residency east river, lower east side, NYC Leroy Street Studio
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Leroy Street Studio (LSS) participates in an artist collaboration project with the New York City Parks Department and Pier 42 on the Lower East Side Piers every year in collaboration with Hester Street Collaborative and D-Land Studio. This year’s project called for a design for an entry point into the park from the walkway along the East River. LSS designed a plywood ramp that was supported by recycled telephone poles cut to fit together. Holes were drilled along the walkway and rebar was put in on either side with bright blue PVC pipe was arched over between the two sides creating a semi-shade activated walk down the ramp and into the park. The whole LSS crew helped periodically on build days throughout the project adding to the collaborative energy of the project.
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230'-6" MAIN ENTRANCE 8'-11"
24'-0" B
B
2013 "ON A FENCE"' INTALLATION
HOSE COVER EXISTING BENCHES FROM 2013
BIKE PARKING
ARTISTS' STORAGE CONTAINERS; PAINTED EXTERIOR
DATUM ELEMENT PAINTED ASPHALT PAVEMENT
FABRIC SHADE STRUCTURE MOUNTED ONTO CONTAINERS SAME CABLE CONSTRUCTION AS 2013, NEW 'FLAGS' FOR 2014.
SERVICE ENTRANCE
48'-11"
45'-0"
SOLAR POWER GENERATOR
PORTABLE TOILETS (DURING SPECIAL EVENTS) 16'-0"
D
WOOD CHIP AREA
MESH FABRIC FENCE COVERING
NEW TUNNEL ENTRY
DATUM ELEMENT PAINTED ASPHALT PAVEMENT
LANDSCAPED AREAS
27'-9"
DETACHABLE STEP
BACK-OF-HOUSE SPACE 'GROVE' INTALLATION WITH NEW TREES FOR 2014
EXISTING SHED STRUCTURE
EXISTING PLATFORMS FROM 2013 FINAL LOCATION TBD
RAIN BARRELS OR WATER TANK FOR IRRIGATION OF PLANTINGS
A (APPROX. 18' TALL)
PICNIC TABLES; RELOCATED AS NECESSARY THROUGHOUT SEASON
76'-0"
131'-6"
GATE
NEW BENCHES & LOW PLANTERS FOR 2014
DATUM ELEMENT
EXISTING UTILITY ACCESS POINT
PROMENADE
WOOD CHIP AREA
C B EXISTING CON ED STRUCTURE E
29'-1"
26'-5"
43'-8"
ART INSTALLATION KEY A
TATTFOO TAN // NEAKA
B
SONIA LOUISE DAVIS // PORTRAITS
C EAST RIVER
LEROY STREET STUDIO ARCHITECTURE, P.C. 113 Hester Street New York NY 10002 T 212 431 6780 F 212 431 6781 leroystreetstudio.com
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Paths to Pier 42 June 13, 2014
COMBO COLAB/STEREOTANK // (PROJECT NAME TBD)
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CHAT TRAVIESO // "ON A FENCE" CONTINUATION
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TAKASHI HORISAKI // (PROJECT NAME TBD)
Site Strategy and Artists' Installations Plan
site plan
1/16" = 1'-0" Scale
fall 2014 | pier 42
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SKETCHES + STUDIES 2012-2015 UT Austin + Residency + Personal
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These next few pages are dedicated to a series of investigations not necessarily specific to any one project, but instead focus on the craft of the investigation itself. This may be in the form of sketches, models, photos, and may be diagrammatic or formulaic in nature. It is through investigations like these that projects may be formed and craft is defined.
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fall 2012 | sketches + studies
A SENSE OF WONDER The title of this exploration, a sense of wonder, was further defined by my own personal definition of wonder as collective moments of clarity in the context of initial chaos. The piece was first a model, reduced to a single geometric and legible unit that was aggregated to a 3-piece chunk. That chunk, still legible, is aggregated together in a parametric manner of short faces that touch one another. The random nature of the final piece then represents and holds moments of clarity though may seem to be randomized fragments. This expression is represented though the drawing that narrates the moments of clarity and legibility within the whole.
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spring 2015 | studies + sketches
The Niccoli Paganini Auditorium This exercise was part of a case study analysis for a design project dealing with historic preservation and conservation, the Niccoli Paganini Auditorium in in Parma, Italy and was completed by RPBW in 2001. It was originally an Eridiana Sugar factory, Piano kept the two long main walls and the metal trusses that supported the structure between them. Floor to ceiling glass walls were inserted into the front and back ends to emulate transparency of the performances inside but also contributed acoustically. The interior holds 780 seats in a slightly sloped seating area. The interior is acoustically tuned with suspended cherry wood panels above the stage and with glass deflectors set into the glass wall behind the stage area.
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summer 2013 | studies + sketches
PEN AND INK ATTENUATION The drawings to the right were a part of a series I did over the summer in 2013 with pen on paper. My goal was mainly to further train my hand to use attenuated lines to create compositions that were not necessarily architectural but emulated a similar attention to line type and focus. The fluidity and the doodle-like quality of the geometries allowed for my mind to reference my personal preference for looser media like oil or pastels. The final products represent a convergence of my visual and architectural studies.
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RESUME EDUCATION Masters of Architecture University of Texas at Austin / Austin ,TX
Fall 2011 - Spring 2015
Jumpstart into Architecture University of California Los Angeles / Los Angeles, CA
Summer 2009
Bachelors of History of Art and Visual Culture University of California Santa Cruz / Santa Cruz, CA with emphasis in Architectural History graduated with Honors and
Fall 2006 - Spring 2010
thesis recognition
WORK EXPERIENCE Intern Architect Leroy Street Studio / New York City, New York worked on a number of different projects in
varying project phases
Teaching Assistant University of Texas at Austin / Austin, TX Larry Speck, Architecture and Society, Spring 2012 + Fall 2013
Jan. 2013-May 2014
Larry Speck, Creative Problem Solving, Spring 2015 Christopher Long, World Architecture Origins, Spring 2014
Editor O’NFM / University of Texas at Austin / Austin, TX
Jan. 2014-May 2014
Task Force Research Assistant Texas Society of Architects / Austin, TX assisted in the task force group researching
July 2013 - Sept. 2013
NCARB guidelines for certification
CONTACT Grace Mathieson Tel: 408 482 7622 Email: grace.mathieson@gmail.com Address: 300 E 32nd Street Austin TX 78705 76
June 2014-Dec 2014
EXTRA CURRICULAR UTSOA | University of Texas at Austin / Austin, TX Co-Chair / Graduate School of Architecture Representative Council
Fall 2011 - Spring 2014
Member / Dean’s Ambassadors
Fall 2013 - Spring 2015
Participant / Zilker Botanical Garden Design Exhibition
December 2012
Organizer + Moderator / Faculty Research Symposium
March 2013
Recipient / Smilja Milovanovic-Bertram Fellowship
Fall 2011
University of California Santa Cruz / Santa Cruz, CA Recipient / Research Grant Fellowship History of Art and Visual Culture Department
Fall 2009
Member / Arts Department Dean’s Advisory Council Fall Visual Arts Departments
Fall 2009 - Spring 2010
RELATED SKILLS Proficient In: Adobe Photoshop Adobe Illustrator Adobe Indesign VectorWorks Revit Rhino
Familiar With: AutoCad Ecotect Analysis SketchUp Grasshopper Plug-in
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