Chau Tran
Portfolio
Content
1/ Armature Urbanismo —Schindler Competition
3/ Masonry Design Competition —Undisciplined CMU Book
2/ System Infrastructure Blur
5/ Urban Collage
4/ The Thick 2D Indeterminate Futures
6/ Social Activator
7/ Temporary City Nomadic Dwelling
8/ Reclaiming Newark Vacant Lots
9/ Work Experiences
Armature Urbanismo The Schindler Global Award | Competition 2016/2017 Year 4, Fall 2016 / Master of Infrastructure Planning Studio Critic / Jesse LeCavalier Contribution: board layout coordinator, designer
The departure of the CEAGESP market is treated as an opportunity to critically examine its assets and their impact, influence, and relationship with the site. The revitalization of the site begins by identifying existing resources, distinctive activities and convergences of energy. A framework of linked strategies induces growth and development during and after the market’s transition, and envisions a more dynamic site capable of openly involving its users as active participants in the production of the city. Operating through established socio-political mechanisms and at the infrastructural, architectural, and tactical scale, Armature Urbanism generates an interdependent system of physical, social, and cultural resources. An incrementally evolving infrastructural element, referred to as the Armature, becomes the driver of this new form of urbanism. The Armature is introduced as a conceptual tool, emerging through the connection of vacant lots and decaying properties selected for redevelopment and renovation to stitch together the remaining communities, activities, and assets on the site. At the infrastructural scale, the Armature provides utilities and services throughout the site, ensuring access to all emerging forms of urbanity. At the architectural scale, the Armature incentivizes growth and development of new hybrid programs while strengthening existing activities, and at the tactical scale operates as a framework for development of non-permanent human scaled interventions. The physical outcome of an Armature-based Urbanism is one with ramifications of resiliency for the site, fostering opportunity for growth, involvement, innovation, and cultural exchange through a hybridity of networks and spaces that enables flexibility and adaptability for the unpredictable nature of the city.
POTENTIAL MANIFESTATION OF STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK
HYBRID CONDITIONS TO CULTIVATE COEXISTENCE Deploy residential mixed-use structures that host different programs and promote interactivity between various site users. ELEVATED HOTEL The elevated hotel allows for circulation to weave through the site from the opposite side of Av. Dr. Gastão Vidigal. The covered plaza under the porous building creates market opportunities for tourists and locals to interact. The elevated hotel features balconies that overlook the Armature and roadway, and serves as an iconic attraction for the site, distinctly visible above the overpass.
Water Management
Electrical Bundle
Porous Pavement
Data Box Water Management
Water Management Electrical Bundle Data Box
URBAN PAVILION
“O” Court Offices
Along Av. Dr. Gastão Vidigal, collaborative working offices for the incoming USP students and entrepreneurs are instituted, along with the O-Court retail shops and pavilions. The Armature runs adjacent to the lot, supplying an increase in density. Developers invest in the vacant land and provide a public square amenity; after investing in a dense area the developers then supply the Armature with a public park for the community.
Umbrella Dates
Lina Bo Mall
Pedestrial Bike Slope Sloped Park
Social Bike Parking
Electrical Bundle Data Box Water Management
EDUCATIONAL PAVILION An educational and recreational hub for the neighbourhood’s students, ranging from primary school kids to university students. The complex, with its meandering path, encourages activity and interaction while generating a place for gathering. Different scales of interventions provide amenities for both residents on site as well as the surrounding community.
Basketball Arena
Outdoor Game Pavilion
Indoor-Outdoor Educational Pavilion
Playground
Green Lounge
Skatepark
Vines Attack
FEIRA LEOPOLDINA To retain the existing spirit of the market, the integration and renovation of existing buildings is proposed to become absorbed by the Armature. The space is envisioned as a nexus of cultural and social interaction with mixed programs including retail, leisure, restaurants, and transit services.
Bike Share
Ecological Embankment
Food Truck Paradise
Electrical Bundle Data Box Social Interaction
Water Management
WAREHOUSE GYM An existing warehouse employs the skinning strategy and is stripped down to its framework, capable of providing lighting, sound, temporary cover, and other functions. An outdoor field occupies the space, creating a public athletic complex supported by the framework’s infrastructural capacities and supplied by the Armature’s pedestrian population.
