Megan Thomson Architecture Portfolio

Megan Thomson Architecture Portfolio University of Houston Interior Architecture Selected Works 2014-2017

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Contents Alden B. Dow Museum

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Studio IV (2017) Instructor: Ziad Qureshi

Fine Arts College Installation

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Studio IV (2017) Instructor: Ziad Qureshi

Bat Colony Observation Center

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Billboard Residence

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Retreat Space

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Studio III (2016) Instructor: Michael Gonzales

Studio III (2016) Instructor: Michael Gonzales

Studio II (2016) Instructor: Roya Plauche

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RETENTION

An Interactive Experience of Antiquity

SITE Building Site Plan NEIGHBORING BANK

Located in the southern Texas Bay region, the city of Lake Jackson bears a rich history as one of the few master planned cities in the United States. Once the heart of the town, the master architect’s office is now re purposed as the Alden B. Dow Office Museum. By further developing the historic institution via the creation of new interactive programming (casual during the day, adult based during the night) and exhibits, the building would gain new life and dexterity of use. It would satisfy an unfulfilled niche within the community as a relaxing art and event space as well as a venue for young, non-parenting adults and new residents to interface with each other and the city’s history. Guest artists, using donated artifacts contributed by residents, would produce innovative, site specific installations that reflect the unique community of Lake Jackson.

The staff would be more directly involved with its patrons, and visitors would encounter more engaging content that has a stronger connection their personal lives in modern times.

70’

ALDEN B. DOW OFFICE MUSEUM N

L OG

25’

35’

G IA

PARKING LOT 1” : 16’

Demographics of Lake Jackson

Females 52.3% Median Resident Age:

Males 47.7%

36.7 Years Old

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Sc

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A

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is to ry

MUSEUM THEORY

n re

ld

hi

C Types of Museums and Similarities

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Pros

HISTORY

Cons

Community Dialogue Feedback Participatory Activities

- (crowdsourcing, story sharing)

Multiple Perspectives

- Negative Views - Chaotic Storytelling

Research Projects

Art Based Participatory Projects

ART

SCIENCE

Education and Curatorial Departments Divided - Participation rarely interacts with actual art

Multiple Viewpoints Welcomed

Interactive Activities Able To Easily Adapt to Contemporary Issues

Family Oriented - Controversal issues are avoided Youth Oriented - Adult activities are usually overlooked

Interactive and Visitor Oriented

CHILDREN

Issue of Children’s Privacy

Innovative Ways of Narration Able to Introduce Sensitive Topics

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isi

Phy sic al &

rs isito Other V

Fo

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Cu ltu ra lF ac to rs

MUSEUM DEVELOPMENT

y et ci o S

Museum

to r

Museum Interactive Experience

Methods of Interactive Design

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Previous Museum Structure

Currently Developing Museum Structure

MUSEUM

MUSEUM info

info

USER fo era c

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USER

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USER

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USER

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info

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USER

USER

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APPLIED INTERACTIVE METHODS

CREATIO

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ND

U SO

Touch Activated Soundbites

Take Home Art

Displayed User Art

User Generated Playlist

Chalk Wall

E GA M

Post-It Wall

Sharpie Wall

INTERACTIVE METHODS

Matching Game

Collected Narratives

Maps (ploting an experience or memory)

Lounge

Typewritten Love Letters

IN

A ST

L

TI LA

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Light Based Installation

3D Experience

Personality Test

Meditation Spaces

AL DU IVI ITY IND CTIV A

GROUP ACTIVITY

Card Game

/ NSE ON PO I RES RIBUT NT CO

Fill in the Blank

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ALDEN B. DOW MUSEUM PROPOSED PLAN

70’

PERGOLA

WOODEN VERTICAL GARDEN

DISGUISED A/C UNIT

PRESERVED DOW OFFICE

13’

STORAGE 4’

STAFF OFFICE & BREAK ROOM

LOUNGE 9’

A

c

ADDITIONAL DISPLAY WALL

14’ 5”

15’

ARTIFACT DISPLAY WALL

13’ 24’ 25’

18’9”

35’

DIGITAL DISPLAY WALL

IN

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S ES PR

8’ 5”

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ALLIANCE OF JUXTAPOSITION Meaning Found Through Opposition

