rhiannon strazdas portfolio
select architectural works 2023-2025
rhiannon strazdas 1st year m.arch
402.507.8469 rrstrazdas@gmail.com @strazarch
EDUCATION
Master of Architecture
08/2024 - present
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE
Bachelor of Science in Design — Architectural Studies
08/2020 - 05/2024
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE
Minor in Product Design
SKILLS AND SOFTWARE
Rhinoceros 3D
Revit
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
V-Ray
Enscape
Microsoft Office
REFERENCES
Dr. Peter Olshavsky
402.590.3902
05/2024 - present
Architectural Intern | HDR — Omaha & Lincoln, NE
Collaborated with the design team to produce and develop architectural plans, sketches, 3D models, and renders for various project types.
Conducted site visits to track project progress and collect data for design and construction purposes.
Utilized Rhino, Revit, and Adobe Creative Suite to create high-quality drawings, renderings, and presentations.
08/2024 - present
Graduate Learning Assistant | UNL — Lincoln, NE
Assisted the professor in the development and delivery of course materials, including, reading assignments and assessments for undergraduate history students.
Graded assignments, exams, and essays, giving constructive feedback to help students improve their writing and understanding of historical themes.
05/2022 - 05/2024
EXPERIENCE Undergraduate Research Assistant | UNL — UCARE
Collaborated with Dr. Peter Olshavsky to research and organize information on the built works of Steven Holl, contributing to project descriptions and analyses.
Gathered and curated source materials, ensuring comprehensive documentation of 50+ projects.
1. do.arch spring 2023
2. bug house spring 2024
3. the village fall 2023
4. tech rehab spring 2023
do.arch
kate allen & michael mancuso
spring 2023: arch 311 — situate dr. peter olshavsky
This project is a proposed building for a future architecture department on the Kansas City Art Institute campus. It aims to support the education of students and inspire the exploration of architecture through sustainable materiality and adaptive reuse.
west facade and courtyard
LIGHTWELL
The lightwell provides natural sunlight in the hallway spaces down to the ground level.
SITE CONSIDERATIONS
Due to the site’s substantial grade change, the first level of the building is split, with two entrances on the east and west. The west entrance contains double-height spaces including the media center, shop, student lounge, and café. The east entrance passes through a rotating student work display, showcasing projects happening within the school. This floor also has access to the main gallery and mezzanine above the café and lounge.
lightwell on 2nd floor
FACADE FINS
A research center for adaptive reuse promotes sustainability and encourages deeper analysis of projects and experimentation with materiality. This idea carries into the building’s material palette: the exterior fins of the façade consist of recycled limestone, conencting to the history of Kansas City’s construction. These extrusions have no windows facing directly south, instead opting for openings on the flat east/west sides of the fins, preventing solar heat gain from the strong southern sun.
MEZZANINE AND CAFE
The mezzanine sits directly above the cafe, creating an open study space that encourages social interaction between students and provides options beyond their studio desks to work within the building. The cafe and lounge below provide fresh food options, and connects directly to the exterior plaza, encouraging students to practice healthy habits while at school.
bug house
phil boyd
spring 2024: arch 411 — integrate michael harpster
lincoln, ne
Bug House is a residential addition and renovation to the existing Bennett Martin Public Library in downtown Lincoln, NE. With an emphasis on biophilic design, this project aims to provide a unique housing experience while inspiring healthy habits through a connection to nature and discovery.
BIOPHILIC DESIGN
In order to preserve education-focused program, the former library building shell is preserved and its first floor interior is renovated into an entomology educational center, with an emphasis on pollinators, connecting to a public courtyard garden and exterior aviary. The project follows several biophilic patterns, including material nature connects through exposed CLT, the presence of water in a lobby waterfall, and dynamic and diffuse light through an interior lightwell running through the addition co-housing.
LOUNGE
GARDEN
MATERIALITY
The building’s facade consists of a pre-cast lightweight aggregate green concrete panel system. These panels run 12’ floor to floor, connected midfloor plates via a steel tie back and dead load plate. These panel faces were initially developed through physical rockite model studies, and later developed using environmental and shading analysis. These, combined with a CLT structural system, create visual interest as well as connect within the aviary by providing housing structure for the birds. Additionally, Bug House integrates the existing Bennett Martin breezeblocks throughout its design.
