Portfolio by Meghan Bilski

Meghan Bilski

architecture intern graphic designer visual communicator creative enthusiast

Meghan Bilski 831 West Grant St. Baton Rouge, LA 70802 megbilski@gmail.com 225 663 0232

I’ve always been enamored with spaces that are vividly tied to our memories. A landscaped pathway through a park, a modern shopping boulevard, hole-in-the-wall rustic diners, bright quiet libraries and their counterparts like Death Valley Stadium on a Saturday night. What about a place ties it to our memory, or promotes an atmosphere that builds emotional ties to a time, a place, and people? Phenomenology is the study of consciousness as experienced from the first-person point of view. The structure of an experience is its intentionality, being directed toward something by virtue of its content or meaning together with appropriate enabling conditions. I’m most interested in these “enabling conditions” the enviornment, built or natural. I’m fascinated by exploring the extents at which design can have an impact on an individuals experience of a place. In my endeavors to understand what about architecture ties people to memory I’ve developed a focus on design that promotes enviornments that are functional and beautiful to promote a positive experience for each and every individual to enhance their daily life.

Education

Leadership & Service

•Major-BARCH of Architecture •Minor-Construction Management •CXC Distinguished Communicators Certification (In Progress) •Current Cumulative GPA 3.6

•GPA 4.0 •Valedictorian

2013-Present-AIAS National-Digital Media Task Force •Worked with a group of AIAS members from different areas to re-evaluate and refresh the national web page. •Collected research and created a presentation on each chapter’s social media presence presented at AIAS Forum 2013 and AIAS Grassroots 2014 2013-Present- AIAS FBD Historian/Public Relations •Worked to promote, organize, and document the chapter’s Fall 2013 project to revamp rest rooms for the local Baton Rouge Raven’s Outreach Center 2012-2013 AIAS Digital Media Director •Created graphics and promotional media to advertise AIAS events •Administrator for chapter social media pages •Helped to create membership drive and semester recap videos

AIAS & Freedom By Design

2010-Present-Lousiana State University

2006-2010-Live Oak High School

Work Experience

Jairo Leon Architect-Baton Rouge, LA Architecture Intern [2013- Present]

Assist with design, construction documents, and renderings for residential, small commercial, and renovations.

development, and construction documents in Healthcare and Hospitality design. Assisted with healthcare master plan by completing site studies and graphic work for proposal.

Work to create digital and print graphics for different Student Government departments and events.

HKS INC. - ATLANTA, GA Summer Intern Assisted with schematic design, design

LSU Student Government-Baton Rouge, LA Graphic Designer -2013-Present

Skills

Adobe Suite-Photoshop, Illustrator, & Indesign Auto Desk-CAD, 3DS MAX, & Revit Sketch up Rhinoceros Microsoft-Word, Excel, PowerPoint Digital Fabrication-Laser Cutter and 3D printer Hand Drawing-Painting, Sketching, Collage Hand Building

References

NOMAS

2014 & 2013-Building Blocks Volunteer •Worked with local AIA Baton Rouge chapter to host building blocks event. •Helped local children create and design a city with scrap and recycled materials. 2013- Habitat for Humanity Volunteer • With LSU NOMAS chapter, helped to frame houses in the Gardere neighborhood 2013-Geaux Big LSU Service Event •Helped to clean up derelict lots and buildings in the Mid City area of Baton Rouge

Louisiana School of Architecture

2012-Present-Studio Culture Policy Board member •Helped to rewrite seven year old LSU studio culture policy •Established procedures for addressing issues in the LSU School of Architecture •helped to create process for studio culture board members to keep the document current

Awards & Recognitions

• 2013 O.J. Baker Awards Scholarship-1st Place • 2014Julian Thaddeus White Memorial Scholarship •LSU Chancelor’s List Recognition (4.0 GPA) Fall 2011, Spring 2012 •LSU Dean’s List Recognition Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2013, Spring 2014

HOME OF THE SOULS 1-8

MID CITY PORCH 8-13

LINKED LIFESTYLES 14-17

CHINATI VISITOR CENTER 18-21

DESIGN FOR DISASSEMBLY 22-25

ASSORTED WORK 26-27

GRAPHIC DESIGN 28-31

Home of the Souls What happens to stadiums and large scale constructions once their initial life is over? This project is a forray into a theoretical adaptive reuse strategy for the New Orleans Superdome. From Home of the Saints to Home of the Souls, the work explores the potential of transforming the Superdome into a mausoleum.