Given the goal of translating a cinematic experience into a spacial; one, this project consisted of designing a temporary art installation in a solitary breezeway located in the Fine Arts College at the University of Houston. Initially inspired by Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner, six film sequences were chosen and expressed via visual diagrams. Focusing on interaction between sound and light, overlapping eras and styles, and opposing environments occurring in one space, the main theme of contrasting elements needing each other to exist was developed. Through juxtaposition, elements can both contrast and compliment one another, adding strength and harmony through tension. The diagrams created were transformed into physical models, adding complexity and idea development with every iteration. A collage served as the final abstracted step of the design process and solidified multiple themes into a singular central intention. The cumulation of the work resulted in the application of the concepts with the objectives of both creating an experience and responding to an existing space.

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Centered around the concept of juxtaposition and the interplay of elements, the instillation design heavily employs light to create contrasting experience in a 24 hour cycle of the building. Metal panels create patterned shade and seclusion during the day. The space induces slow movement with cooler temperatures through darkness. It exists as a negative-light space, with the light source traveling from outside the space in. The conditions are inverted in the nighttime as neon lights the pulsate invoke movement through and attention to the space. The space radiates light instead of sucking it in, illuminating the darkness of night in the courtyard found below. While light is heavily emphasized and utilized, rhythm also is present in both day and night (rhythm of the panels in the day and rhythm of the strobing lights at night), binding the two conditions and contributing to the theme of contrast via multiple applications of a single element. The juxtaposition elements create meaning in the space through the comparison of one to another.

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96’

Section A 1’

3’

10’ 10”

3’ 3”

Section B

7’ 11”

Section C

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BAT COLONY STATION Canopy

Open Floor

Enclosed Courtyard

Clear Floor

Courtyard

1� : 64’

Primary Architecture Elements

Located along the extensive Bayou system of the Houston area, the Waugh Bridge Bat Colony Viewing Station integrates nature and education into one building. The station stands as a modern interpretation of a traditional courtyard styled house in order to allow a merging of exterior and interior spaces, as well as to permit visitors to view bats more intimately. The building reflects the landscape as it slopes down, eventually serving as bridging the street to the bayou.

Seconday Architecture Elements

Open Roof

Open Courtyard Cut Through

Division

Elevated Courtyard

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15’

-15’ A

10’

A -10’

-5’

-5’ -24’ -12’

-0’

C

C

FLOOR LO 1

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FLOOR 2

SECTION A 1” : 16’

SECTION B

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SECTION C

EAST ELEVATION

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MUNECAS ISLA RESIDENCE Built for a professional artisan doll house crafter, this loft serves as a workshop as well as a retreat space for the client. The space incorporates the client’s personal inspirations of desert environments and animal bones via an overarching concept of the volume’s connection to nature and the outside area. Both the mediums in which the client works (straw) and the existing site’s grid frame influenced the development of this space’s layout and skin system. The wood skin system that, along with glass, forms the envelope of the structure is modeled on the combined ideas of woven straw material, the modular aspect of bones, and the pre-existing grid of the site.

KEY

Private

Public

PROGRAM

CIRCULATION

THRESHOLD

SKIN

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B

A

C

ROOF FLOOR PLAN 3/32”: 1’0”

B

A

C

FIRST FLOOR PLAN 3/32”: 1’0”

B

A

C

SECOND FLOOR PLAN 3/32”: 1’0”

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SECTION C

3/32”: 1’0”

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SECTION B 3/16”: 1’0”

SECTION A 3/16”: 1’0”

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PENNY LOUVER PLACE

84 in standard ceiling height 78 in height

10.65 in

18 in knee/sitting 18 in standard chair and

30 in standard dinning

36 in countertop height

80 in standard door height

12 in footstep

32 in distance of window placement

87 in standard window height

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CONCEPT IDEAS

FIRST GENERATION CONCEPT MODELS

SECOND GENERATION CONCEPT MODELS

Cantilevering

Transparency

Atrium

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Mass & Site

Circulation

Skin

Program

Planes

Structure

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Isometric View

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Exploded Isometric View

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Section 01

Section 02

Section 04

Section 03

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Floor Plan 3

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Floor Plan 1

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