K r i s t i n e M e r k e l DesignPortfolio
Selecting A Narrative I design spaces and things to be experienced, to provide physical feedback to individuals and to create meaning within and without at the same time. I approach design problems and projects as architectural parables in my own narrative, and I think that to practice architecture, and design, in general, is to take a stance on interaction—between materials, people, nature, and ideas. The aim is to make informed claims that build awareness and create balance through storytelling, problemsolving, and experiential design.
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Offset Living - Urban Housing Micro-Unit Concept - Schematic Design
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Attentive Reality - Musicians’ Collective
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Projecting Self - JĂźgar Runway
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Joint Composition - Sound Folly
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Cross-Dimensional Continuity - Resilience Center
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Meditated Immersion - Gymnasium
1 Offset Living - Urban Housing Most of the city we experience is the inbetween, the offsets between buildings, between our usual destinations. The inbetween, or offset, is where people interact and connect. Here, it is where the individual retreats to. The offset provides relief—relief to the spaces, relief from public urban life.
Instructors: Ian Roll & Judson Moore, W.PA Site: Portland, OR U of O Fall 2016, Graduate
Top: Exterior View
2 Bed (6) 1 Bed (6) Studio (3) Vertical Circ. Retail
Sidewalk View
Unit Mix
Fourth Floor
Third Floor
Second Floor
First Floor
Two-Bedroom Kitchen
Offset Diagrams
Interior & Offset Space
Unit Exterior
Section
Model, Bass Wood & Acrylic
Hallway View
Ground Court
Micro-Unit Concept - Schematic Design Pre-Fab Utility/Storage Components U of U Spring 2014, Undergraduate
tions, interior isometric views MERKEL KRISTINE
1.a
unit layout
general plan, different use scenarios, interior elevations, interior isometric view
Isometric View - Counter & Bathroom
Isometric View - Kitchen
Interior Elevation - Counter & Bathroom
Interior Elevation - Kitchen KRISTINE MERKEL
Unit Plan
1.a
unit layout
general plan, different use scenarios, interior elevations, interior isometric views
Scenario: Entertaining
Scenario: Alone
Concrete Over Metal Decking Ceiling Finish
Exterior Finish 1” Air Gap R-21 Min. Rigid Mineral Wool Insulation Blueskin Membrane 1/2” Plywood Sheathing 2x6 Studs (1) Layer 1/2” Gyp. Bd.
Deck Detail
Floor Finish Floor Decking Light Guage Steel Framing
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Offset Type Composition Study Using Letter Modules
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2 Attentive Reality - Musicians’ Collective In a city, there is a phenomenon that can be where an individual can seem completely alone one minute, and overwhelmingly surrounded the next, all depending on the choice of context. Reality is constructed based on what is perceived, which relies heavily on what is actually paid attention to. Changing a person’s sense of relation to other people and things is as simple as changing the point of reference.
Instructor: Erin Carraher Site: Williamsburg, NY U of U Spring 2013, Undergraduate
Concept Video Stills
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Photographic Composition
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Third Floor
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Second Floor
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First Floor
Section of Performance Space & Street Interface
3 Projecting Self - JĂźgar Runway In the runway design, my studio colleagues and I contemplated identity and how the essence of the JĂź gar brand, which emphasizes an understated, yet powerful aesthetic and use of materials, could be communicated through not only clothes, but through place, movement, light,and sound. My roles included selecting materials for the dressing room component and assisting in construction and donations procurement. Built: October 2013
Instructors: Anne Mooney, Dan Hoffman Site: Salt Lake City, UT - Design Week U of U Fall 2013, Undergraduate
Photograph
Material Light/Shadow Study
Modular Ramp & Dressing Room Components
Shadow Projection Sketches
4 Joint Composition - Sound Folly The folly design considers the abstract nature of music and its emotional affectability. It seeks to remove some of the visual associations and distractions that might influence the comprehesion of sound. It is in the recessed, visually removed acoustic chamber that the boundaries of the city and of nature become unclear, and the sensations, functions, and sounds of both come into accord.
Instructor: Erin Carraher Site: Salt Lake Pioneer Park, UT U of U Spring 2013
Exterior Perspective
Model Photos, Museum Board
Collect
Amplify
Combine
Listen
Component Diagram
Watercolor
5 Cross-Dimensional Continuity - Resilience Center
The objective for the Resilience Center is to connect programmatic functions with human activities that satisfy basic human needs and contribute to a sense of wholeness and fulfillment at all stages of building use: before and after a disaster. ​ To create a situation free from interruption—between building and landscape, pre- and post-disaster building operations—a seamless connection must be fostered between individuals and community, building and landscape, familiar experiences and new.
Instructor: Brian Cavanaugh Site: SE Portland, OR U of O Spring 2017, Graduate
Entry & Ruin Garden
Model of Gallery Space
Context Model
Section Perspective & Resource Diagram
Site Plan
Mezzanine Plan
Main Level Plan
Lower Level Plan
Theater Before/After Cascadia Event
Viewing Deck
Massing
Foundation Pad
Experience Path
Structural Piles
Arch Structure
Top Path
Detail Section
Hallway View
Natural Catenary Arch, Photograph
Skin Detail Sketch
6 Meditated Immersion - Gymnasium
The gym emphasizes the superficial, flat character of daily life and image-based media and seeks to provide an alternative, a more authentic experience featuring a broad range of stimuli. Inside, users become physically immersed, wholly inhabiting and utilizing the space around them as well as their own bodies.
Instructors: Allison Bryan, Nico Larco Site: Portland, OR U of O Fall 2015, Graduate
Exterior View
Sanborn Maps Morphology Study
Fourth Floor
Third Floor
Second Floor
First Floor
Cafe View
North-South Section
East-West Section
Extracting M e a n i n g Only a small amount of a process, the way a person thinks, what he or she has experienced, can ever be conveyed. All that can be known is the slight bit of information retained from the selected narrative. Thank you.