Martha Boulware Interior Design Portfolio

WELCOME

This portfolio is a curation of my fondest undergraduate works. It is within these projects that I discovered my passion for immersive, experiential, and narrative design -- a voyage I hope to carry onwards into the creation of a higher, merrier world.

A LIVING, BREATHING NARRATIVE PORTRAYING A PLIGHT BETWEEN NATURE AND TECHNOLOGY.

ODE TO A WORLD: I*LAND

I*LAND is technical trade school campus based in Seoul, South Korea. This was the first project I designed entirely on my own from the ground-up, including the campus layout, architecture, and interior elements. The site engages with the architecture, leaking in through crevices and corridors in its ambitions to infiltrate, strangle, and swallow the foreign building structures in a fit of objection. In a sense, this motif is in honor of South Korea’s history and embodies the spirit of its people.

CANTILENAS POPULI

Throughout design development, I began to curate a playlist as a means of exploring a new avenue in personifying space beyond visual means. Over the course of nine weeks, the project and the characters that would occupy i*LAND began to feel more alive with their own unique voices and experiences.

THE PLAGUE GWAROSA

EXTINGUISHING FLAMES

In 2005, South Korea had the highest annual suicide rate in the world and the issue continues to be a looming presence. Much of this is attributed to unsustainable work-life, societal, and generational expectations. The pressure to reach a certain standard of perfection begins as early as elementary school. The average student’s school day in South Korea begins at 7am and ends anywhere between 10pm to 12am, leaving little time for extracurriculars.

This phenomenon is called “gwarosa” or “death by overwork culture,” which can occur in either the philosophical or literal sense. The flames that keep one’s passions and zest for life alive are instead snuffed out. Dreams and aspirations of pursuing certain career paths are also overridden in favor of higher-paying but fiercely competitive fields a particular student may not feel any other inclination towards.

DESIGN STRATEGIES

NARRATIVE & SITE EXPERIENCE

Conducting reason in form.

Building intrigue and user sentiment.

COMMUNITY DIVERSITY SANCTUARY MATERIALITY

Instilling a sense of security and belonging.

Embracing the unique nuances of individuals.

Ensuring peace of mind and promoting positive learning habits.

Communicating with the brain through subconscious visual and tactile means.

COLOSSUS VANQUISHED

The campus tells of an age where a militia of lumbering colossus roamed the land, seeking to destroy it and mold it into the image of their master. The Earth and her mystical beasts rebelled, coiling the colossus in vines and swallowing them into the earth

The site is steadfast in its vendetta, continuing to choke the buildings on campus from the inside as it slowly makes its way into their vulnerable hearts. However, the mysterious powers at play within the innovations building may squander their advances.

In tandem with the theme of Colossus Vanquished, the site is a graveyard of slaughtered giants. Their stone remains litter the campus, some of them reaching up to the sky, buried alive by the forces that opposed them.

i*LAND’s FALLEN BEHEMOTHS

These objects represent the thoughts, fears, or people that plague students beyond school bounds, but shatter into innocuous pieces upon their arrival. The site is allowed to possess these pieces however it so chooses, through moss, wild grasses, and other native flora, thereby claiming these broken fragments as one with itself.

“Gae-cheon-es-eo yong nan-da”

“A dragon rises up from a small stream.”

This Korean proverb relays the tales of mighty dragons rising up from a shallow stream; a feat that would be baffling to witness, as one would not expect such a large creature to reside there. As such, this proverb is used to describe one who rises into greatness from humble beginnings.

SITE ANALYSIS

Site: Korean Air’s Songhyeon-dong plot

The site was held vacant by Korean Air until it was purchased by the city of Seoul. Now, for the first time in over a century, the space will soon become open to the public once more.

The neighborhood of Songhyeon-dong

Journeys: Our i*LAND

-Kim Hoseok

-Physics Teacher

-Robotics Club Mentor

-Commutes from Seoul

-Minseok - 4th Year

-Figure Skating + Mechanical Engineering

-Boarding Student from Busan

-Anya - 3rd Year

-Civil Engineering

-Boarding Student from San Antonio, TX

THE NATURAL

In many cultures, the natural realm upholds its own identity. There is a certain charm and joyous quality to what is natural that cannot be replicated by human hand nor machine. Nature is often associated with beauty and tranquility, but just as it can be kind, it can be unruly, unrelenting, and ruthless. Here, there is a mischievous and spiteful spirit to nature that is a great deal of fun to integrate within a built environment.

