[ Chapter 00 ]
MGON is an evolving archive of my work as a designer, creator, and observer.
Beginning with my first steps in architecture at the Gibbs College of Architecture at the University of Oklahoma, this portfolio traces my work through a series of chapters - from early explorations and hand drawings to current architectural projects.
Projects, sketches, photographs, drawings, and renderings document not only what I have made, but how I have learned to see.
MGON is both a reflection of my name and an evolving design identity, rooted in the belief that architecture extends beyond buildings. Design exists in the details, strange encounters, and overlooked moments of everyday life.
This is where I began, where I am now, and what is still to come.
To those who see,
Margaux Gonzalez
Year 1 - Spring 2024
Design I & II
Vellum - Wood Planks - Soldered Metal
Designed by architect Adalberto Libera in 1937, Casa Malaparte is situated directly within the rocky landscape of the Isle of Capri. The project reflects a strong relationship between architecture and its surrounding environment, creating a structure that is deeply connected to its site. Casa Malaparte became an iconic example of modern Italian architecture through its strong geometric forms, bold and unconventional staircase, and simple material palette.
Casa Malaparte - Axonometric
[ Pencil on Vellum ]
Casa Malaparte - South Elevation & Section
[ Pencil on Vellum ]
Casa Malaparte - Physical Model
[ Wood & Soldering Materials ]
Casa Malaparte - Physical Model
[ Wood & Soldering Materials ]
Casa Malaparte - Physical Model
[ Wood & Soldering Materials ]
Casa Malaparte - Physical Model
[ Wood & Soldering Materials ]
Casa Malaparte - Physical Model
[ Wood & Soldering Materials ]
Year 2 - Fall 2024
Design III
Balsa Wood - Cardboard - Baby’s Breath
BLER is an architectural exploration rooted in the movement, behavior, and habitat of the Bold Jumping Spider. Located in Norman, Oklahoma, the project translates the spider’s patterns of movement, nesting, and refuge into an eco-corridor that reconnects fragmented portions of Oliver Woods across Highway 9. Hollow pillars and web-like pathways create inhabitable spaces for the species, while an adjacent research center extends the concept through a sequence of indoor and outdoor spaces or "thresholds" for observation, education, and research. Together, the two interventions blur the boundary between architecture and habitat, creating a shared environment for both ecological movement and human discovery.
BLER Research Center
[ Section Perspective Massing ]
BLER Research Center
[ Floor Plans & Sections ]
Bler Eco-Corridor & Research Center
[ Bold Jumping Spider Analysis ]
Bler Eco-Corridor - Physical Model
[ Recycled Cardboard & Balsa Wood ]
Bler Eco-Corridor - Physical Model
[ Recycled Cardboard & Balsa Wood ]
Bler Eco-Corridor - Physical Model
[ Recycled Cardboard & Balsa Wood ]
Bler Eco-Corridor - Physical Model
[ Recycled Cardboard & Balsa Wood ]
Bler Eco-Corridor - Physical Model
[ Recycled Cardboard & Balsa Wood ]
Bler Eco-Corridor - Physical Model
[ Recycled Cardboard & Balsa Wood ]
Bler Eco-Corridor - Physical Model
[ Recycled Cardboard & Balsa Wood ]
Year 2 - Spring 2025
Design IV
Rammed Earth - Concrete
Strata Kitchen & Culinary is a culinary school and public restaurant in Norman, Oklahoma, designed to foster a connection between food, education, and the surrounding community. Rooted in the idea that food brings people together, Strata transforms culinary education into a shared public experience while exploring how new architecture can complement an existing urban context. Set adjacent to the Wellness Center of Norman and a public park, the project connects the culinary school, restaurant, and surrounding landscape through transparency, circulation, and site integration. Deeply responsive to Oklahoma’s environment and climate, strategically placed trees, careful building orientation, shading, and double façades provide protection while maintaining a strong relationship between interior and exterior spaces. Transparency further defines the project, with floor-to-ceiling glazing along the student wing allowing passersby to catch glimpses of the culinary craft, sparking curiosity and inviting the surrounding community into the experience. Separate culinary and dining wings, an open bistro and kitchen, and outdoor teaching spaces blur the boundaries between dining, learning, and the public realm. By connecting students, visitors, and the surrounding community, Strata creates a place where education, food, sustainability, and everyday life intersect
Strata Kitchen & Culinary
[ Parti, Massing & Site Analysis ]
Strata Kitchen & Culinary
