A.L. Hu - Portfolio - Fall 2015

PORTFOLIO

A.L. HU

DEFENSE + HEART PUBLIC + ACCESS DESIGN + AGENCY SOCIAL + CAPITAL SKIN + STRUCTURE LAYERS + DENSITY POLITICS + REPRESENTATION KALEIDOSCOPE

A.L. (AMY) HU COLUMBI A UNIVERSIT Y

G S A P P, M . A R C H 2 0 1 7 ALH2195@COLUMBIA.EDU

H T T P : // A - L . H U

CONTENTS

LEARN + PLAY

CRITIC: JOSHUA UHL

The project is a synthesis of two programs: swimming pools and daycare. Sited at Broadway and 132nd street, straddling the line between Columbia University’s expansion and the Manhattanville Houses, the project recognizes the differences of the diverse groups of people who will use the building.

In Manhattan public housing, 95% of single parents are women.

This manifests in stress for the mother from lack of childcare, as well as childhood poverty from lack of extracurricular activities.

The USA Swimming Foundation found that drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death in children under 14 years of age.

The programs are separated into four typologies for specificity of place–free swim, relaxation, kids’ pool, lap pool–and elevated to open up the ground plane for circulation and a playground.

Poolscape above and playscape below are visually connected into one continuous landscape.

CORE I,i, F.14 f.14

LEARN + PLAY

POOLSCAPE

POOLSCAPE

% OF ALL FAMILIES, PUBLIC HOUSING IN MANHATTAN 2-PARENT

73%

4 lap pool connection to hot tubs via ramp

4 LAP POOL CONNECTION TO HOT TUBS VIA RAMP

SINGLEPARENT 25%

3 HOT TUBS HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD, % OF ALL FAMILIES, PUBLIC HOUSING IN MANHATTAN

HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD, % OF ALL SINGLE-PARENT FAMILIES, PUBLIC HOUSING IN MANHATTAN

FEMALE

FEMALE

73%

3 hot tubs connection to free swim pool via diving board

CONNECTION TO FREE SWIM POOL VIA DIVING BOARD

95.4%

2 kids’ pool daycare check-in & library on l1, changing rooms on l2

2 KIDS’ POOL MALE 25%

MALE 4.6%

DAYCARE CHECK-IN AND LIBRARY ON LEVEL 1, CHANGING ROOMS ON LEVEL 2

1 free swim snack/nap classroom near cafe

1 FREE SWIM

INTERSECTING PROGRAM

SNACK / NAP CLASSROOM NEAR CAFE

4

typologies

TYPOLOGIES 3 2

1

4

3 0

1 5

2

playscape 0 Playground 1 snack/nap PLAYSCAPE 2 toys 0 PLAYGROUND3 science 1 SNACK / NAP 4 art 2 TOYS 5 cafe 3 SCIENCE 4 5

ART CAFE

B

C

3

4

A

A 1 0

5

2

B PLAYSCAPE / GROUND

C 8

0

4

8

16

LEVEL 1

8

0

4

8

16

POOLSCAPE / LEVEL 3

8

0

4

8

16

PROGRAM + CIRCULATION

SECTION C-C, THROUGH KIDS’ POOL, LOOKING EAST

sketches: structure

8

0

4

8

16

SECTION B-B, THROUGH FREE SWIM POOL, LOOKING EAST

8

0

4

8

16

SECTION A-A, LOOKING NORTH

8

0

4

8

16

poolscape above playscape below

CRITIC: JOSHUA UHL

The layers of bracts that surround the an artichoke’s heart are revealed by sectioning lengthwise. The sections were air-dried and the bracts and the heart were documented over a period of 72 hours. The relative darkness and lightness of the sections note how the weights change. The transformation from plump and rigid to wilted and brittle is represented through changes in line weights between the sections. The red lines trace the horizontal and vertical mid-sections of the bracts, indicating the change from organization to chaos. Over time, the bracts became less protective.

The bracts defend the artichoke’s heart. Originally wet and soft to the touch, the heart compressed in on itself over 72 hours, transforming into a dry, hard mass. As its natural “armor” became unprotective, the heart hardened to protect itself. But at that point, the heart is completely dead and not worth protecting any longer.

