Architecture Portfolio Benjamin Han
BENJAMIN HAN –EDUCATION
–SKILLS
Rhode Island School of Design Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch), GPA 3.74 2016-2020 Currently enrolled in the 5-year Bachelor of Architecture program.
Rhino AutoCAD SketchUp Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop) Microsoft Office (Powerpoint, Word, Excel)
Maryland Institute College of Art Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.), Architectural Design, GPA 3.95 2015-2016 Pursued one year of study before transferring to The Rhode Island School of Design. Western Academy of Beijing International Baccalaureate, 42/45 2011-2015
–STUDIO EXPERIENCE Trainee Atelier FCJZ May 2015 - May 2015 | Beijing, China Assisted in model-making for a residential project in Beijing, China.
––EXTRACURRICULAR Secretary, American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) September 2016 - current Facilitated communication between department faculty and the AIAS leadership group. Collected and organized notes for each AIAS meeting. Art Director, Inkblot Magazine September 2012 - May 2015 Lead the design team of the Western Academy of Beijing’s tri-annual student magazine. Directed a group of 7 designers and represented the group at various events for two years.
Technical drawing Plan and section drawing Axonometric drawing Wood construction English (Native) Chinese (Bilingual)
–RECOGNITION IB Visual Arts Academic Award Western Academy of Beijing May 2015 Academic Honors Scholarship Maryland Institute College of Art August 2015 Creative Vision Award Maryland Institute College of Art August 2015
TABLE OF CONTENTS the ascending library spatial ordering program a+b unfolded tea house suspension and scattering exchange as ritual spatial ordering
THE ASCENDING LIBRARY
The project is a public library proposal in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. It investigates the axial cut and sectional shift, using these conditions to structure a modern library.
SPATIAL ORDERING
The project is driven by an intense process of iterative model making. Starting from a set of solid-void relationships, the project continuously explores sectional shifts and methods of generating vertically interconnected volumes.
PROGRAM A+B the modern library requires abundant spaces for activities such as digital reading and device usage. The axial cut enables the south side of the library to be open, interconnected, and exposed to sunlight, creating an ideal space for collective dwelling.
Simultaneously, the modern library requires spaces for storing and protecting books from sunlight. The axial cut enables the north side of the library to be closed, shaded from sun, and space efficient.
UNFOLDED TEA HOUSE
This project investigates two conditions - the tectonics of ink dropping in water, and the spatial order of the tea ceremony - and synthesizes the two into one architectural proposal. The proposal is a series of enclosures for the tea ceremony. It draws from three subconditions: the tectonics of scattering, the shift between dormant and active spaces, and the equalization of hierarchies.
The site is a residential neighbourhood located on College Hill, Providence. The teahouse responds to the limits of ground by unfolding along the boundary of accessible and inaccessible. Along the path, the support columns gradually scatter into two, allowing for enclosures to envelope between the paths. The three enclosures correlate to the stages of the tea ceremony: meeting, exchange, and closing. Drawing from the dormant and active condition of the tea ceremony, the enclosures function as dormant spaces for rituals while the surrounding paths function as active passageways.
MEETING Traditionally, the tea ceremony was a ritual for the elite class to equalize their power status with one another. I manifest this equalization of hierarchy into the ascending and descending of steps. In the initial meeting stage, the guest and host enter the enclosure at different hierarchical levels.
EXCHANGE Following the greeting, the guest and host proceed to a second enclosure where the main ritual is performed. The guest and host meet at the intersection of hierarchical levels and carry out the main exchanges of the tea ceremony.
CLOSING The guest and host then proceed to a final enclosure where they meet, greet and exit on equal grounds to conclude the ritual.
SUSPENSION AND SCATTERING
This project explores the translation of the tectonics of a simple event - a drop of ink in water - into structure and drawing. Observing a drop of ink, I established two driving conditions: suspension of ink, and the subsequent scattering of ink.
To legitamize these conditions in drawing, I diagrammed ink (red) and water (black) as two interacting entities. Ink is suspended and scattered at each circular point. To materialize these conditions in structure, I envisioned ink as vertical compressive dowels, pulled and suspended by horizontal tensile strings (water).
This model attempts to clarify the models before. Here, the strings act as one continuous entity, simultaneously suspending and scattering the dowels. The strings and dowels operate more codependently in a network of forces.
JAPANESE TEA CEREMONY: EXCHANGE AS RITUAL This project began with the idea of designing around a ritual. I was interested in the Japanese tea ceremony for its political history and hyper-specific procedure. The specific ritual is the Urasenke-Style ceremony, which consists of one host and two or more guests. The ritual unfolds through a series of body gestures, object passing, and consumption of food.
Through diagramming stills taken from a video, tracking the movement of objects and people, I asserted my position that the tea ceremony was primarily structured through the exchange of objects. To legitimize my idea in drawing, I envisioned people as columns (black), constantly transmuted and displaced in reaction to the passing of objects (red).
In this subsequent model of the tea ceremony, I introduced the condition of dormant and active. While inactive in the ritual, the guests and host remained in their personal zone (materialized as bristol). While active in exchange, the they positioned themselves in an active network.
Thank you. Mobile - 667.212.1301 Email - bhan01@risd.edu Address - 2 College Steet, #1115, Providence, RI 02903