Noah Boudreau 2023 Portfolio

his book features a collection of works, each specially chosen to demonstrate my skills both as artist and designer. The projects were created out of a passion for design, something I hope is communicated in both their presentation and execution. Each major chapter of this book includes a write-up for the project, explaining my conceptual ideas along with reasons why certain design choices were made. The simple writings, however, cannot capture the time and care spent in these creations.

As a designer, I am very conceptually driven. I take inspiration from a wide range of ideas, both high and low. A few sources you will see in this book, including the act of voyeurism, medical procedure, satellites zooming above our heads, and the spirit of revolution in the face of massive class disparity. All of these ideas can be compressed, extruded, molded into an architecture; an architecture that is pleasant to be around and pleasant to be in. I love how dynamic design can be. The color, the shapes, it all is so amazing to me, and I thank you for your time in reading this, and that this book will convey these same feelings.

Contents

Trax

Single-Family Home

Free Flap

Experimental Performance Theater

Estrella

Skyscraper/Research Station

Halo

Public Plaza Space

Supplemental Work

Collection of Graphic Design, Community Work, and Sculpture

Trax

Bee Breeder’s Modular Home Design Contest

Type: Home

Occupancy: Single four-member family

Area: 893 square feet (83 square meters)

Trax is a different approach to modularity. The space provided is a blank canvas, as open and free as one could be. Through a system of ceiling modules that can be flipped, swapped, and rotated, wall arrangements are ever-changing. A three-sided glass box, open for viewers both inside and out, Trax is voyeurism taken to the extreme. With no way to completely block all sides, occupants must be inventive with their layout to retain some sense of privacy.

using 0% of wall system

using 25% of wall systemusing 50% of wall systemusing 100% of wall system

Free Flap

Type: Experimental performance theater

Occupancy: 162 seat theater

Area: 5,069 square feet (471 square meters) Theater, at its core, is a transfigurative experience. An act of molding, mashing, carving, peeling away at the body in order to evoke something other than the self. This destructive action of performance is the core of Free Flap’s existence. The outer skin is peeled away, inspired by mandibulectomy (removal of part or all of the jaw) procedures. The jaw was an area of great importance, as it completes the whole figure of the face, and is the main way theater is communicated. The theater of procedure is carried through to the interior, with the seating and stage arrangement being taken directly from antique surgical theater planning.

vectors of manipulation and their influence on the form

floor print is minimized while seating capacity is greatly maximized thanks to a surgical theater-styled plan

Estrella

Evolo Skyscraper Contest

Type: Skyscraper/Research Station

Occupancy: Approx. 2-300 Employees Area: 118 acres (48 hectacres)

The Arecibo Observatory was a vital set of eyes for the Earth, giving us a clear view of the skies from the southern hemisphere and providing Puerto Rico with a steady stream of activity, both research and tourist. Since the fall of the radio telescope at the center of the base’s dish, we as a whole have lost a vital scientific research laboratory, and Puerto Rico has lost an extremely important symbol of national pride. Estrella is designed to bring back the telescope, while also integrating all operations of the Arecibo Observatory under one roof, including a visitor’s center, living quarters, monitoring equipment, radio stations, and recreational facilities. Mega trusses loft up massive blocks of science and technology, sprouting from themselves akin to the way space stations are formed and expanded upon. The building and telescope are one, and inseparable; one could not exist without the other.

two visions: building for space, unencumbered and free to expand as it wishes,

and building grounded, looking up pondering the heavens above

planetarium cut-through

Halo

ACSA Steel Competition

Type: Public plaza space

Occupancy: City of Paris

Area: 34,460 square feet (3201 square meters)

The city of Paris has always had a revolutionary spirit. Halo is an attempt to elevate this spirit of change to new heights, atop a symbol of oppression for the people. Halo is a parasitic addition to the roof of Notre Dame de Paris, replacing the destroyed roof with an open pavilion meant to be a space to gather, spread ideas, and communicate for the people. The structure attaches to the gothic stylings of the cathedral, extending and distorting them into natural, organic peaks and webs.

Parasitizing the cathedral, the church itself, a symbol of power and oppression for centuries, Halo is able to bring back power to the people

Supplementary Work

A collection of graphic design, community work, and sculpture

craft, a series of balloon animals I made that were scanned and digitized, putting them into photoshop and arranging a series of seamless patterns

ALL ENTRIES INCLUDED IN GALLERY SHOW PRIZES!

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ATELIER ARCHITECTURE

OBJECTIVES:

SALON is a boutique architecture atelier, a one of a kind experience for architect and client alike. Focusing on materiality and the ways material itself can inform the look and feel of a building, instead of program. In the years to come I hope to fully become licensed in the field and form a business partnership with three to six other like-minded architects in order to see my ideas come to fruition in the real world.

LOCATION:

WITH its rich tapestry of material works and dense history of the city itself, Salon would be ideally located in Copenhagen, Denmark, giving it a unique air of European austerity to clients not from the region. Copenhagen also lends itself to the unique atelier, almost akin to a cottage industry where everything is designed in-house in an open-air studio.

STRUCTURE:

SALON is a partnership, with my ideal number of partners being around six, in order to allow for a wide range of different ideas while still retaining a small, atelier feel. Housed in a central office, work would be delegated among each of us, with each partner working either alone or alongside someone else.

MARKET:

SALON does not go for the huge, gaudy public works that are forced upon with a predisposition to the same form and function, instead going for the passion projects of people who know what they want and have an understanding of the architectural basics, but need someone to put the pen to the paper and draw out the papers. Announcing services through architectural magazines, instagram, and architectural blogs will let SALON reach this market— the person who knows what they want but might need some help in getting those ideas down on paper.