Art Wall
Climbing Wall
Warehouse Gym Bike Charging Station
Sculpture Wii Park
Electrical Bundle Data Box Water Management
RIVER CONNECTION + WATER TREATMENT Through the use of an elevated system, the Armature extends across the river and connects to a water treatment facility, encouraging community engagement throughout the dispersed platforms and pockets overlooking the river and adjacent neighbourhoods.as an iconic attraction for the site, distinctly visible above the overpass.
Lookout Pocket
Water Basins
Treatment Platform
Elevated Pathway
Sediment
Rooftop Terrace
VILA BOĂŠMIA Warehouses are converted into mixed use clusters of locally-owned shops, cafĂŠs, and eateries serving the native artist and designer community. Visitors on the Armature encounter public installations and large artworks on display dotted between galleries and exhibition halls inserted into converted structures, while interspersed plazas and performance spaces create opportunity for spontaneous bursts of activity.
Food Kiosk
Elevated Plaza Outdoor Seating
Public Performance Scenic Overlook Art Roofscape Bike Sharing
Data Box Electrical Bundle Water Management
Pocket Parks
URBAN JUNGLE Located between Armatures, this mixed-use space combines recreation and retail with mid-rise residential. Retail on the ground with services lifted encourages passage through the open public space beneath, inviting a variety of uses.
Pocket Park
Rooftop Oasis
Porous Pavement
Plug-In Frames
LIVE / WORK / COMMUNITY CLUSTER
Tactical Density
Height Utilization
The aggregation of essential services within the site intends to achieve the coordination of systems and the efficiency of new hybrid typologies. The rules and regulations visualized in an Armature Urbanism can be deployed anywhere within the site and require a high degree of cooperation between neighbors and planning agencies of SĂŁo Paulo.
Allowable Street Coverage
Required Community Structure per x Units
Required Open Slots Per x Units
Dual-functioning Infrastructure
STUDENT + SENIOR + FARM COEXISTENCE This framework appropriates Elemental Housing. A frame is constructed, and then half of the spaces are used for living, while residents configure the remaining half for other uses. Next to the hydroponic farm is a community farm that serves the residents and also functions as a gathering space.
Hydroponic Farm
Adaptable Frame
Student and Senior Housing
Bike Charging Station
Agriculture Storage Bike Sharing Service
Community Farm Spring Festival
Student Workspace Drone Port Canopy
URBAN ABSORBER Picnic Patch
The Absorber typology temporarily provides retail and parking space, offsetting the businesses that are displaced by the removal of the CEAGESP market and absorbing the functions of buildings being renovated and moved. They are designed to flexibly accommodate changes in site use and to adapt gradually to the anticipated decline of vehicles, shifting from car sheds to multifunctional public spaces.
Cast Concrete Parking
Volleyball Court
Recreation Lot Social Bike Parking Parking Deck Gallery
Commercial Infill
PARK + BIKE HUB A large bike parking structure with sloped occupiable rooftops supports the increase in bike traffic along the Armature. Connection is available to bus transit for longer distance travels.
Social Bike Parking
Umbrella Date Pavilions
Slope Roof
Bus Stop Bus STop
TACTICAL URBAN INTERVENTIONS Non-permanent human scaled interventions that are easily implementable. These elements are deployed across the armature and provide a framework for development of program, density and activity.
Badminton Playground
Food Trucks
Food Plaza
Bus Library
Pixacao Art Scape
Multimodal Stop
RV Rest Stop
Bridge Overlook
Bike Share Service
Food Truck Paradise
Bridge Catwalk
Multimodal Stop
Algae Skin Office
Ecological Playground
CEAGESP Sports
Greenhouse Conversion
Solar Energy Collector
Bike Charging Station
Silo Residence
Drone Port Canopy
Farmer’s Market
Water Purification Basin
Water Treatment Overlook
Artist Exchange
Spring Festival
Sculpture Playground
Storm Management
Silo Festival
Silo Gala
Traffic Jelly
Food Cart
Car-Share Lot
Sculpture Park
Cultural Plaza
Rice Paddy Playground
Green Roof Platform
Skinned Warehouses
Zen Exchange
Interior Courtyard
MULTIPLE STAKEHOLDERS AS ACTIVE CONTRIBUTORS WHITE COLLAR WORKER The site had a strong business presence that needed to be preserved. Villa Lobos office park remained with its existing program. To enhance the commuting experience for the workers, new streets were introduced and transportation was modified to reduce traffic during rush hours.
