Ryan Willison - Architectural Design Portfolio - 2023

RYAN MICHAEL WILLISON

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN PORTFOLIO

Ryan Willison

rmwillison@gmail.com

+1 (480) 275-1920

A concept driven designer with the ability to solve complex problems. A builder with a need to create beautiful and usable objects. A thinker who constantly questions why and how.

Education

Iowa State University - Ames, IA

M. Arch

August 2022 - Present

Anticipated Graduation - May 2025

Arizona State University - Tempe, AZ

BSD - Architectural Studies

August 2013 - May 2017

Experience

Iowa State University - Graduate/Teaching Assistant

October 2022 - Present

Teaching and administrative duties including leading classes and grading papers regarding history of design and context.

Paul Wesley Construction, A.C.C. - Assistant Manager

October 2011 - May 2022

Estimating - Millwork estimating takeoffs from commercial and residential plan documents/specifications. Customer and vendor communications (RFQ, RFI, etc.) culminating in proposal/ contract writing.

Design - Design of layout and manfuacturing of millwork. cabinets and countertops in commercial and residential projects within an AWI certified premium company. Customer communications throughout approval process.

Manufacturing - Manufacture of millwork while operating required machinery/tools for plastic laminate and veneer layups, edge banding, routing, drilling, saw cutting, hardware installation, etc.

Installation - On-site delivery and installation of millwork. Includes offloading, handling of millwork and installation of any and all millwork within project.

Administration - Work within front office from answering phones, accounts payable and receiveable, vendor and customer communications, purchasing, etc.

architectural parallax

Phoenix, AZ

// architectural parallax; the displacment of an object against a background. the shift in perspective of a place through the use of architectural elements.

The writings of Slavoj Zizek on architectural parallax, spandrels and class struggles gave birth to this project. An idea that the severing of an object (in this case architectural objects) and displacing them among themselves can, and will, have a direct affect on the subject; and, as per his suggestion, we focused on Norman Bates (the subject) in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.

This film served as a compass and guided us through the mind of an unhealthy and bleak life hidden in plain sight like desolate areas that are passed by everyday, hiding the choas from the rest of the world.

Spring 2017 - BSD

Instructor: Claudio Vekstein

Des Moines Art Center - Addition Des

Moines, IA

After completing as built drawings for all three wings of the Des Moines Art Center in Iowa, we were tasked to entertain an idea that an addition was going to be added to the art center.

I was drawn towards the center courtyard and reflection pool and begun investigating how to incorporate this into a new design. While trying to access underutilized space along the southside of the building, I began to mimic and mirror the shape and form of the pool.

Design strageties including collage, typology modification and multiple iterations in trace led to the final layout which incoporated multiple terraced landings. These landings include space for new works including sculpture, exterior art and a secluded space to view the existing rose garden.

Geometer’s Cabin

Tasked with creating a cabin in under 700 square feet and given a single shape (the oval) to work with, I began by constructing the shape geometrically. These construction lines served as a layout for the grid on which this design relies.

A central axis provides a division between private and public spaces while the curvature of the shape bring the user in and out of the naturally lit spaces.

The single pitch roof enhances the height of the floor to ceiling windows along the south facade while the ceiling height open bookshelf divides the work space from the reading room and fireplace.

Architectural Design and Media II

Instructor: Andrew Gleeson

PAssageway

The elevation of a building can give us many clues to the interior. In this case, we were only given the elevations. A cube with 6 sides and holes punched through, we were tasking with designing the interior of the cube.

Through a series of mass, frame and surface study models, a couple iterations collided to form the passageway.

The framing model became a grid and structural system which was designed around a central atrium. This atrium being the finish line.

From top to bottom a series of steps lead us down and around corners. After 360 degree views, turns and drop, one finally steps onto the earth and is confromted with a hanging mass.

Light draws the user under the mass and into an atrium. The super structure above lets light through and down to bounce among the shelving.

Instructor: FIrat Erdim

Llewellyn Wright House Addition

The Llewellyn Wright House was built in 1957 and is located in Bethesda, MD. After completing line drawings for the house our next project was an addition or satellite building.

Through a series of iterations an addition began to take shape. This project tumbles down the hill and impliments a similiar cascading affect developed by Wright in the 50’s. Space for two architects, a small meeting space and basic amenities are all contained in this addition.

Instructor: Andrew Gleeson

Basement One

Basement One

Basement Two