Home of the Souls The exterior is pulled away to let natural light filter into the space. The interior rows of seating become permanent seats as they are replaced with rows of mausoleums. The

concourse

in-filled

where

private family and society tombs might be interspersed within the greater volume. The Dome becomes a place where people are put to final rest as land continues to be eroded away from the Louisiana coast line. This proposes a new burial system and death culture previously unprecedented in the city. By memorializing the dome and its citizens the character and life of the building is reinterpreted and membered instead of being destroyed and forgotten.

MID CITY PORCH In Mid City, life happens on the porch. Every day, people sit outside of their homes simply to be there, to idly watch, casually talk with others, and to just be there in the public. Though porches are found nearly everywhere, Mid City lacks a common porch, a space for people to come together and engage with one another and the community. Mid City Porch fulfills that need, providing a building for visitors and the

MID CITY PORCH Project Title Goes Here Other project Info Goes here. ex. studio, year, focus

The overall design moves link the Computer Literacy Center to the playground and housing. Balance is paramount in order to bridge between the public visitors and private residents.

The building is situated in the threshold between the public and private. A large courtyard is the central feature of the design, meant to emulate the porches in the neighborhood in function. It serves as a gathering space, meant to bring diverse groups of people together under one, common roof.

The highly public and visible North Blvd. is buffered by a row of front facing blocks that shelter the private residential neighborhood.

PUBLIC GREEN-NORTH BLVD BUFFER

ADAPTIVE RE-USE LITERACY CENTER

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL WORK FORCE DEVELOPMENT FACILITY

LINKED LIFESTYLES

GREEN POINT NEIGHBORHOOD-NEW YORK, NEW YORK In todays housing climate the shift in family dynamics calls for more innovative ways to solve housing shortages that accommodate singles, temporary renters, and those of whom are looking to downsize living space in favor for shared spaces. This project explores the relationship between different family typologies and interactions through shared communal space, and the development of Brooklynâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s East River water front.

ALTERNATE UNITS < 300 S.F.

SINGLE BR UNITS APPROX 700 S.F.

2 AND 3 BR UNITS APPROX 900-1200 S.F.

Project Title Goes Here Other project Info Goes here. ex. studio, year, focus

Chinati set 2

CHINATI VISITOR CENTER

1ST PLACE O.J. BAKER AWARD

Buildings are Ontological. They exert both a physical presence and an environment for our daily experiences. Our favorite spaces are commemorated by these two characteristics, and they provide the basis for successful architecture. In Marfa, Texas an interesting condition exist where the importance of Donald Judd’s works are heightened by their placement in a “void”. Judd’s concrete blocks, from afar, hold power over the landscape as their presence is elevated by the bareness of the site. When a visitor draws within just a few feet of the blocks the focus shifts from the presence of the blocks as objects to the views and experiences they provide the visitor. In this change of perception the blocks physicality recedes and the question is not, “what are the blocks?” but, “what are the blocks about?” This project seeks to investigate how experience precedes essence and this role in a void. How does a building exist as a whole, though it consist of a series of experience, and how does the transition between a building commanding your attention evolve to directing this focus outward. This study aims to explore the role of a building’s ontology and its impact on a visitor’s understanding of place.

SECTION A

SECTION B

SECTION C

DESIGN FOR DISASSEMBLY Design for Disassembly is the narrative of a washing machineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life cycle after typical use. When these machines no longer rumble and hum behind laundry doors, they generally adopt embarrassing and obtuse locations next to our garbage cans along side the road awaiting pickup by some waste or recycling facility. For those machines who exit homes with a little dignity, via appliance or recycling companies , they can soon be found in disassembly lines where they are stripped of all immediately useful parts then sorted into like material components where they will be further cleaned, separated, and down cycled for alternative use. This project studies that narrative of disassembly, but suggest an alternate finale to the story by exploring the creation of a single chair fabricated from a General Electric washing machine model GTWN2800DWW and its parts.

