MEGAN NELL
Design Portfolio
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Architecture has its own realm. It has a special physical relationship with life. I do not think of it primarily as either a message or symbol, but
as
an
envelope
and
background
for
life
which
goes
on
in
and
around it, a sensitive container for the rhythm of footsteps on the f l o o r, f o r t h e c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f w o r k , f o r t h e s i l e n c e o f s l e e p.
peter zumpthor
P R O J E C T S
1 - 16
aquatic communities Fall 2017
17 - 26
eating architecture Spring 2017
27 - 36
museum retrofit Fall 2016
37 - 40
(re)cycle . parking day Fall 2015
41 - 50
architecture as a trace Fall 2016
51 - 52
resume Undergraduate
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aquatic communities_
A Q U A T I C
C O M M U N I T I E S
fall 2017. professor brian kelly . arch 410 . twelve weeks
There is a severe lack of housing in California’s major coastal communities. In these areas, community resistance to housing, environmental policies, lack of fiscal incentives, and limited land, hinder development. High demand drives up cost, forcing the mid to low income populations out of the city. Aquatic Communities is designed as a situational, projective project focusing on creating a mass customized, prefabricated dwelling in response to the global issue of rising water levels, overpopulation, and housing shortage. The potential impact of this investigation could foster a dialogue around possible solutions for the housing crisis of San Francisco and speculate on what a dwelling means in contemporary society.
collaborative project Rachel McCown Charles Dowd Danielle Durham
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3
aquatic communities_
URBAN MAPPING Intensive mapping of urban conditions in the San Fransisco Bay area realized the eastern waterfront as an opportunity. Among many factors, this region is largely affected by high social vulnerability, homelessness, and liquefaction. Keeping lack of housing and severe building restrictions of San Francisco in mind, we chose the water, not the pier, for our site.
4
5
aquatic communities_
6
aquatic communities_
B
Sliding Doors
The core is outfitted with sliding doors to optimize space and effeciency. The doors glide along a track and are stored within the wall when open.
B
Sliding Doors
The core is outfitted with sliding doors to optimize space and effeciency. The doors glide along a track and are stored within the wall when open.
Core
The core is a molded form of Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic. The fixtures normally associated in bathrooms and kitchens are molded in as well.
A
A
Entry
The entry piece connects the dwelling to the dock system. It attaches with a sliding and locking system.
Entry
The entry piece connects the dwelling to the dock system. It attaches with a sliding and locking system.
BB’
BB’
First Level
7
16’
Plan 01
32’ 0’
2’
4’
8’
16’
32’
B
Bedroom
The second level bedroom floorplate attaches into the core and wraps around the form to allow for walls to move along the length. The moving walls can help the user arrange the space to meet their needs.
A
AA’
Bathroom
The second level bathroom furniture is molded into the core in order to maximize efficiency. These include the sink, vanity, and shower.
BB’
16’
32’
Plan 02
8
32’
16’
Joints
aquatic communities_
16’
8’ 32’
32’ Dock Platforms 4’
4’
16’
16’
4’
Joints
Joints
4’ Connectors
16’
16’
8’
8’
Dock Platforms
Dock Platforms 4’
4’
4’
4’
4’
4’
4’
4’
32’
Connectors
Connectors
16’
Storage Space
Because of the limited space, a large amount of storage space is designed into the corner below the entrance.
Entry
Joints
The entry piece includes amenities such as LED lights to guide the user and create a contemporary version of the porch light, a mail slot, sliding door for opimal space, bicycle storage, and the main port for utilites to enter the dwelling.
Polystyrene
The dock components house the utilities for the walkways as well as two feet of polystyrene foam for floatation.
16’
8’
Dock Platforms Storage Space
4’
4’
4’
9
4’
Section 01
Connectors
Section A
0’
2’
4’
8’
16’
32’
32’
16’
Joints
16’
8’ 32’
32’ Dock Platforms 4’
16’
16’
4’
Joints
4’ Connectors
16’
16’
8’
8’
Dock Platforms
atforms 4’
4’
4’
4’
4’
4’
4’
+20’ - 0”
Views
4’
The polycarbonate exterior panels in certain places are vacant and glazing takes its place. To access the windows for full transparency, the interior layer of polycarbonate can be slid to the side on a track system.
Connectors
nectors
’
4’
Core +12’ - 0”
Living Space
0’ - 0”
- 3’ - 0”
- 6’ - 0”
10
aquatic communities_
11
Hydrostatic pressure influences form
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aquatic communities_
PREFABRICATED CORE SYSTEM
13
The core houses the unit’s utilities and plumbing, the first floor kitchen, and the second floor private bathrooms. prefabricated pod was designed with a single wet wall running vertically up one side. Heating and cooling is delivered by air ducts molded within the structure of the core walls. All kitchen and bathroom amenities are molded into the core during initial construction.
