ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO
2025
Adrian Mruckovski May
ADRIAN MRUCKOVSKI
Contact
almruckovski@gmail.com www.linkedin.com/in/adrianmruckovski-58638a2b8 https://issuu.com/adrianmruck
Software
• Autodesk suite (AutoCAD, Revit)
• Sketchup
• Microsoft Office
• Adobe CC (Illustrator, Photoshop, Indesign)
Soft Skills
• Effective Communicator
• Teamwork
• Time Management
• Organization
• Problem Solving
Reference
Riggs Skepnek
Adjunct Professor - University of Kansas skepnek@gmail.com
Linda Green
House Manager - STAGES St. Louis (314) 703-0985 lgreen5678@sbcglobal.net
Profile
Hello! I am a second-year student in the Master of Architecture program at the University of Kansas. I am strong-willed and diligent in achieving my goals, and I work towards a more sustainable and equitable future for all.
Experience
Usher - STAGES St. Louis 2023 - 2024 / St. Louis, MO
• Greeted patrons, handed out programs, and assisted patrons in finding their seats.
• Watched over performances and assisted patrons in the event of disruptions or emergencies.
Lifeguard - Midwest Pool Management 2021 - 2022 / St. Louis, MO
• Surveyed the waters of a large community pool and conducted rescues with others to assist weak or injured swimmers.
• Explained and enforced safety rules, and used knowledge of first aid to assist patrons in emergencies.
Education
University of Kansas, School of Architecture and Design Master of Architecture - 2nd Year Expected May 2028
Cumulative GPA: 3.9
Awards
KU School of Architecture and Design Dean’s List
Awarded to students who maintained a GPA of 3.75 or higher during the semester.
KU Chancellor’s Scholarship
Awarded to incoming freshmen who maintained a GPA of 3.95 or higher in high school.
SPINE LIBRARY
Year: Spring 2025
Course: ARCH 209
Professor: Shannon Criss
Programs: Sketchup, Photoshop, and Illustrator
What should a library look like?
With the rise of the information age and our increasing reliance on cell phones and computers, what place does the library have in providing knowledge to the people? To maintain the library’s role, it becomes a civic center, where its role in providing knowledge comes not only through the written medium, but also through spatial and social connectivity.
CITY MARKET
Residential Local Axis
Commercial Tourist/Visitor Axis
Green Spaces
An Intersection of Axes
Located just north of Kansas City’s downtown core, the River Market is anchored by the City Market, which is a major draw for tourists and residents alike. While most local traffic moves along 3rd Street, visitors are brought in from the KC streetcar from the south and the Heritage Trail from the north. The site’s location offers an opportunity to harness this relationship in the building.
Cut It In Half
There is a 100-foot drop from the southern corner of the site to the Missouri River. The path from the bottom to the tallest area of the neighborhood offers an opportunity to tell its story through engaging the terrain.
The Site
A closer look reveals the 12-foot drop of the site from south to north. When rain falls on the site, the water drains right back to the bottom, which is where the story begins.
12’ drop
Native origins
White settlers
1. Split forms between local and city-focused functions
2. Drive circulation through building with spine
5. Curve roofs up like pages of a book
6. Create slices of light
3. Create corner park
4. Pull floor plates out
Circulation
The spine creates a linear circulation throughout the building. In order to travel to other spaces in the building, one most cross over this central hallway. This is meant to be a reflection of the bustling urban environment, where circulation exists on two axes.
Programming
The building has been programmed with service functions placed towards the northeastern side of the building, while the auditorium, which is intended to host active civic events like marathons, dances, or shows, is placed on 3rd street. The building’s primary library functions such as stacks and reading areas are set back from the street for a quieter environment. Locally geared functions are easier to access from a rear entrance in the basement.
Cross the spine
Reflect the urban landscape
Cyber Cafe
The wildcard space at the library is a cyber cafe in the building’s basement, with a rear entrance to allow for easier access. The cafe is meant to serve the burgeoning work-from-home workforce in the area, which is maintaining its presence even as businesses emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents in the area described the need for a “third place” to work away from apartments or offices, and thus the cyber cafe has been designed to act as a separate unit inside of the library.
The Spine
As the primary circulatory space in the building, it has been designed to be as open and porous as possible. To promote connectivity and openness, the terracotta facade bleeds down into the space, as artwork and writings on the history of the River Market area can provide an opportunity for visitors and residents alike to learn something new about the neighborhood. Just past the reception desk, the spine can become a space for smaller events, readings, and much more.
MAIN ST
3RD ST
Sunlight
Clerestories in the spine allow for pockets of natural light to appear during the spring and winter months, when daylighting is most needed.
Section: Looking West
IRRIGATION
Water
A water cistern reuses water runoff for non-potable functions, such as for toilets and irrigation for the green spaces on the site.
TERRA NOVA
Year: Fall 2024
Course: ARCH 208
Professor: Bryan Gross
Programs: Sketchup, Enscape, and Illustrator
Terra Nova is a restaurant and art gallery located in Lawrence, Kansas. With the food and art being of high quality, the building has a regional draw, requiring a design that would draw attention and provide a gateway to downtown Lawrence from the south. To create a gateway, I designed the building with a sweeping steel facade, cutting through a traditional brick form that contains all of the building’s programming.
Downtown Massachusetts Street is the urban core of Lawrence, Kansas. It is the most organic area of the town, as small businesses and large chains alike are set up in the historic brick buildings that have stood for the past century. While new construction is uncommon in this area, a new building provides an opportunity for a statement piece on 11th and Massachusetts Street, often considered the southern edge of downtown Lawrence. With steel being a requirement, placing a gently curved element at the front of the building would create a recognizable facade that could welcome people to the downtown area, while masonry brick takes shape on the traditional west face that borders Massachusetts Street.
