MEGAN MCCONNELL
M.ARCH III UC BERKELEY [ SELECTED WORKS ]
[ PART I ] ACADEMIC WORK 01 07 13 17
INSIDE OUT FLIPPED HOUSE WITH ONE WALL THE BLOB
[ PART II ] PERSONAL WORK 19 21 23
CONTAINER HOME DECONSTRUCTED CERAMICS
INSIDE OUT_ Studio I Raveevarn Choksombatchai Fall 2019 The development of an architecture ‘inside out’ took abstract design and form finding as its starting point. Cropped data was used to create an abstracted spatial construct. Design operations continued to evolve through operation on forms without specific orientation, context, or use. Later addition of site and program were adapted to ultimately influence and be influenced by the resulting structure and occupiable spaces.
[ 01 ]
[ MEGAN MCCONNELL | UC BERKELEY ]
INSIDE OUT_
A
FORM The initial design process began with an orientation shift from a set of given geometry and a bounding box. Form was derived from the intersection of each extruded set of cropped geometry. The angle formed by the core component connecting both perpendicular systems informed a mirroring and flipping operation that carved out surfaces in both horizontal and vertical planes.
first floor plan second floor plan third floor plan longitudinal section transverse section
[ 03 ]
A B C D E
D
B
C
E
[ MEGAN MCCONNELL | UC BERKELEY ]
INSIDE OUT_ PROGRAM This project represents a remote seaside bathhouse that aims to explore procession through a series of alternating spatial conditions defined by either exertion or rest. Oblique staircases establish an uncomfortable and almost impossible processional pathway throughout the space—assuming a sculptural quality in their impractical form. This condition of uncomfortable ascent is preceded and succeeded by spaces of rest, which create an experiential patchwork of dry, humid, and wet conditions throughout the bathhouse. Despite alternation between rest and exertion, the discomfort demanded by the precarious nature of the staircase serves to subvert a sense of ritual within the space.
[ 05 ]
[ MEGAN MCCONNELL | UC BERKELEY ]
FLIPPED_ Studio II Dan Spiegel Spring 2020 Team: Emily Lynch This project aims to design an ADU that critiques, explores, and reimagines the ways in which Case Study House (CSH) 9 can be resituated into a contemporary context. CSH 9 was studied through separation of its basic structural system into simplified parts that were then abstracted into a series of vertically extruded forms and horizontal planes. Abstraction of CSH 9 informed the systematic organization and structure of the ADU.
FORM The ADU is understood as both a counterpart and a reimagination of the original forms and concepts from CSH 9. The structural pinwheel of CSH 9 is incorporated into the ADU design and operates as an “invisible force” that guides the major operations constituting the structure. The ADU’s “kit of parts” is derived directly from the extraction of poche and wall combinations from the abstracted conception of CSH 9. The two major guiding pieces of the ADU represent Z shapes that flip from the vertical to the horizontal plane upon hitting the pinwheel’s core perpendicularly. The flipped component of each Z piece subsequently carves out aedicules reflected in the floor below. Furthermore, Z pieces support cantilevered floor plates that extend off of the rectilinear form created by their interior.
[ 07 ]
[ MEGAN MCCONNELL | UC BERKELEY ]
FLIPPED_ PROGRAM The ADU further serves as a counterpart to CSH 9—a house intended for entertaining— through program designed for an introverted inhabitant. Procession through the ADU creates a winding effect from most public to most private areas of the unit, eliminating a need for doors. Compartmentalization of program reinforces an introverted sense of space. Furthermore, the core of the ADU serves as access to the exterior while retaining a sense of interior privacy.
A
diagram of flipped pieces floor plan transverse section longitudinal section [ 09 ]
A B C D
C
B
D
[ MEGAN MCCONNELL | UC BERKELEY ]
FLIPPED_ SITE
The ADU is situated at the far end of the site, its position and orientation an extension of the southwest diagona Case Study House 9. Nested within the trees, the ADU maintains a sense of privacy to reinforce its introverted p Placement at the far end of the site maintains expansive south-facing views of the Pacific Ocean for both structu
[ 11 ]
al wall of program. ures.