14
aquatic communities_
COMMUNITY
15
The illuminated interior and solar charged lighting within the docking system create a soft lantern effect in the bay at night. Lighting is installed between the two panels of the facade, illuminating the exterior, making the interior less visible than in daytime. LED strips line the entry component, creating a contemporary “front porch light� effect.
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17
eating architecture_
E A T I N G
A R C H I T E C T U R E
spring 2017. dr. peter olshavsky . arch 311 . six weeks
Eating Architecture revolves around the production and performance of a basic human need: food. Two interior lit translucent walls smoothly control division and circulation of each program. These central walls create a unique vibe differing strongly for day to night for the varied interior, composed of a city food market, a banquet hall, a fine dining restaurant, and a rooftop performance space. These walls offer a unique and different vibe for each program in the design, differing strongly from day to night, proving that use of simply one material can create vastly different moods within the same design.
18
eating architecture_
CONCEPT
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Light directs movement throughout each space. Each program situates itself around a central, curving, polycarbonate light core that creates a repetitive enter and shift motion, creating a seamless circulation pattern and directing the users vision toward intentional areas within the space.
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21
eating architecture_
FORM The organic nature of the project, although most prominent in plan, is not one dimensional. Smooth, subtle curves caress the floor and ceiling planes, leaving space between the vertical and horizontal, allowing light to cascade down the walls, and creating a performance all of its own.
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23
eating architecture_
PROGRAM Three separate programs correlate directly with the renders above. The central core with its softly illuminated walls plays an entirely different role in each space and throughout each hour of the day.
24
eating architecture_
ACTIVATION
25
Designed to be activated both day and night, this project has the intention of becoming a central hub for the up-and-coming district in this urban area. It’s presence at night illuminates the sidewalk and street, creating a welcoming environment for the public.
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27
museum retrofit_
M U S E U M
R E T R O F I T
fall 2016 . guillermo yanguez . arch 310 . five weeks
How might a museum become a destination, an attraction and an amenity for a community? That question became the focus for this telephone museum which finds its new location as a retrofit to a historical 1920s brick building. The project focused on creating a sense of place with an interior environment catered towards display and exploration, while still relying on most of the original building’s structure and envelope. This design displays the entire history of the telephone, while the building itself is on display to the public.
exhibitions Pinnacle Bank Arena . Lincoln, Nebraska UNL Student Union . Represented College of Architecture Wells Fargo Bank Lobby . Lincoln, Nebraska
28
29
museum retrofit_
30
31 M STREET
L STREET
CENTENNIAL MALL
14TH STREET
13TH STREET
12TH STREET
11TH STREET
10TH STREET
9TH STREET
8TH STREET
museum retrofit_
N STREET
32
33
museum retrofit_
SLANTED CIRCULATION After entering the glass encased entrance, one arrives to the lobby, placed on the second floor to take advantage of natural lighting, views, and the preexisting open roof condition. From there, the museum display gradually moves down a hanging ramped system, wrapping around itself in the interior of the existing brick walls, only protruding out of the envelope at the northeast corner, overhanging those arriving from the car park.
34
museum retrofit_
DISPLAY
35
Portions of the display are kinetically designed to be flexible. Exposed rebar lines the wall, housing a clamp system securing two plates on which displays rest. The mechanism swivels around the bar, creating a flexible display system that can be altered instantly.
36
37
re(cycle)_
( R E ) C Y C L E
fall 2015 . peter olshavsky . arch 210 . five weeks
Repurposed bicycle tubes serve as the main element in this built design for PARK(ing) Day, an annual global event where designers and activists collaborate to temporarily transform parking stalls into temporary public places. Repurposed bicycle tubes provide both durability and flexibility, creating a surprisingly comfortable, supportive material for suspending the body. This project is meant to improve the quality of urban space through minimal interventions for a single day, with the parameter of having as little impact on the environment as possible.
collaborative project Landon Beard Cale Miller
38
re(cycle)_
TRANSITION
39
The series features a strategic variation of lumbar angles, transitioning from a lazy incline to a formal upright position. Old bicycle tubes donated form local bike shops were the medium that both held the chair assembly together and provided ultimate comfort.
40
41
architecture as a trace_
A R C H I T E C T U R E
A S
A
T R A C E
spring 2017 . dr. peter olshavsky . arch 311 . four weeks
Architectural traces define this three-Michelin Star restaurant and banquet hall, driven underground as an addition to a rural historical stone bar. Drawing the exterior in, and the interior out, traces through texture, materiality, fields of vision, and light reveal the performative qualities of the design, as one moves from historical stone barn to the subterranean spaces. The interior experience remains largely disguised by the subtle tracing of the concrete form through the landscape, before ascending upwards through the earth, exposing glass displays directed toward the countryside. In search of the ideal environments for dining and banquet celebrations, the design requires specific and deliberate orchestration of experiences and theatrical presentation, igniting an architectural dialogue throughout the design and creating theatrical spaces along the way for both the staff and the guests.