CULTURAL PLAZA
DRONE PORT CANOPY
BLUE COLLAR WORKER The importance of the blue collar worker cannot be underestimated; this is an essential character for the construction and development of the phases of the site, responsible for maintenance and customer service. To facilitate his daily commute and navigate easily around the site new connections to the adjacent neighbourhoods were created.
BIKE CHARGING
BRIDGE OVERLOOK
ENTREPRENEUR To promote economic growth the site needed to become a resource for raising entrepreneurs, that become a catalyst for São Paulo’s economy. To host these activities incubator spaces were designed as individual or collaborative spaces to launch small companies, support warehouses for prototype production, testing and marketing.
CREATIVE DESIGNER
STUDENT
The site currently hosts several creative studios. This activity is enhanced by creating more spaces for design and collaboration between different disciplines. Open spaces in and out of the Armature become support for gathering and interaction.
VISITOR
The proximity to the University of SĂŁo Paulo ensures that students will no longer need to travel to hostels on the outskirts of the city; instead student, professor and senior housing is provided only four minutes away from the university. This ensures the safety of the students and brings life to the site.
SILO FESTIVAL
MULTIMODAL STOP
reg# 1792-974-3823
BADMINTON PLAYGROUND
SCULPTURE PARK
The site aims to become an attraction for people from different locations of SĂŁo Paulo. Visitors will enjoy the amenities of the site and be part of the new economy that will boost the status of Vila Leopoldina and adjacent areas, promoting new jobs and opportunities for informal pop shops and local businesses.
ATMOSPHERIC SKETCHES The daily life of the city’s people informs and is supported by the infrastructural, architectural, and tactile responses of an Armature Urbanism. ELEVATED HOTEL The elevated hotel allows for circulation to weave through the site from the opposite side of Av. Dr. Gastão Vidigal. The covered plaza under the porous building creates market opportunities for tourists and locals to interact. The elevated hotel features balconies that overlook the Armature and roadway, and serves as an iconic attraction for the site, distinctly visible above the overpass.
WAREHOUSE GYM An existing warehouse employs the skinning strategy and is stripped down to its framework, capable of providing lighting, sound, temporary cover, and other functions. An outdoor field occupies the space, creating a public athletic complex supported by the framework’s infrastructural capacities and supplied by the Armature’s pedestrian population.
EDUCATIONAL PAVILION An educational and recreational hub for the neighbourhood’s students, ranging from primary school kids to university students. The complex, with its meandering path, encourages activity and interaction while generating a place for gathering. Different scales of interventions provide amenities for both residents on site as well as the surrounding community.
NESTED INCUBATORS By introducing new housing, this lot is transformed from retail only to a hybrid catalyst that keeps the essence of the location. Incubator spaces for startup companies are nested in the courtyards to create different levels of workspaces that range from individual office modules to small production warehouses.
VILA BOĂŠMIA Warehouses are converted into mixed use clusters of locally-owned shops, cafĂŠs, and eateries serving the native artist and designer community. Visitors on the Armature encounter public installations and large artworks on display dotted between galleries and exhibition halls inserted into converted structures, while interspersed plazas and performance spaces create opportunity for spontaneous bursts of activity.
FEIRA LEOPOLDINA To retain the existing spirit of the market, the integration and renovation of existing buildings is proposed to become absorbed by the Armature. The space is envisioned as a nexus of cultural and social interaction with mixed programs including retail, leisure, restaurants, and transit services.
RIVER CONNECTION + WATER TREATMENT Through the use of an elevated system, the Armature extends across the river and connects to a water treatment facility, encouraging community engagement throughout the dispersed platforms and pockets overlooking the river and adjacent neighbourhoods.
URBAN PAVILION Along Av. Dr. GastĂŁo Vidigal, collaborative working offices for the incoming USP students and entrepreneurs are instituted, along with the O-Court retail shops and pavilions. The Armature runs adjacent to the lot, supplying an increase in density. Developers invest in the vacant land and provide a public square amenity; after investing in a dense area the developers then supply the Armature with a public park for the community.