[ MEGAN MCCONNELL | UC BERKELEY ]
HOUSE WITH ONE WALL_ Representation I Kyle Steinfeld Fall 2019 This project served as an exploration of graphic representation in architectural drawing and the way in which representation operates as an expression of visual culture. House with One Wall by Christian Kerez was threedimensionally modeled and served as the subject of this representational exercise. Through the study of visual precedents and experimentation with graphic techniques, a graphic style of representation was developed and employed throughout a series of drawing types.
A
site elevation oblique A sectional plan oblique B exploded axonometric C
[ 13 ]
B
C
[ MEGAN MCCONNELL | UC BERKELEY ]
HOUSE WITH ONE WALL_ GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION Within this series, geometric forms positioned against a backdrop of contextless space set the stage for the representation of architecture as object. Object-like elemental volumes assume an illustrative quality, creating a sense of flatness, while textured surfaces simultaneously introduce a sense of depth—invoking visual tension throughout the composition.
D
elevation longitudinal section interior perspective section perspective
[ 15 ]
D E F G
E
F
G
[ MEGAN MCCONNELL | UC BERKELEY ]
THE BLOB_ Representation I Kyle Steinfeld Fall 2019 This project considers an inanimate anthropomorphic body as the subject of a set of descriptive drawings. A blob was formed from plaster cast into an elastic medium and morphed by hands. The physical blob was then scanned into the digital realm. Linework and a series of section cuts were used to express the blob’s form and gesture of the forces that shaped it. This inanimate body reveals that material, too, is capable of gesture.
[ 17 ]
[ MEGAN MCCONNELL | UC BERKELEY ]
CONTAINER HOME_ School of the Art Institute of Chicago Introduction to Architecture Summer 2018 This series of isometric and orthographic hand drawings represent a tiny home project in which form and scale were guided by a given set of shipping container dimensions. The client envisioned for this tiny home is a botanical illustrator who seeks a space to accommodate botanical research and illustration activities, as well as house their botanical plant collection. Three shipping container masses were stacked to maximize exterior patio space and natural light throughout the home. The space seeks to merge interior and exterior, incorporating massive skylights and panoramic views of the forested landscape
A
B
C
formal sketches A isometric front B isometric back C floor 1 / floor 2 plans D [ 19 ]
D
[ MEGAN MCCONNELL | UC BERKELEY ]
DECONSTRUCTED_ Summer 2018
The objective of this series was to visually deconstruct a found object to the point of abstraction. A pair of cuticle was drawn in three positions to study range of motion. Still-life drawings allowed for careful study of the scissors’ qualities, while line drawings focused on their formal qualities. To further deconstruct the object into abstraction of blind drawings were created. During these blind drawings, the hand was focused on the most basic, but integra of the scissors. From the abstracted drawings, a three-dimensional sculpture was designed. Angles created thr intersection of two forms served as the driving motif of the sculptural design.
[ 21 ]
e scissors technical n, a series al features rough the
[ MEGAN MCCONNELL | UC BERKELEY ]
CERAMICS_ Winter 2017 Ceramic pieces were created during a fourmonth ceramics studio. Ceramics was an introduction to experimentation with form in three-dimensions. This practice demands the maker to design with structure as the primary driver of form and aesthetic. Each step of the process must be handled with care and intent—from wedging, to wheel throwing, to trimming, to glazing. The practice also demands flexibility to accommodate the twoway interaction between the clay and the maker—simultaneously pushing the clay’s potential for form while also yielding to the clay’s will. Each step of the process is vital and provides a foundation for the next.
[ 23 ]
[ MEGAN MCCONNELL | UC BERKELEY ]
[ MEGAN MCCONNELL | M.ARCH III | UC BERKELEY | SELECTED WORKS ]