Ground Floor
Sculpture Garden
The steel facade is completed by its louvers, which are made up of red terracotta baguettes. The louvers are colored red to reflect both the rich warm color of the torqued ellipse and the red brick which surrounds the structure. In order to shade the exterior dining area, the louvers curve to follow a horizontal axis, creating a pergola system.
To logically organize this program, the curve of the facade is repeated inside of the building. The building’s steel beams and the gallery walls lead to the center point of the curve, while the indoor and outdoor restaurant seating follow the curve.
The art gallery was in ownership of several outdoor sculptures, which were required to be integrated into a sculpture garden that could serve visitors of the restaurant. Of these sculptures were three eight-foot dangoes, as well as a Richard Serra torqued ellipse, made of corten steel. Due to the visual significance of the torqued ellipse, I placed it on the street corner as a landmark
South Elevation
South Section
West Elevation
West Section
Exterior dining area in the evening. Visitors can also view the sculpture garden.
Art gallery in the late afternoon. The louvers allows low sunlight to penetrate into the space.
The restaurant in the late afternoon.
CONFLUENCE
Year: Spring 2025
Course: ARCH 209
Professor: Shannon Criss
Programs: hand modeling, Illustrator and Photoshop
kän-flooens | an act or process of merging.
In many ways, this project is a merging of needs and ideas. It’s at a point where different experiences converge at one place, where paths merge and move on in different directions. Confluence creates stronger spaces, but a recognition and formalization of that can magnify it further. The need to engage these experiences and elevate them with the use of light, gravity, shadow, and nature, made this pavilion into what it is.
The view from the forest is incredibly important to the site considering it is flanked by trees on three sides. An unobstructed view towards the brush could provide an opportunity to reflect.
From the site, the trees and the ditch open up to views of the river. While sunlight from this angle may become detrimental in the summer, this view is valuable for its quality and size in the landscape.
Circulation Paths
The area also sees high circulation from four points that border the site. The frame is designed to provide openings on these four entry points.
Large Trees and Contours
The structure is carefully placed around the trees, while the frame must make a brief interaction with the ditch on the west side.
Having experienced the site, my completed design takes into account the forces of the immediate area. The result is a canopy that remains sensitive to the forces of the site and creates a new space to allow these elements to come together. As we were encouraged to build the frame and roof separately, the canopy became a more enclosed space that encapsulates the frame. The roof rises and falls with the frame, which denote entry points to support the original circulation paths.
CHAPEL
Year: Fall 2024
Course: ARCH 208
Professor: Bryan Gross
Programs: Sketchup, TwinMotion, and Illustrator
This chapel is an addition to Pioneer Cemetery, which is located on the west campus of the University of Kansas. The cemetery is full of history, with graves dating back to the settlement of Lawrence, Kansas, and interments still occur to this day. An area for columbaria was also required, which provided an opportunity to create a landscape experience for the chapel to exist in. Due to its position on campus, the chapel is needed as a place for contemplation and inspiration for students and staff alike.
Pioneer Cemetery
The meditation chapel is located on a sloped site set in between the tranquil cemetery and the bustling Iowa Street. Working with a 120-foot setback, the columbaria could be used to establish a boundary and sound barrier for the cemetery as a whole. A master plan for the landscape can also provide a future plan for new interments and inurnments at the growing cemetery. Due to the slope, I included a ramp-and-stair system to carry traffic coming to and from Daisy Hill, where the chapel will receive most of its traffic throughout the year.
Floor Plan
The chapel is designed around a circular plan with an axis that faces southwest. At the front of the chapel (southwest), the stone wall steps inward and stands taller than the rest of the building. This creates two openings on either side of the podium, allowing for indirect light to enter the space. The building’s lobby, mechanical room, and bathroom are all designed with a rectilinear plan. This is intended to connect to the columbarium walls that line the ramp-and-stair system.
NORTH SECTION
WEST SECTION
As masonry was required on this project, stone brick was used as the primary material due to its availability in Kansas, as well as its similarity to other buildings around the KU campus. Meanwhile, corten steel was selected for the chapel’s southern wall and the secondary walls because of its contrast to the stone.
The roof of the chapel slopes up and towards the podium, drawing attention to the front. The dark corten steel wall cuts out a small skylight, where sunlight occasionally filters in on summer days. This helps to further light the space indirectly.
LIGHTBOX
Year: Fall 2023
Course: ARCH 108
Professor: John Trefrey
Hand modeling
This project was a study of light and its ability to affect how a space is perceived. This lightbox was a study specifically on how natural sunlight affects the spatial experience. The lighting and atmosphere of the box changes throughout the day, so the lightbox can be viewed in several different ways. I decided to manipulate light much similarly to how light is controlled through stained glass in cathedrals, and I let my design reflect that through an iterative building process.
Precedents: Light Manipulation
The lightbox was the result of an iterative design process. I decided to manipulate light in the way that cathedrals do with stained glass windows. I constructed an outer face which matched the angle of the sun. Then, I cut holes akin to the panels of a window, albeit with a mosaic style.
First iteration open, complex, chaotic
Second iteration closed, layered, more solid
Third iteration angular, mosaic, open
The final iteration resulted in a more cavernous space. The light rests on the polygonal waves on the bottom, and continues to light the space up to the top of the steep left slope. By manipulating these surfaces, I could project a different kind of image than what I had cut out for the light to go through. I selectively used iridescent cellophane to change the lighting of certain spaces, showing how light can be used to differentiate between two different areas.
