For my senior thesis I chose to transform an empty building in downtown Longmont into a gallery that focuses on sustainable, green art. The second floor of the building is living space, the idea was that the owners of the art gallery would live above, reducing their need to drive to work.
For this project we worked in teams to re-design a lab on campus, the group that I worked with included Lindsay Mullet and Jennifer McClellon. Our focus was macro, to look at the entire space, while the other half of groups worked in a micro sense of designing workstations.
They asked for an area that was for the students, they wanted it to be more inviting then it currently is and they gave us no budget and no restrictions for our design. Throughout a two week period we met with student and faculty advisor's to see what they wanted and what the current problems with the lab were. After that we came up with different test fits which led us to our final test fit
A problem that our advisor's stressed is that know no one knows that the lab is there. A solution for that was to place the coffee bar and retail space near the front so students who maybe just wanted a coffee come in a see that there is also a lab. They also stressed that there needs to be ample room for individuals who coming in wanting to use their laptops, right now the current space has traditional rows of desktops.
Another issue was the lower ceiling in this back area. For our solution we lowered the floor by a foot and added bar seating in the middle with couches along the right wall.
final video
Fall quarter consisted of creating a retail space in an existing building in Athens, OH. I chose to create a retail space for Vespa Scooters. I started off by looking at some images from Vespa to get inspiration. I found these great ads on line
After looking at the shapes from the ads I started working through different space planning issues, will the showroom be next to the offices? Here are some of the working floor plans
The above working floor plan I worked with having the showroom at the front of the building (the bottom of the floor Plan) and I had all of the offices, storage and other rooms located in the back. I like the location of everything but it still didn't have a flow that worked with the Vespa.
The next working floor plan I came up with still has the showroom located on the Court Street side, ( the right side of the building) I played with having the lounge in the middle with a Vespa track around for test drives. Around the lounge are the offices, tech room and restrooms with storage and mechanical room in the back (left side of the building) near the loading docks.
The next plan I came up with was getting a little closer to being finalized I kept the circular space with a "track" around it, but instead it turned into transition space since I didn't want to deal with with the mechanics that would go with having an indoor track. 
In the very front of the building (right side) are display spaces for Vespas. The very front has three 10' wide garage doors that will be able to open in good weather. Directly behind the front display spaces are LED Panels which will show moving images of travel, such as through the mountains or the desert. I chose to incorporate these becasue after research Vespa on motto kept coming up, " take the scenic route" so that was the main inspiration for my space.
Final Floor plan
Furniture Plan
After the floor plan I started playing with different display spaces and features in the showroom. I wanted to keep everything in similar color palettes and materials, wood, orange, metal and glass.
Sketches
I designed a wall feature that wraps around the entire showroom and into part of the transition spaces. The wall is made out of reclaimed wood and juts at various lengths away from the wall. I originally designed the wall to be display areas for the Vespas.
Throughout the space I have used glass panels of 3Form organic panels around the check out and break room and clear throughout the offices. They are constructed by sliding into metal brackets around the top and bottom
Section facing north
Evolution of showroom
Final Showroom
Evolution of Check out
Final Check out
Evolution of Office
Final Office
Evolution of employee break room
Final Break room
I created a final video of my project, the beginning images of Vespas are courtesy of Alessandro Melillo at
and Steve Williams at
http://vespalx150.blogspot.com
Final video of project
The gardens were just as amazing as their buildings, they went to so much detail with everything, it was great to walk through and come upon a shrine or prayer flag hidden in the foliage, here are some shots!
Throughout my travels in Asia I came across wonderful design everywhere! I found inspiring design in architecture, nature, materials and many other places, here are some shots of what I found.
Side of House in Kyoto
Thatched roof, Kyoto
Rain gutter, Kyoto
Rock Garden, Kyoto
Side of department store in Osaka
We ended our travels in Tokyo, the capitol of Japan. I would have loved to spend more time, there is so much to see and so little time. We did however get to see a lot of the city.
One of the districts which I would love to have spent a couple of days just walking through is the Harajuku District . You might recognize the fashions known for this district from Gwen Stefani's Harajuku girls.
Store front in Harajuku District
We also visited the Fish Market, which was a place that I was glad I went to go see but I don't think that I would want to go back. First you have to get there early in the morning to see all of the action, 4 am early which was hard! You are up close and personal with all of the vendors who are selling the freshest fish you have ever seen to local restaurant owners.
They fly through the fish market on these little karts delivering the goods to trucks, you have to watch your step or they will run you over!
Auctioning off the big catches of the day...
and the goods for sale...
Overall traveling throughout Asia was an amazing experience, including delicious cuisine, we did however need to get a Mexican fix in Tokyo!
Before heading to Tokyo we stopped in Kasugai City for a week to work on a project with students from Chubu University. We worked on teams of 4, with two Chubu students and two Ohio University students. Our project was to re-design Kanayama train station. This is a large transition station where subways and trains all go through this one location. We were faced with the challenge of making this transition place clear, and easy to navigate for locals and tourists. Although it was challenging at first to get past the language barrier all of the teams ended the week with great projects, and life long friends.
From right: Megui, Me, Andrea, Gan, Kevin and Shane
Here is an original image of the Kanayama Station
South Entrance
And here is our final design. Shane, came up with the idea of having graduated steps for the ceiling to allow more light to enter, much like Santiago Calatrava's Winery Ysios Winery
Interior shot of new Kanayama Station
It was a great experience being immersed in life at Chubu University, one of the highlights for everyone was the dining experience. Unlike the usual buffet styling dining in most colleges, at Chubu you pick out what you want to eat by looking at plastic plates of the dishes then at a vending machine you enter the number you want and put in the correct amount of change. From there you are given a ticket with the number on it, and you give it to cooks who makes it right there for you.
I had a great experience at Chubu University and learned a lot from the students about the design process.
Upon arriving in Kyoto we emerged from the subway station to see directly in front of us the historical Imperial Palace. Built during the Edo Period (1603- 1868) the Imperial Palace was where the Emperor and the capitol of Japan used to reside, in 1868 the capitol and Emperor moved to Tokyo.
In Kyoto we went to numerous temples, here are some shots of the temples and meditative rock gardens.
Images from Ginkakuji Temple
Kiyomizudera Temple, dates back hundreds of years but the present buildings date back to 1633
wikipedia
Visitors tying prayers
While in Kyoto we visited the area of town known as Gion, you might recognize the name from Memoirs Of A Geisha . This is an old area of town where you can still see young women in the typical geisha attire.
After Hong Kong we took a short plane ride into Osaka. While in Osaka we saw temples, ate delicious food and took in all of the culture.
We went to the Umeda Station area where we went up in the Umeda Sky building
You ride up in this very long escalator which emerges onto a platform high in the air that over looks the entire city of Osaka
view from Circle Tower of Osaka
Also around the area are amazing sculptures and architecture
I recently did a study abroad throughout Asia for a month. We started off in Beijing with students from Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication . While at BIGC we worked on a week long project where we created a publication layout. The content of the layout compared the idea of 'home' in the United States and in China. It was an amazing experience working with the students and having to work through issues such as language, culture and personalities.
Here are some of the great students that we worked with at BIGC
From right: Tien Xiu, Me, Andy Phillips and Ci Ci
While in Beijing we also visited some amazing sites such as the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and other amazing architecture
View from the Great Wall
Forbidden City
Temple of Heaven
After Beijing we traveled on to Hong Kong, Hong Kong was a very unique place, it is a combo of big city in a tropical environment
View from my room
View from a hike above Hong Kong
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