I am currently a third year architecture student at the University of Florida. I am involved in the school’s student council and am currently a teaching assistant. I earned my Associate of Arts degree in 2022 and planning on obtaining my Bachelor of Design in the spring of 2026. I intend to intern at an architecture firm over the summer of 2025.
The collaborative nature of architecture studio is a skill I have built strongly over the past twoand-a-half years, and I am looking forward to gaining insight on how this carries over into the industry.
ianmejia@ufl.edu (813) 375-1911
SKILLS
Physical
Hand Drafting
Model Making
Sketching
Casting
Woodworking
Computer Software
AutoCAD
Rhino
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Indesign
Lumion
EDUCATION
August 2016 - June 2020
August 2020 - June 2022
August 2022 - May 2026
PEDAGOGY
January - April 2025
EXPERIENCE
January - December 2025
Jesuit High School | Tampa
Magna Cum Laude
Santa Fe College | Gainesville
Associate of Arts in Architecture
University of Florida | Gainesville
Bachelor of Design in Architecture
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant | UF
Design 4 - Professor Elizabeth Cronin
Council of Architecture Students | UF
Rules and Ethics Comittee
Communications Committee
CONTENTS
LIGHTHOUSE
RUIN
TOWER
BATHHOUSE
VEIL
01 LIGHTHOUSE
Our role as architects is to actively engage in the creation of space and speculate on how it can provoke certain feelings within its occupants. In this project, feeling and emotion were the main drivers behind the spatial construction. The Anonymous Lighthouse was a design exploration based on the writings of Jules Verne and the filmmaking of Robert Eggers. The project entertained the idea of how spatial environment affects the mental state of its occupants; with themes of depression, confrontation, healing, and contentness inspiring the spatial programs along the project’s itinerary.
Door/Window/Stair
Fall 2023 - Professor Gabriel Gonzalez
Elevation view of the final model.
The drawing above combines all of the ideas that were explored in the initial diagrams. With rendered images from the Robert Eggers movie embedded within the spaces, this was a crucial point of development for the project’s narrative. The drawing brought into question the ethics of the role of a lighthouse keeper, and began inspiration as to how this idea could be developed spatially.
Final synthesized diagrammatic mapping.
The final model was a culmination of these ideas expressed spatially. The spaces were based on the programs of a lighthouse, with spaces for shelter, light, maintenence, and observation. With our unique interpretaions of film and literature, as well as our diagrammatic drawings, the final product was a deconstructed and interpretive version of how a lighthouse can look and function.
The process model to the left shows how this particular cirriculum bridges conceptual drawings in to tectonic developoment. Finding connections and intersections within the drawings, as well as a continuous iterative process of model making, allow for a unique and nuanced final product.
Isometric final model photo.
Isometric final model photo.
Interior final model photo.
Process model photo.
02 ESTEEMED CORRUPTION
Decolonized Ruins
Fall 2023 - Professor Gabriel Gonzalez
The introduction of site conditions brings a multitude of new boundaries that can help inspire, or inhibit, architectural design. Fort San Marcos de Apalache is located in Florida’s panhandle, and contains a rich history of colonization, clashes between world powers, and ancient means of architectural construction. All of these factors were influential in the design of this new, decolonized ruins.
The Apalache Educational Center is organized around the site of the old Fort San Marcos de Apalache. The center has reconstructed the old Spanish moat offering visitors a historically accurate depiction of the fort, as well as multiple exhibition spaces within the adjacent learning facility.
Aerial view of the final model.
The preliminary analysis of the site began with diagrammatic drawings that periodically zoomed into the area of interest. These drawings studied the historical, ecological, and hydrological conditions of the area.
Analytical tryptic.
Palimpsest
The development of the site’s interventions was influenced by the conditional and historical analysis of the area. These programs, although assigned, could be altered to fit the desired narrative. The placement of these structures was determined through this speculative drawing of the fort. This allowed for a more accurate construction of ground, and continued the idea of building on top of what once existed.
Axonometric diagram.
The education center has a space for historical reenactments and preformances, viewable from a space on the ground that is separated by the preexisting fort moat. The placement of this part of the program separates visitors from occupying this more private and secretive section of the education center.
The constructed ground creates a monolithic wall that hides the space for holding, where owners of the center are secretly holding priceless artifacts found during the construction of the education center. This part of the program and narrative is reflective of the themes of greed and conquest that were present during the era of Spanish colonialism this fort was utilized in.
Inspiration for design can be found from many different sources, and working off of different mediums of art can lead to a more interesting and unprecedented design decisions. In this particular project, the conceptual design ideas were developed from the jazz song Take 5. Elements from the song (rhythm, melody, harmony, and song structure), were layered together in a diagrammatic mapping to help inspire the tectonic develpoment of the final model.
03 TOWER
Vertical Datum Spring 2024 - Professor John Maze
Analytical diagram.