[ Floor Plan 1 ]
Strata Kitchen & Culinary
[ Floor Plan 2 ]
Strata Kitchen & Culinary
[ Westward & Eastward Elevations ]
Strata Kitchen & Culinary
[ West & North Facing Sections ]
Strata Kitchen & Culinary - Concept Render
[ Exterior West Facing Perspective ]
Strata Kitchen & Culinary - Concept Render
[ Interior Classroom Perspective towards WELL ]
Strata Kitchen & Culinary - Concept Render
[ Outside Classroom Perspective ]
Year 3 - Fall 2025
Design V
Steel - CLT - Concrete
Flânerie Boathouse explores the relationship between architecture, topography, movement, and water on the shores of Lake Thunderbird in Norman, Oklahoma. Rather than treating the landscape as a backdrop, the project grows from the site’s existing contours, vegetation, and ecological rhythms. The terrain is reshaped through architectural swales that naturally guide stormwater toward the lake, allowing the building and landscape to operate as one interconnected system. From the moment of arrival, visitors are drawn through a gradual sequence: parking is broken apart by vegetation, and a meandering pedestrian path weaves through the landscape, slowing movement and gradually revealing the boathouse. Two asymmetrical triangular volumes respond to the intimate scale of the surrounding environment while separating public gathering spaces from boating operations. An elevated café frames views across the lake, while kayak and canoe storage, repair areas, fishing docks, and a protected central canal organize activity along the water. Raw, tactile materials further ground the architecture within its setting and turn movement through the project into a sensory experience. Together, architecture and landscape create a place of recreation, rest, and ecological awareness, allowing visitors to disconnect from everyday life and gradually reconnect with the natural environment.
Flanerie Boathouse
[ Vicinity Map & Parti Diagram ]
Flanerie Boathouse
[ Site Analysis Map ]
Flanerie Boathouse
[ Floor Plan 1 & 2 ]
Flanerie Boathouse
[ South East Section & North East Section Perspective ]
Flanerie Boathouse - Physical Model
[ Cardstock, Balsa Wood & Baby’s Breath ]
Flanerie Boathouse - Physical Model
[ Cardstock, Balsa Wood & Baby’s Breath ]
Flanerie Boathouse - Physical Model
[ Cardstock, Balsa Wood & Baby’s Breath ]
Flanerie Boathouse - Physical Model
[ Cardstock, Balsa Wood & Baby’s Breath ]
Flanerie Boathouse - Physical Model
[ Cardstock, Balsa Wood & Baby’s Breath ]
Flanerie Boathouse - Concept Render
[ Exterior Perspective ]
Year 3 - Spring 2026
Design VI
Collaborative
The Stitch is a residential, public, and commercial project embedded between Rome’s historic Mattatoio, a former slaughterhouse defined by rigid axes, symmetry, and geometric order, and Monte Testaccio, characterized by a more organic landscape and irregular urban fabric. Positioned directly between these contrasting conditions, the project establishes a transitional architectural language that responds to both without fully belonging to either. Beginning with the structured logic of the Mattatoio, the architecture gradually shifts, breaks, and realigns as it moves toward Monte Testaccio, creating a deliberate progression from order to irregularity. Public and commercial spaces remain closely aligned with the geometry of the former slaughterhouse, while the residential bar establishes a quieter relationship with the landscape, emphasizing inhabitation and retreat. Through this “stitching” strategy, circulation becomes part of the experience, encouraging moments of movement, pause, curiosity, and exploration while creating a seamless transition between historic fabric, public life, landscape, and inhabitation.
The Stitch was also the first collaborative project of my architectural education, developed throughout the semester as a three-person team and introducing a design process reflective of collaborative architectural practice. Individual drawings and diagrams are labeled throughout, while collaborative work represents contributions from all three team members.
The Stitch
[ Parti Diagram & North Perspective Render ]
The Stitch
[ Site Plan & Floor Plan 1&2 ]
The Stitch
[ Section Drawings & Diagrams ]
The Stitch
[ Renders & Precedent Study ]
The Stitch
[ L1 - Housing Plans ]
The Stitch
[ L3 - Low-Income Student Housing Plan ]
The Stitch
[ L2 - Student Housing Plan ]
Year 4 - Fall 2026
Design VII
Brick
Molten Glassworks is a glassblowing studio rooted in material and function, located in Dallas’ Design District. The project explores architecture as both workshop and experience, where raw brick becomes structure and the space around it becomes a vessel for creation.
Molten Dallas — Coming Soon