CORE I,i, F.14 f.14

DEFENSE + HEART

1

A

O HOURS

B

48 HOURS

2

3

4

5

6

A

B

C

C

72 HOURS

CRITIC: JOSHUA UHL

The lack of a formal public bathroom system in New York City favors people who can afford to buy a drink at Starbucks to use the restroom and denies access to the disenfranchised. Such an imbalance in access requires a re-definition of public that tips the balance in favor of the city’s most invisible population: the homeless.

The project re-frames the public restroom as temporal hygiene stations. The units are mobile and thus deployable throughout the city. In addition to two unisex toilet rooms, a shower unit with a changing area provides privacy and dignity through cleanliness.

Except for fresh water, the mobile hygiene units are independent of the city’s sewage and electricity system. Solar panels provide electricity. A bacteria-based sewage treatment system takes care of the waste from the toilet. Gray water from the sinks and the shower is collected and filtered for toilet flushing.

GATHERING SHELTER

EDGE AREAS

EFFICIENCY

SAFETY

PRIVACY

LINEAR

SIMILAR DIRECTIONS

BLOCKING

grouped

CORE I,i, F.14 f.14

PUBLIC + ACCESS

OPPOSING DIRECTIONS

PLAN

CRITIC: DANIL NAGY

THESIS: Technology, as a design tool and a key feature of the Fun Palace, strips the architects and users of agency.

Through drawings, model, and animation, I explore my position on Cedric Price’s Fun Palace. The relationship between intention and representation is two-way: my thesis informs the way that I choose to draw and model the project, and the finished drawing or model influences the way that I speak and think about the project.

Consistent between various modes of representation is the ever-present grid–the technology in the background that is social control disguised as innovation and freedom. Though the Fun Palace was proposed in 1961, its structure, program, and concepts are strikingly similar to the internet as we know it today.

ADR 1,I, F.14

DESIGN + AGENCY

perspective: WITHIN THE GRID

AXONOMETRIC: MOBILE PROGRAMS

ANALYTICAL MODEL THE CUBE WITHIN THE GRID IS ONLY VISIBLE FROM CERTAIN VIEWS

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

ANIMATION SINGLE SHOT, THE GRID’S CONSTANT PRESENCE, THE DANCE OF THE PROGRAMS

to view the animation, go to https://vimeo.com/122438493 or scan with your phone:

CRITIC: JEREMY BARBOUR

Current banking culture is predatory and exclusionary: 17 million people in the US are unbanked (without a bank account) or underbanked (relying primarily on alternative banking methods).

Financial security for all requires addressing predatory banking culture, especially in rapidly-gentrifying communities such as Long Island City.

The project is a Financial Literacy Center that connects micro-loan borrowers (small business owners, artists, students, families) with lenders through mentorship and cultural events. Social capital– the potential for social networks to form–and cultural capital– knowledge of learned, socialized traditions–are rendered as valuable as actual capital.

The building is designed to look like a place of learning than a bank. The carved mass classrooms anchor the glass terrarium, a hub of activity that houses the computer lab and workshop spaces. The central atrium spirals up from the public library and cafe on the ground floor, connecting the two wings.

PROGRAM: INTERSECTIONS + CONNECTIONS

CORE II, ii, SP.15

SOCIAL + CAPITAL

FINANCIAL LITERACY CENTER AMY HU / CORE II / SPRING 2015

PRECEDENTS GRAMEEN BANK

WOMEN ENTREPENEURS NEW YORK CITY

FOUNDED IN BANGLADESH GRAMEEN AMERICA BRANCH BANK IN BRONX, NY

WE NYC SEEKS TO ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES FACED BY WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES IN NEW YORK CITY. THEIR GOAL IS TO REACH 5,000 WOMEN ENTREPENEURS OVER THE NEXT THRE YEARS WITH FREE BUSINESS COURSES AND FINANCING ASSISTANCE.

PRECEDENTS

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE-WINNING BANK THAT WORKS ON MUTUAL TRUST, ACCOUNTABILITY, PARTICIPATION AND CREATIVITY RATHER GRAMEEN BANK THAN CAPITAL COLLATERAL.

1 woman 1 woman forms+ a Grameen Group with trusted friends 4 4friends

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS NYC

AN ADVISORY COUNCIL IS UNDERTAKING A STUDY TO UNDERSTAND THE LANDSCAPE AND NEEDS OF WOMEN ENTREPREnyc.gov/WENYC NEURS. INITIAL FINDINGS HIGHLIGHT FOUR KEY CHALLENGES THAT WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSNYC-sponsored FACE IN NYC: program and advisory council

that addresses the challenges faced by

$

$ $

$ $

After 1 week oftraining financial+training, each Financial woman opens a savings + account and is $1500 micro-loan given a $1500 microloan. mentorship

Access to capital. Women have historically receivedbusinesses a smaller women-owned through free share of total small business loansbusiness comparedcourses, to men, and are financing assistance, and a more likely to tap into personal savings rather than seek business comprehensive study to understand the loans. Thus, many women start businesses with inadequate caplandscape and needs of women entrepreneurs. ital.