Step 1: Detach Cabinet Pieces and collect other materials

Step 2: Mark Fold lines and make cuts accordingly with a jigsaw

Step 3: Fold cabinet over straight edge and hammer to keep shape

Step 4: Use Cutting torch to remove circle from base to fit drum.

Step 5: Assemble and secure pieces with bolts and screws from washer. Cover sharp edges with tubing. Step 6: Sit and Enjoy

DESIGN FOR DISASSEMBLY INSTALLATION

EXPOSED MACHINE

MAJOR DISASSEMBLY

PLASTICS SEPARATION

METAL SEPARATION

Project Title Goes Here

Other project Info Goes here. ex. studio, year, focus

UP-CYCLED CHAIR

ASSORTED SKETCHES Besides being technically inclined, I also favor hand rendering, sketching and painting. The following are assorted works from various projects.

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Baton Rouge Bike Path M Bilski-ART 4541

START

BREC Park system has a plethora of amenities for the city of Baton Rouge. However, for all of the park and recreation space they have very little way finding help is available to users to assist with navigation. The levee bike path is a heavily trafficked stretch of pavement but it relatively unknown to the general passerby. Many of it's visitors tend to use the path for recreation or exercise while enjoying a lovely view of the river, downtown, and surround LSU landscapes. The stretch closer to downtown is more heavily used by visitors and sight seers enjoying the local scene. While these two users exist in unison, very little way finding and signage exist to help with navigating the path.

Markers located every quarter of a mile

To improve the way finding experience I broke the project down into two categories targeting the two different types of users. First I looked at how to benefit the runners and bikers that frequent the path for exercise. Second I examined how Visitor from out of town my use the path way. From these studies I determined that the users who primarily run or bike need assistance with understanding distances between major entries and exits. Visitors to the path need a general image of the path and would find it beneficial to learn how the extents of the trail and what amenities are available along its route.

Marker designating the distance from start point

2.5 MI Example of detail map at entry point.

Auxillary Entrance Parking

TOP: Graphic Design Project for infographic wayfinding BOTTOM LEFT: Student Government Banner BOTTOM RIGHT: Game Day T-shirt for LSU Away Game Event

Large scale detail map

Museum Restaurant LSU Campus Facility Park/Recreation Center Convention Center

.25 mi

1 mi .25 mi

.25 mi

U.S.S. Kidd Naval Museum

.25 mi

Louisiana Arts and Science Museum

1 mi .25 mi

Baton Rouge River Center Capitol City Grill LSU Museum of Art Repentence Park LSU School of Veterinary Medicine Louisiana Arts and Science Museum Louisiana Old State Capitol Shaw Museum and Perfoming Arts Center

Shucks Oyster House Repentence Park U.S.S. Kidd Naval Museum

Louisiana Old State Capitol

MAX HEIGHT 60"

Downtown Entrance

small scale map

.25 mi

Points of interest LSU Entrance

example of small scale map along path

.25 mi

Shaw Museum and Perfoming Arts Center LSU Museum of Art Capitol City Grill

Key

1 mi .25 mi

Repentence Park

BReC Levee Path

.25 mi

Baton Rouge River Center

1 mi .25 Mi

Shucks Oyster House

2.5 MI

Brec Levee Path

LSU School of Veterinary Medicine

START

Example of road markers

START

To create these solutions I developed a series of way finding devices to assist the user. Bike markers were created to indicate the distance from start points and occur in quarter mile increments. Next I created simple location signs to be attached to the existing lamp post along the path so that users would also have imagery at eye level to assist with navigation. The third element consist of detailed map showing entries, amenities, parking and other pertinent information for users who were less familiar or new to using the path.

Start Marker. Color associated with entry

Contact me!

Meghan A. Bilski 831 West Grant St. Baton Rouge, LA 70802 megbilski@gmail.com 225 663 0232