I am Noah Boudreau, an architect. I want to own my own firm and create the projects I am passionate about, working alongside like-minded people and f ulfilling projects for understanding and forward-thinking clients. On a day-to-day basis I would like to be going through the iterative process of design, making/remaking/de-making different versions of a project to share with other project partners and the client, making an architecture we all enjoy.

EDGE:

SALON is different because of it’s atelier feel. Working directly one-on-one with the client, taking them step by step through the process with the studio and fraternising in a small intimate space with the partners. My services are better than others because I am better than others.

MISSION:

THE mission of SALON is, “For Earth, by Earth.” Letting the raw fruits of the Earth show their natural beauty and form.

COMPETITION:

FIRMS like Peter Barber, Snohetta, and Peter Marino are aspirational for Salon. Their use of material in new and exciting ways is something to be admired and looked upon as a model for design. While they are all definitely larger than SALON, they still retain a sense of boutique architecture through their branding and design focus.

SUMMARY:

SALON is about the rush you get from touching a building, connecting with it hands-on and feeling the building speak to you through i’s walls, its floors, and its fenestration. Using raw and untreated material to let the Earth have a chance to shine through the thick veneer of artificiality that is all too common in the architectural profession.

TRADING EQUALLY:

THE WOMEN’S HOUSE OULED MERZOUG, MOROCCO

NOAH BOUDREAU

ANALYSIS IMPACT

Place Attachment, the second stage of place analysis, is the interplay of emotions, knowledge, and beliefs that a space reinforces (ALTMAN, LOW).

The Women’s House is able to disrupt this attachment by taking things seen as typically feminine in Moroccan culture and culture as a whole— baking, gardening, weaving, and turning it into a tool for empowerment and sustenance. While some may criticize the project for reinforcing these feminine skills, making them home-makers not just in their own homes, but in the own community centers, the project is about getting women outside of the home to connect with other women in their community and

Despite being equal on paper, women in Morocco still experience much stigma in society, especially in the workforce, ranking 148 out of 156 in the WEF report on economic participation and opportunity (USAID). This stigma against women in the workforce leads to less female representation in elected office, increased dropout rates for female students, and a stagnation of Morocco's economy, which is not tapping into the availability of female-led labor. Despite making up 50% of Morocco's population, only 26% of the labor force in Morocco are women (THELWELL). The AFOM (Association des Femmes d’Ouled Merzoug), an association pushing for greater representation of women in Moroccan society, and the Building Beyond Borders group from Hasselt University are combatting this issue from the outskirts of the major urban areas, where misogynistic stigma against women is strongest. This collaboration yielded the Women’s House, a community working space for women both young and old to meet together as a community and learn from each other and practice trade skills, both educating the community and providing a source of income for their families (DIVISARE).

In construction for the building, the women in the community of Ouled Merzoug were able to apply their own skillset and create a place that they can truly call theirs— from designing and assembling all interior cloths, to weaving the thatched roof using classical textile weaving techniques passed down, the Women’s House is a built reflection of female labor and skill in Morocco.

Contextually, the Women’s House is situated in the center of the village, with the major central opening facing the community, and entrances in both forms facing either side of the community. Arranged with the overlap of the two forms as the main heart of the building, or cour, as the local women call it, the spaces radiate out from the cour into the main workshop space in the left form and a communal kitchen in the right form. Spaces become more private as you near the end of either form, ending in a private garden designed for solidarity and mindfulness.

WHAT CAN BE LEARNED

The Women’s House is all about the cultivation of skills for women, and reclaiming a space where the feminine is celebrated and encouraged. Providing space for women, and by listening to their needs as a community and responding with an environment that enables them to practice and hone their skill is of utmost importance, especially in areas where women are underrepresented in society.

Competing with desert heat, the Women’s House is design with traditional heat-management systems— thick trombe walls throughout the building combined with inner chamber rooms make a for a comfortable space for the community

6’6-1/2”

Drawings and renders for Louisiana Tech University’s “Study Space” modules, created with Louisiana Tech’s Community Design Activism Center

Early concept work for the Ruston Skatepark’s misting stations, created with Louisiana Tech’s Community Design Activism Center

Renders and planning work for Ruston Skatepark’s donor wall

RESUME

Noah Boudreau

nboudreau1999@gmail.com

+1(318) 347-2106

620 Henderson Street, D23, Ruston Louisiana, 71270

Education

Louisiana Tech University

Bachelor in Architectural Sciences

Activities

Louisiana Tech AIAS Chapter

Member 2018-2023

Secretary 2019-2020

Louisiana Tech United States Green Building Council Chapter

Member 2018-2023

Vice President 2020-2022

Louisiana Tech Habitat for Humanity Chapter

Member 2018-2022

Louisiana Tech National Organization of Minority Architecture Students Chapter

Member 2019-2022

Competitions

2021 Evolo Skyscraper Contest

2021 Bee Breeder’s Modular Home Design Competition

2022 ACSA Steel Competition

Digital Skills

AutoCAD, Rhino, Revit, Grasshopper, Lumion, Twinmotion, Blender, Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator, Google Suite, Powerpoint

Physical Skills

Model making, Hand Drafting, Hand sketching, Wood construction, Welding

Experience

Interior Design internship at Canatella Interiors

Summer 2020

Created social media posts including text and video

Created renders, presentations, and proposals for clients

Louisiana Tech Community Design Activism Center

2021-2022

Created proposals and presentations for the Ruston Skatepark and Louisiana Tech University for both city and school officials