MATERIALS KEY

1: Bamboo wood flooring

2: Bamboo rods

3: Plaster

4: Black and white marble

5: Outdoor uplights

6: Hexagonal porcelain tile flooring

#5b8d33 #894c19 #f1f1f1 #adadaf

THE CYBERSPHERE

In contrast with nature, technology is personified as rigid and unfeeling -- only concerning itself with what is sensible. However, there is an underlying curiosity and a thirst for enlightenment that drives innovation and evokes a sense of endearment within such a concept in spite of its shiny, cold exterior. In truth, technology depends on the humility one finds in trial and error in order to continue moving the world forward.

Materials Key

THE STEELY PERSONA OF TECHNOLOGY FINDS ITS HUMANITY IN THE FIBERS OF ITS CURIOSITY.

MATERIALS KEY

1: Plaster

2: Hexagonal Carrara and Blue Palissandro Marble Mosaic Tile

3: Acoustic Ceiling Feature

4: Glowee Bioluminescent Bacteria

5: Black Textured Plastic

6: Rubber Flooring

#f1f1f1 #07fafe #7e84fb #272729

LEVEL 1 PLAN NTS

ANCIENT CISTERN

NEO GATE: N0.va

AREA: ZER0

ROOM KEY

Office

Critique Space

Study Rooms

Cafe

Restroom Storage

The building is composed of 3 zones, each upholding their own distinct point in time within the context of this narrative: the Ancient Cistern representing the past in which the Colossus were defeated, Neo Gate: N0.va serving as a relative present point, and Area: Zero of a time and realm further into the future. The latter is dedicated primarily for the student body’s use with study rooms and a lounge for their leisure during breaks. There are lockers at each entrance where one may store their umbrellas, coats, and outdoor shoes as well as assigned lockers at the Cistern’s center.

THE ANCIENT CISTERN

The Ancient Cistern is the space that awaits just beyond the main entry point. Here, the building feels more historic with a natural, earthy color palette as well as materials that speak to its proud yet charming aura.

Basilica Cistern, Istanbul

This space is the most heavily possessed by the site. Vines and other forms of foliage coil and move about as they please.The columns, molded into the shapes of women holding empty bowls out before them, pay homage to the memory of Korean comfort women who were forced into servitude by Imperial Japan during World War II.

NEO GATE: N0.va

In contrast with The Ancient Cistern, the Neo Gate is sleek with a futuristic-modern touch. It is a portal that connects the past to a mysterious realm that has since been slowly repossessed by the surrounding flora and fauna, making the gateway between realities unstable. This space helps the user make the visual and atmospheric transition between the aesthetics of the Ancient Cistern with that of the area beyond. The space feels friendly, but there is a lingering suspicion of the secrets it hides.

ACCESSIBILITY AND MENTAL HEALTH

Every classroom in the building has access to sunlight, whether it be through exterior windows or those facing the interior atrium. The main corridors as and campus paths are all lined with an alternate material from the flooring to aid those who are visually impaired and depend on a cane to navigate safely. Color psychology also plays a role in helping students as they move from space to space, whether they should feel focused, relaxed, or energized.

AREA: ZER0

Nestled deep within the heart of the Innovations Building, Area Zero is an illusive and peculiar space. Sharing nothing in common with the rest of the site, it seems as though it’s of a whole other realm entirely. Things here are not quite as they seem. Despite its nightly darkness, the blue glow from a river of light keeps the space illuminated.

INNOVATIONS IN BIOLUMINESCENT TECHNOLOGY

A Parisian company known as Glowee has successfully reinvented light sources with technology nature has already created. Glowee inserts the genetic coding that creates bioluminescence into common, non-toxic, and non-pathogenic bacteria to produce clean, safe, synthetic lighting.

The bacteria are encased in a transparent shell and provided a medium composed of the nutrients they need to survive and produce light. This solution as well as the bacterial colony can indefinitely and exponentially grow with little maintenance needed and does not require the extraction of natural resources. When deceased, the bio-mass of these micro-organisms can then be revalued as bio-plastics, bio-fuels, and bio-vitamins.

SKETCHBOOK

PIXAR PAVILION

The goal for this project was to take a persona who works under a given profession and design a workplace environment in which the individual and their colleagues would thrive. With Pixar Animation Studios being the hub in which my persona and his team worked, I wanted to create an environment that encouraged collaboration while also accommodating different work styles and preferences. The Pixar film “A Bug’s Life” as well as the integration of certain design ‘Easter eggs’ within “Toy Story” were both major influences on the overall direction of the project.

The primary conference rooms, as depicted on the right, are composed of natural yet vibrant colors that are achieved through the implementation of different lighting conditions that can be adjusted to suit the space appropriately.

2022

Persona

CONCEPT BOARD

My selected persona is a facilities manager at Pixar Animation Studios. With this in mind, I set out to create a workplace that nurtures creative thinking by design.