42
architecture as a trace_
TRACES
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In order to preserve the sight of the barn, the majority of the design was driven under the earth, cunningly revealing its edges and as it moves away from the barn before ascending upward, exposing large, glass displays directed towards the serene countryside.
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architecture as a trace_
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architecture as a trace_
LIGHT, MATERIAL, TEXTURE The trace concept subtly highlights the trace of certain elements through light, materiality, and texture, igniting an architectural dialogue throughout the design and creating theatrical spaces along the way for both the staff and the guests.
48
architecture as a trace_
SPACE RELATIONSHIP
49
The entrance to the restaurant is located in the original barn along with a bar and access to an outdoor veranda; from here one may descend into the underground dining space. The banquet hall entrance is located at the opposite end of the barn, where a piece of the existing stone wall is detached and pulled away and enclosed in glass, creating a space for pre-function activities before continuing down to the banquet space.
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E D U C A T I O N 2014 - 2018
University of Nebraska - Lincoln Bachelors of Science in Design . Architectural Studies Minor . Landscape Architecture Dean’s List GPA 3.906
2017
Stories in the History and Theory of Design Paris, France . Study abroad
2017
Design and Making Traditions in Catalonia Barcelona, Spain . Study abroad
2015
UNL Learning in Place Quebec, Canada, Montreal, Canada . Study abroad
2013
Independent Study Abroad Menton, France . Study abroad A C T I V I T I E S
&
E X H I B I T I O N S
2016 - 2018
United States Green Building Council, Executive Team
2017 - 2018
Tau Sigma Delta, Executive Team National Architecture Honors Society . ASK Student Help Desk
2016 - 2018
American Institute of Architecture Students
2018
WELL Building Standard Course
2018
Exurbanities Public Exhibition
2014 - 2018
William H. Thompson Scholars Honor Community
2017 - 2018
College of Architecture Student Ambassador
2015 - 2017
National Association of Home Builders, Executive Team
2017 - 2018
UNL College of Architecture Peer Mentor
2015 - 2017
Residential Construction Management Competition Director of Design | Las Vegas, Nevada . Orlando, Florida
2015 - 2018
National Society of Collegiate Scholars
2016 2015 - 2016
Frank H. Woods Telephone Museum Proposal Collaborative studio stage set design with Hixon-Lied Center
2015
BVH Architecture Installation Exhibition Select Firm Exhibition . Parking Day Installation project
2015
Park(ing) Day Public Installation . Annual open-source global event
H O N O R S 2018
ASCA Research Publication “Architecture as a Performing Art” ASCA 106: The Ethical Imperative meeting
2016
AIA Emerging Professionals Design Competition Award AIA Central States Region . Third Place Scholarship Award
2016 - 2018
UNL Undergraduate Creative Activities & Research Experience (UCARE) Position Focus: Architecture as a Performing Art . Dr. Peter Olshavsky
2014 - 2016
Dean’s List College of Architecture Top 10%
2014 - 2018
Regent’s Scholar, $10,000 / year The Regents Scholarship is awarded to superior incoming freshmen who are graduates of Nebraska high schools. Awarded Full Tuition.
2014 - 2018
Susan Thompson Buffet Scholarship Award, $10,000 / year Full Tuition Award
2017 - 2018 2017
AIAS Cultural Diversity & Gender Equity Award, $1000 Leo A. Daly Architectural Travel Award, $1000
2015 - 2018
William H. Thompson Scholars Academic Award
2015 - 2018
High Performing Student Award University Honors Program . Honors Convocation W O R K
E X P E R I E N C E
2017 - 2018
Architectural Internship BVH Architecture . Lincoln, Nebraska
2016 - 2018
UCARE Research Assistant Architecture as a Performing Art . Dr. Peter Olshavsky
2016 - 2018
UNL Wood and Metals Fabrication . Shop Assistant
2015
Freedom by Design . Volunteer P R O F I C I E N C I E S Revit 2018 . Rhinoceros 5 . Adobe Illustrator . Adobe Photoshop . Adobe InDesign . CNC Routing . Laser Cutting Wood & Metals Fabrication . AutoCAD . SketchUp .GIS References available upon request.
MEGAN NELL PETERSON
megan.peterson@huskers.unl.edu +1 . 308 . 730 . 2972
www.megannelldesign.com