SITE STRATEGY — FRAMEWORK TO GENERATE AN ARMATURE URBANISM INTENSIFY EXISTING RESOURCES Evaluate and prioritize existing resources on the site, strengthen current activity. Designate vacant lots for development.
Promote mixed-use and hybrid typologies to generate resilient urban activity. Facilitate new modes of work, live, and play through diverse, interdependent exchange and interaction.
CATALYZE ARMATURE GROWTH
EXPAND MULTIMODAL MOBILITY
Foster connections between renovated and repurposed structures; incorporate developing areas into evolving infrastructural network.
Connect to existing transit networks, enable newly emerging forms of mobility and establish efficient transportation hubs linked to the armature.
CULTIVATE ADAPTIBILITY
DIFFUSE SITE EDGES
Anticipate varying density scenarios and encourage flexible programming.
Local Worker (1/2 mile radius) Outer Worker
SPONSOR HYBRIDITY
Increase accessibility from Vila Leopoldina by activating street edge program.
SITE STRATEGY — MULTIMODAL MOBILITY CONNECT TO ADJACENCIES Integrate into the surrounding neighbourhoods to facilitate future growth and root the Armature into the urban fabric.
EXTEND STREET GRID Expand on existing street structure to increase site accessibility.
EXPAND BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN NETWORKS Promote environmentally friendly modes of transportation to reduce vehicular use.
IMPLEMENT CAR SHARING Alleviate traffic by creating opportunities to reduce vehicular use.
MERGE EXISTING AND NEW TRANSIT NETWORKS
OPTIMIZE TRANSIT SWITCH EFFICIENCY
Connect developing modes of transportation, such as an electric shuttle service, to existing city transit systems.
Link interchange points for rapid connection to alternate systems.
SITE STRATEGY — INCREMENTAL DEVELOPMENT TO SUPPORT OPPORTUNISTIC GROWTH RECLAIM UNDERUTILIZED LOTS
DEMOLISH UNDERUSED FACILITIES
Redevelopment of the site begins with acquisition of existing vacant lots, which become drivers of all successive site strategies. This initial step targets inactive spaces and proposes new functions and program in order for this fragment of the city to attain greater potential through reintegration of an Armature-based urban fabric. Phases are used to indicate the sequence of development not driven by a strict timelime or fixed-end product.
Vacant areas throughout the site are reclaimed and developed; simultaneous demolition of underused and deteriorating facilities clears the way for future Armature growth and new hybrid typologies, which will serve a multitude of site users.
Demolished Program Existing Program
Existing Program
Vacant Lots
Vacant Lots
ESTABLISH ARMATURE NODES
AMPLIFY NETWORK
With vacancies repurposed, older structures demolished or renovated, and Absorbers constructed, the Armatures begin to emerge. These bundled systems of infrastructure will provide connectivity between site components and resources, and support a hybrid urbanism. During the early stages of construction, two nodes of the Armature develop at the north and south ends of the site, linking to the Absorbers.
The next phase extends the Armatures toward the core of the site, stitching together renovated structures along the Armature’s route. Buildings are “reskinned” or combined, fusing them with site infrastructure and creating a series of interconnected public spaces throughout the network.
Armature
Armature
Emerging Armature
Emerging Armature
New Construction
New Construction
Renovated Program
Renovated Program
Demolished Program
Demolished Program
Existing Program
Existing Program
Vacant Lots
Vacant Lots
RENOVATE EXISTING RESOURCES
ABSORB AND CREATE URBAN ACTIVITY
Certain structures embedded with local knowledge and tradition are integral to the fundamental steps of site redevelopment and are targeted for upgrades. The concrete plant at the south end of the site is a key resource and will be tapped to contribute its materials to the large scale development of upcoming phases.
The intitial phase continues with the deployment of Urban Absorbers, new facilities that will function initially as large parking structures for expected increase in use. The absorbers are designed to flexibly accommodate changes in site use and to adapt gradually to the anticipated decline of vehicles, shifting from car sheds to multifunctional public spaces.
New Construction Renovated Program
Renovated Program
Demolished Program
Demolished Program
Existing Program
Existing Program
Vacant Lots
Vacant Lots
ACTIVATE GROWTH
DEPLOY MULTI-SCALE ELEMENTS
The Armature network progresses with the extension of the MLP building over the river, allowing residents of nearby Jaguare more convenient access to the site’s expanding resources, while residents within the site’s favelas are relocated to newly built housing in a participatory process. The Armature along the river, coupled with new purification basins within the existing waterway, becomes a crucial element in the preservation and restoration of the riparian landscape.