COLOR PSYCHOLOGY

Color has the interesting ability to evoke unconcious emotions, inspiring reactions and changing one’s way of thinking when occupying a space. As a visual language, it can excite or soothe, raise or lower blood pressure, and even spark fluctuations in appetite. Whether it’s an innate or learned wonder, color has an ongoing role in how we perceive and experience our day-to-day lives.

Creativity, Growth, Calm, Nature, Balance, Safety.

Joy, Attention, Freshness, Energy, Optimism.

Enthusiasm, Success, Warmth, Excitement.

Purity, Innocence, Luxury, Security, Peacefulness.

EXPLODED AXON

DESIGN BY NARRATIVE

The building is a “tree of life” - the elevators climbing to each floor indicative of ascending this hypothetical tree’s trunk and walking about one of its many branches. Taking inspiration from the Pixar film, “A Bug’s Life,” one of the company’s earliest productions, I wanted to create a natural, child-like atmosphere. The employees embody ants scuttling about. Ants work in large teams to accomplish a similar goal, however, each ant is a unique individual in its own right. In this way, the pavillion is intended to harbor one’s own story as they create, mingle, work, and thrive within the space.

LEVEL 1 PLAN NTS

Classroom

Theater

Retail

Cafeteria

Fascilities

Offices

Greenery

Guest Circulation Path

WEST SECTION

LEVEL 2 PLAN NTS

ROOM KEY

Conference Rooms

Collaborative Workspace

Tech-Centric Space

Lax Space

Private Offices

Greenery

TSOSIE TEXTILE CO.

IDEC 2021 Student Design Competition Nominee

Tsosie Textile Co. is a hybrid retail - residential space formed through the strategic arrangement of 3 shipping containers. The space was to be occupied full-time by a couple; one partner a photographer and the other, a traditional Navajo textile weaver. Our primary goal was to incorporate the symbolism that is at the heart of Navajo culture through implementations of pattern, color, and materiality while also accommodating the more modern needs of the residents and their clientele.

Collaborators: Josh Holstein, Ashley Mitchell, & Hieu Ngo

MATERIAL FLOOR PLAN

The coloration and materiality of the building’s interior spaces are earth toned, made from locally sourced, sustainable materials, and include hues commonly utilized in Navajo weaving practices. Woven textiles are not kept exclusive to the showroom and are instead displayed throughout the unit. The residents live in-touch with the natural elements with access to large windows, a small landscaped courtyard, a private garden, and porches on both the northern and southern ends of the property.

HYBRID GUESTROOM

SHOWROOM

PROGRAMMATIC FLOOR PLAN

The programming divides our three given shipping containers into a dwelling and a 453 sq. ft. hybrid retail space that caters to the transactional and social media presence requirements for our primary users’ careers.

APPLIED MATERIALS

FF+E KEY

1. NAVAJO TEXTILE WALLPAPER

2. RED WOOD

3. DARK WOOD

4. MODERN STEEL SPOTLIGHTS

5. TAN CARPET

6. LOOM YARN

7. BACK-SPLASH

8. QUARTZ COUNTERTOPS

9. WOODEN CEILING ELEMENT

10. WHITE MARBLE COUNTERTOPS

11. BAMBOO PLANKS

12. WOVEN STRAW DOORS

13. GRAY SOFA

14. LEATHER OTTOMAN

15. TAN PAINT

STOREFRONT ELEVATION

RESIDENTIAL ELEVATION

WEST SECTION

NORTH SECTION

ROOTS CENTER

Williams-Sonoma, a successful chain of international gourmet foods and quality cookware products, wished to broaden their partnership with the No Kid Hungry program and give back to local communities through their support of the program’s goal to end child hunger in the US.

Collaborators: I-Chen Chen, Sarah Alduaylij, & Elizabeth Loftus

EDUCATION THROUGH HYDROPONICS

Our aim was to ensure healthier food options are more accessible to children in the Lincoln community. Much focus is placed on childhood hunger, but many teenagers in the US are also food insecure with school lunches being their most substantial meal of the day. With this in mind, we wanted to create a space where kids and teens alike could learn to grow, sell, and cook their own foods from scratch. Through the practice of hydroponics, our team designed a space in which the Williams-Sonoma retail brand and our community program could seamlessly coexist. Children under the No Kid Hungry program maintain their own hydroponic tank systems in teams, each using the produce they grow to prepare their own meals using WilliamsSonoma cookware under the guidance of volunteers and hired chefs. They may also sell the produce to members of the community through the in-house farmers market.

EXPLODED AXON

MATERIAL SELECTION