Mixed media section drawing.
The programmatic spaces in this structure were constructed of casted plaster, defining the spaces of pause with more stereotominc constructions in the model.
This was our first instance of a project where structure was an integral focus. With a smaller aspect ratio for the design, the use of a rigid core was important to the integrity of the model. The project was also intended to be read sectionally, emphasizing the use of section as a tool for design, rather than a documentative drawing.
Stereotomic spaces embedded within the structure.
Final model.
Conceptual diagram.
04 BATHHOUSE
Florida Landscape Spring 2024 - Professor John Maze
As diagrammatic and conceptual drawings continued to influence later elements in the design process, the final products of these ideas started to become more concrete and clear. With a more developed understanding of program at this point in our cirriculum, clearer manifestations of space and itinerary were created in this project. The Bathhouse project analyzed the site of Newnan’s Lake, refacing the natural landscape of the coast and creating a space for relaxation while preserving an intimate connection with nature.
Longitudinal section.
Lake Newnan
The site for this project was a nature park on the coast of a lake located east of the city of Gainesville. The emphasis of this project was a development on the coast that respected and payed homage to the surrounding natural landscape. The bathhouse would allow a seamlessness with the water from the lake and the water from the baths. The peninsula is home to many wild birds and butterflies, which inspired the butterfly roof over the baths in the design.
The use of transverse sections is useful in expressing the different spatial conditions along the project because of its linear itinerary. As one moves through the project, the architecture is gradually revealed to them. With differerent levels of enclosure, a connection to nature is established even in the main building. These drawings also show how both the entrance and the exit of the building is led from, and back into, the natural landscape.
Ground plan drawing.
The visitors approach the building from the existing parking lot on the west end of the park. They enter a small buildling that houses the lobby and the locker rooms, and are then led back out into nature where they approach two obstructive walls. The architecture is revealed after one passes through these two walls, with a path that gently slopes upward and allows a choice between two interior or exterior baths. There is also a choice to continue on, where the path gently slopes downward and guides the visitors back onto their path into the landscape. The project allows people to pass through, or stop and appreciate their view and surroundings.
Model photos.
03 VEIL
Miami Recreation Center Fall 2024 - Professor Peter Sprowls
Miami Beach is inherently a place to see, and to be seen. It’s reputation for being a city of spectacle has contributed to its iconic image. However, what is good for Miami’s economy and tourism industry is harmful to the locals, who have felt left behind by the city’s focus on created experiences for visitors. The Veil project aims to alleviate these issues, providing a local-exclusive recreation center that allows for occupants to be shielded by the turbulent cultural dynamics created by the exploding tourism industry in the area.
Exterior perspective.
1262 Collins Ave, Miami Beach.
Final model.
The narrative of escapism suggested the need of a place of refuge, inspiring the volumetric form of the project. These forms house the different programmatic functions of the recreation center, while also being closely grouped together to create these narrow, protective pathways in between.
The differentiation of function from one volume to another is shown clearly in section. The volume on the left shows the gymnasium, with a double height basketball court sitting on top of a weight room. The volume on the right shows more public use, with the event space and bar/cafe areas.
Section perspective.
Second floor plan.
First floor plan.
The above perspective, corresponsive to the plan on the top left, shows the garden space, perhaps the most fitting space for seclusion and refuge in the program. This garden still offers exposure to the outside elements of Miami Beach by being open to above, as well as including the same vegetation one would find in the Miami landscape, but it still offers a sense of privacy for the occupants by use of walls and a translucent polycarbonate screen.
The use of material was a new focus in this project, and using material as a tool to push narrative was an interesting challenge. Polycarbonate screening surrounded the entirety of the structure to provide privacy without the obstruction of the Florida sun, used similarly to this precendent from the House of Yanakacho in Japan.
Interior perspective of the garden space.
House of Yanakacho by Taiga Kasai + Chong Aehyang. 33
A wall section model was created to show in further detail the construction of this polycarbonate screen, and how it was integrated into the building’s facade. The modules on the street-facing sides of the building rotate outward from the column, revealing unobstructed windows in addition to the screened openings. This allows occupants to “peek” outward from the interior, but go almost unnoticed by those on the street directly outside. This facade feature is not only consistent with the narrative, but it is an experimentation of tectonics that help make the structure distinctive from the adjacent art deco buildings of Miami.
Final wall section model.
Interior perspective of the staircase.
Itinerary was always an important element to integrate into a project, but in regards to space this particular project required an itinerary that was delicate and meticulously planned out. The challenges of fitting a large amount of program into a small amount of space allowed opportunities to uniquely transition occupants from one area of the program to another. In some cases, this required a theshold that would seamlessly guide an occupant from a very public space to a very private one. Thus, a staircase was used to guide individuals toward the tranquil garden, slowing them down and making the transition less jarring.
