Y1 Architecture Portfolio

PORTFOLIO

| SEEING | THINKING | MAKING |

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY SINGAPORE

BA. ARCH YEAR 1

ASTON YAP

ACADEMIC YEAR 2019/2020

PROLOGUE The following includes selected projects from my Semester 1, Year 1 of studies in NUS Architecture.

These projects would not be possible without the help of my studio mates, Clarabelle, Otto, John, Phoebe, v, Claudia, Jovan and Jasmine.

Special mention to Professor Tomohisa Miyauchi for his patience and teachings throughout this semester.

Yap Kai Jun Aston

PROJECTS villa tugendhat golden mile complex tensegrity dome threading water computational design balestier road inside out house

Representation of Parti and Space

Interiority and Exteriority through sectional perspedctives Construction of a weight bearing dome and bridge using String Study of Cable Stayed Mast Structures

Architectural Representation in Computational Design Thinking Study of Precedence and Context

Redesigning the Tropical Envelope

villa tugendhat Representation of Parti and Space

Villa Tugendhat was designed with very large windows to allow the user to experience the landscape surrounding it whilst being enclosed in the comfort of indoors. Hence, my section cut model and axonometric drawing aims to portray that relationship between the interior and exterior.

golden mile complex Interiority and Exteriority through sectional perspedctives

In this exercise, we were tasked to draw a sectional perspective of our selected building. I wanted my drawing to show the transition of the busy outside to the serene inside.

Hence, I chose to draw my section from the outdoor void deck area, showing the diminishing human activity as we move deeper into the residences.

tensegrity dome Construction of a weight bearing dome and bridge using String

We were tasked with construcuting a weight-bearing dome and bridge of a certain minimum dimensions. We were only allowed to use the material allocated to us, which was string, inconjunction with another supporting material. Hence, to showcase the qualities of string, which is tension, we decided to explore the idea of tensegrity. This inspired us to create a modular unit that can be tessalated in different ways to form different aggregates.

threading water Study of Cable Stayed Mast Structures

When designing the cable stayed bridge, we needed to incorporate a counterweight system. We decided to to incorporate a dual-function counterweight, a body of water. It could both act to function as a counter weight, and also as an aquarium.

Our final design of the bridge was able to hold a weight of 1kg.

computation design Architectural Representation in Computational Design Thinking

Computational design is extracing information from an infograph and translating it into layers of information and materials.

Vision

For my project, we were tasked to identify data sets in a hawker centre. Hence I decided to go with vision, sound, movement and time.

Combining the layers of Vision, Sound, Movement and Time, I derived the final version of my computational design model. It is not a direct extrapolation of data from my infographic, but instead, it is a poetically inspired by the different layers of drawings, drawing ideas from every one of them. Layers of aluminium rings depict the layers of vision, casted into the solid layer of sound, and all these are held together by movement and time, which is the fragile and stretched social fabric.

Sound

Movement & Time

balestier road study of precedence and context

TRANSFORMATION OF

BALESTIER ROAD’s TRADE, BUSINESSES AND SERVICES

1834 2020 1834

The precinct was named after Joseph Balestier. The area was a sugar cane plantation.

1852

The precinct was named after Joseph Balestier. The area was a sugar cane plantation.

1858

1860

Government Brick Factory was set up near balestier road.

1912

Saw Mills, Timber Yards and Rattan Factories were set up along Jalan Datoh, Jalan Dusun, Ah Hood Road.

During the Indian Mutiny in 1857, Tan Tock Seng Hospital was converted into a military establishment, set in the swampy grounds on Balestier Plain.

Shop houses started to appear along balestier road, built by enterprising merchants who sold provision to others.

1927

Aviation landing strip on Balestier Plain saw SG's first commercial flight landing.

1958

Ruby theatere opened its doors in 1958, followed by Hoover Theatre by Shaw Organisation in 1960.

1959

Lam Yeo Coffee Powder Factory opened its doors to the public, selling coffee wholesale.

1985

Balestier Point was built. It had apartments and shops on first 2 floors, replacing Ruby Theartre.

2004

By 2004, there were at least 6 budget hotels opened along Balestier Road.

2020

Today, Balestier Road is filled with home improvement stores that sells lighting, bathroom and kitchen accessories and even floor tilings. There are also many delicious restaurants, eateries and hawker centres in the area that serve traditional singaporean cuisine.

1900

1922

Balestier Market was built for the means of providing a centralised controlled location for farmers and vendors to sell food and fresh produce.

1952

Siong Hoe Biscuit Factory at ah hood road.

1950 - 1970

Between 1950 - 1970, Public Housing was developed by Singapore Improvement Trust and the Housing and Development Board in the Balestier area at St Michael's Estate.

1975 - 1983 Bak Kut Teh, Chicken rice and other food stalls and eateries started opening along balestier road after relocating from other areas of singapore.

2013

Opened in Nov 2013, Zhong Shan Mall houses 35 units with over 58,000 square feet of retail space with a one basement car park located along Balestier Road.

inside out house Redesigning the Tropical Envelope

The goal for this assignment was to redeisgn a pre-existing house to fit the warm and humid tropical climate of singapore.

The house of we are adapting is the inside out house, located in tokyo.

National University of Singapore

Department of Architecture Aston Yap Kai Jun Year 1