The group meets weekly with Grameen staff to make loan and savings payments.

Initial highlight four key challenges: Access to education and knowledge.

In findings NYC neighborhoods with a high concentration of poverty, women may lack college + Access capitalclasses. degrees, access to the internet, and access totobusiness

Average of $2500additional in additionalincome income, + Avg. $2500 $100 in yearly savings, 670+credit score $100 yearly savings after 6 months, supports small businesses, empowerment and empowers women.

+ Access support Access to support systems. For many womentothere are notsystems enough role models, community or professional networks, or + Latent discrimination mentors.

+ Access to education and knowledge

$$

$$

$$

$$

$$

UNDERBANKED HOUSEHOLDS: 2009

USE, USER + SPACE STUDIES BORROWERS MENTORS STAFF COMMUNITY

WORKING TRAINING SCHEDULING MENTORING MEETING ORDERING TALKING PERFORMING

STREET VIEW

ATRIUM + COMPUTER LAB. LEVEL 2

ATRIUM, TOP OF STAIRS

CLASSROOM, LEVEL 4

CRITIC: DAN TAEYOUNG

Drawings are the architect’s currency to convince non-architects of their designs. Taking the audience into account changes the way the drawing operates–it is no longer a static image meant solely criticism at an arm’s length, but a living document for the audience to read, use, and interpret.

Diagrams, plans, sections, and renderings are transformed from passive images into political statements in the production of three map brochures for the users of the Financial Literacy Center: low-income individuals in search of micro-loans and mentorship; small business owners interested in financial advice; and investors who want to give back to the community.

The drawings in each brochure provide three different representations of the building specific to each user’s needs.

Together, they provide a complete representation of the Financial Literacy Center.

ADR II, ii, SP.15

POLITICS + REPRESENTATION

Silvia Prandelli + Erik Verboon

An architectural mesh skin system over the Financial Literacy Center’s stick type curtain wall is designed for privacy, sun-shading, and visual interest.

DETAIL AT TOP ATTACHMENT

DETAIL AT BOTTOM ATTACHMENT

TECH, SP.15

SKIN + STRUCTURE

CRITIC: DAN TAEYOUNG

The analog drawing machine seeks to represent layers, density, and chaos. A tripod suspends a mixture of paint and glue above a grid printed on mylar. By keeping the tripod’s feet in the same position but altering the nozzle’s starting points, the three iterations are radically different. The deviations in geometries revealed by layering the iterations over one another document variations in the nozzle’s speed and direction.

The functions and abstract geometries of the drawing machine are translated from analog to digital. Using a Grasshopper script to create a cloud of connections color-coded by their distance from an origin, the digital drawing machine produced diagrams showing connections between users at different time scales at the Financial Literacy Center. Complexity is formed through the overlapping layers and density of lines, not unlike the infinite potential forms of human relationships and connections within a building.

ADR II, ii, SP.15

LAYERS + DENSITY

DRAWING MACHINE LAYERS, DENSITY, CHAOS

DIAGRAMS: USE + USERS AT DIFFERENT TIME SCALES

http://kaleidoscope-arch.tumblr.com

Architectural drawings–plans, sections, diagrams, renderings– project and illustrate concepts and use of designed spaces.

Because the work of architects and designers is firmly rooted in reality, methods of representation are political acts of inclusion and exclusion. The people who appear in drawings too often go unquestioned despite the influence of societal biases and stereotypes. Who is allowed in the spaces architects design?

Kaleidoscope challenges the dominance of gendernormativity, ableism and race-blindness in architectural drawings by diversifying the population of represented peoples in renderings. Choosing to include underrepresented people in drawings not only reflects reality, but also actively imagines a more just, inclusive, and pluralistic society.

WEB DESIGN

KALEIDOSCOPE

A.L. (AMY) HU COLUMBI A UNIVERSIT Y

G S A P P, M . A R C H 2 0 1 7 ALH2195@COLUMBIA.EDU

H T T P : // A - L . H U