DESIGN PORTFOLIO
I am Michael Thomas, a recent graduate of the Knowlton School of Architecture at The Ohio State University, where I acquired my Bachelor of Science in Architecture. I am currently looking for employment in the design field, were I can put my skills and talents to good use while expanding my knowledge and experiences as a young designer and intellectual thinker. I am a detail oriented person and seek perfection in all that I do. I work efficiently as an individual, but also excel as a team player. I will work to make sure all projects are developed with the highest quality possible. MICHAEL COLE THOMAS thomas.2298@osu.edu (740)-221-5726
CONTENTS STUDIO WORKS
OSU ARTS DISTRICT
PG 3-8
THE GABION WALL
PG 9-14
SIERRA CLUB
PG 15-16
GATE HOUSE
PG 17-18
OSU ARTS DISTRICT ROBERT LIVSEY STUDIO: SPRING 2015 COLUMBUS, OH.
I was given the task of designing a new theater and classroom building to replace the existing Drake Union at The Ohio State University, as well as many new additions to support the expansion of the OSU Arts District. I created a master plan that builds off of Peter Eisenman’s Wexner Center for the Arts. This plan includes a new black box theater for the Wexner Center, a new music hall/opera house for The OSU School of Music, and new art galleries for the display of student works. Additional space for the Art and Design School connected to the existing Hopkins Hall, by way of a sky walk, is also in the plan. Esienman’s Wexner Center is famously cranked 12o to match the street grid of Columbus. By structuring the new plan perpendicular to the organization of the Wexner Center, a link between the long green way running to the newly developed north campus dorms and the heavily frequented High Street was created. Along the path that defines the new edges of the Arts District, visitors are invited to look into the inner workings of the arts departments, most notably the ability to look down into the underground theater set design shops.
FIRST FLOOR
SECOUND FLOOR
THIRD FLOOR
BASEMENT PLAN
Theater Performance Hall
Theater Design Studios
Wex Black Box
Art Galleries
School Of Music
First Floor Plan
THE GABION WALL
MANSFIELD, OH. BAUMBERGER STUDIO: SPRING 2014, Knowlton School Archived project.
LEAD DESIGNERS: MICHAEL THOMAS. HARRISSON BOLDEN
CONSTRUCTION TEAM: HARRISSON BOLDEN, BRITTNEY CASTRO, MICHAEL THOMAS, DANIELLE WEBB, Challenged to design and construct a small pavilion to serve as a place of rest and reflection along a dirt, farm road, The Gabion Wall is an interpretation of rock cairn trail markers found all over the world. All materials used in the construction of the pavilion can be found on the farm where it was constructed, but some are used in a more interesting way, such as the galvanized fencing that was shaped into baskets to become the gabions. The stones used to fill the gabions are field stones cast aside from over a hundred years of plowing and tilling the fields. These stones are placed in such a way so that light is able to pass through the wall transforming the heavy stones into a seemingly light building material, and blurring the line between solid and transparency. By dimensioning the project to be over 7 feet tall, the pavilion invites occupants to step up onto the deck by simply slipping a section of the wall backwards. This creates a moment where one must pass through the thickness of the wall before they are allowed to look over the wall to the far reaching valley below. Placed on the deck is one rock orientated to invite the occupant to look back through the broken section of the wall. This focuses one’s gaze down through the deepest run of the valley, all the while blocking the visitor’s view of the surrounding farm buildings, creating an instance of space that is in fact composed of only one simple wall.
SIERRA CLUB
CINCINNATI, OH. HEADQUARTERS RYAN KEENER STUDIO: AUTUMN 2013
Given a narrow site on the corner of Main St. and East 9th St. for the construction of a new headquarters for the environmentalist group, Sierra Club, natural light became a driving force in this design. To optimize the amount of sunlight received, the project was given a slant cut. Individual program spaces were then pulled forward from the structural grid, giving them precedence over other interior workings of the building. Because of the Sierra Club’s interest in the well being of the general public, many public spaces were added to the building’s program, including an I-Max theater at its base and a public garden at the top. This created a need for dual circulation paths, which define the interior organization of the project.
2nd Floor
6th Floor
Public Circulation
Sections
10th Floor
Rooftop Garden
Office Circulation
THE GATE HOUSE ABSTRACT LANDSCAPE SARAH BONGIORNO STUDIO: SPRING 2013
The Gate House is a theoretical project constructed upon an abstract martian-like landscape, nestled in a crater at the base of a large outcropping. The Gate House provides a point of entry into the landscape and serves as a pavilion to an adventurer, before ascending to the summit of this strange tessellated landscape. The design of the project is a direct interpretation of the same tessellations and folds that make up the site. Contained within it is a continuous ramp that brings visitors through a series of curated views, the most important being the point at which one is able to slip between two massive uprights. Here the audience comes face to face with the peak of the outcropping while standing at the pinnacle of the ramp.