CONCRETE STUDIES
Rockite casting studies were conducted to explore texture options with pre-cast concrete, ultimately helping to develop a “crinkle concrete” panel system.
Materials
Precast Concrete Panel
History
Existing Library Concrete Facade Neighboring 1932 Centennial Building
Context
Corner of 14th and N Streets
Brick Screening Wall To Match Bennett Martin Enlarged Elevation
CO-HOUSING
The residential addition of the project focuses on multiple housing types, with traditional style apartments as well as two types of co-housing. Each co-housing zone features a central community space with kitchen, dining, lounge, and access to outdoor spaces. These are integrated within the apartment circulation, breaking the mold of the common doubleloaded corridor, and merging what is traditionally a static and minimally-used space with a lively amenity to inspire community.
the village
devyn
boys town cte center
borroughs & chloe strecker
fall 2023: arch 410 — collaborate darin hanigan & vanessa schutte
This project provides students with the ability to cultivate their futures through Career & Technical Education programs while prioritizing student health and safety. The idea of “village” connects back to the history of Boys Town, which was established as its own village by Father Edward Flanagan in the 1920s, as well as the functional and aesthetic layout of this project. Each building houses its own CTE program, with an additional building for administration. each of these buildings are “connected” by an exterior circulation porch, enclosed on the ends to allow for secure entry and exit from the building.
THE “VILLAGE”
A village is defined as a small community in a rural area, usually smaller than a town. They serve as a safe environment, one which provides resources needed for survival. Villages are arranged as a cluster surrounding a central point, either an open green space or a developed plaza. The buildings clustered around this central point use a variety of patterns and shapes to create visual interest within the community.
TRANSITIONAL FORM
The village form was derived as a “transition” in scale and shape between the nearby residential homes which the students live in and the larger adjacent high school Fieldhouse.
residential unit new cte center fieldhouse campus
DAYLIGHTING WINDOWS VIEWING WINDOWS
DAYLIGHTING WINDOWS VIEWING WINDOWS
GLASS CURTAIN WALL - COLLABORATION AREAS
GLASS CURTAIN WALL - COLLABORATION AREAS
facade fenestration
CIRCULATION PORCH
This project seeks to build a sense of belonging for students through added sidewalks connecting the individual buildings to a central “town square” and the rest of the Boys Town campus. The town square features a wooden porch on its perimeter, allowing students the choice of walking beneath it for shelter from the weather while traveling between classes.
ROADS AND PATHWAYS
Village roads and pathways play a pivotal role in shaping the infrastructure of rural communities, contributing to the overall sense of belonging and identity. Added sidewalks extend through the entirety of the Village, connecting the individual CTE buildings to a central “town square” as well as the rest of the campus.
CTE PROGRAM
As a Career and Technical Education center, this project features specialized areas within each program for students to develop skills that may aid in future careers, including a broadcasting studio, wood shop, prep kitchen, art studio spaces, and labs for nursing and sports medicine programs.
1st floor plan
technology rehabilitation
teia killian
spring 2023: arch 311 — situate dr. peter olshavsky
This project explores activating the five physical senses in order to promote mental wellbeing through the connection of nature and architecture. The balance and integration between the built work and nature surrounding it engages the senses through outdoor gardens and meditation areas, as well as indoor social and therapeutic spaces.
NULL ISLAND
Located on the fictional “Null Island,” consisting of a beach on the southern coast and a forest to the west, the rehabilitation center is positioned to the northeast. Surrounding the building are circular meditative, yoga, and edible gardens, as well as a grove of local trees. Organic paths connect these gardens to each other and the building.
MEDITATIVE GARDEN
THERAPY/YOGA GARDEN
EDIBLE GARDEN
GROUNDING
Separation and arrangement of program blocks by living and working spaces.
By using rammed earth as the building’s main material, patients are connecting to their senses through touch, sight, and sound. Adjacent exterior gardens connect the senses of sight, smell, and taste, with different gardens meant for both smelling and tasting. By grounding oneself in this way, this project encourages one to be actively present in their own life while addressing their concerns with technology.
FORM
The building’s branching form developed to extend areas of privacy throughout, with an open commons area on one half and an intimate office and therapy center on the other. The vaulted rooflines and windows provide natural sunlight into all of these areas.
Tapering of ends of branches to create more intimate spaces and direct views towards ends of the form.
Connection of building form into branching shape at both ends.
Addition of roof conditions, skylights, and general facade fenestration.