The final phase of redevelopment introduces large scale hybrid facilities including new housing, schools, civic center extensions, and mixed-use commercial spaces, as well as tactical scale interventions and infr astructural support. The construction and completion of these elements is facilitated by the Armature’s established physical and social infrastructure. Upon culmination of this phase, full site mobility and utilization is expected.
Armature
Armature
Emerging Armature
Emerging Armature
New Construction
New Construction
Renovated Program
Renovated Program
Demolished Program
Demolished Program
Existing Program
Existing Program
Vacant Lots
Vacant Lots
SITE STRATEGY — DIFFUSE SITE EDGES Modifications to the porosity of the existing boundaries expand access to the site’s interior and integrate it with its surroundings.
CONNECT ACROSS RIVER Formerly a dead zone, the river’s edge becomes activated as the MLP Armature extends across its body to the dense neighbourhoods of Jaguare. A new crossing coming in the form of an elevated framework encourages movement to and from the site by bridging over the existing bands of transportation infrastructure on either side of the water. The basin facilities within the river treat the highly polluted water as well as attract visitors and boost awareness of the systems that allow the site to function efficiently. This hybridized edge condition creates social connections and environmentally driven mechanisms.
STITCH NEW AND EXISTING The strategy utilized along Av. Dr. Gastão Vidigal at the northeast edge of the site disintegrates the pre-existing barriers which denied Vila Leopoldina residents free circulation in and out of the CEAGESP Market. By extending the existing grid from the old neighbourhood to integrate the site with its context, programmatic interventions are designed to be more edge friendly and provide a high level of site porosity. Many new structures along Av. Dr. Gastão Vidigal have been raised in order to create gateways past the perimeter and usher visitors into public spaces.
REVITALIZE CONNECTIONS The shorter edges of the site, along the north and south sides, welcome outlying transit systems and recreation spaces into the area as well as set the stage for potential Armature extensions to other spaces of the city and beyond. At the north end, the existing train station links up with the new shuttle system, extending the reach of public transportation to the core of the site. The south end repeats the patterns of the Parque Estadual Cândido Portinari with the Armature acting as an ecological pathway branching toward the river. The outward crawl of Armature Urbanism extending to the greater São Paulo region begins at the site boundary.
SITE STRATEGY — CULTIVATE ADAPTABILITY Anticipate varying density scenarios that encourage flexible programming.
Diagram Legend Armature Urban Contributor (Visitor)
STABILITY
FROM INSIDE OUT
The Urban Armature provides varying types of public space for users and acts as a conduit for site transit. Visitors, or urban contributors, utilize the three levels of Armature and foster growth of the local economy through their interactions with program. Clustered living spaces spread throughout the site make it possible for inhabitants to interact with visitors on a regular basis. Population density is high with multiple areas of intensity in and around the Armature with live, work, and play all blending together within a hybridized urban enivronment.
Local businesses build strength and housing expands. The Armature, once filled with open space and site transit, is filled with active shops and offices as resident living quarters take up the surrounding spaces. The site welcomes the return of urban contributors and the rise of socioeconomic prosperity.
URBAN AMPLIFICATION
CRISIS! POTENTIAL DOWNTURN
The Armature proves itself as an economic driver as the site experiences a greater number of visitors therefore accumulating higher income. This rise in economic well-being creates a larger workforce and work areas intensitfy in density and productivity. Inhabitants maintain their locations on site and also experience a rise in population.
BOOM! ECONOMIC UPSURGE The intensity of program is lost as densities and functions saturate the site. The armature is still defined by its high level of visitor activity and new dynamics are produced as hybrids blend even further. Population density is well beyond that of SĂŁo Paulo but the area still functions smoothly due to the flexibility of program and expandability of structures.
The natural flux in local and global economy coupled with any number of socio-political frictions puts Armature Urbanism to the test as unemployment rates rise and site tourism evaporates. Small clusters of work and living spaces maintain some of their integrity but as the environment deteriorates, conditions become unstable.
REGENERATION From economic driver to residential provider, the Armature makes a shift in function and program just before an economic recession. The structure and resources built into this urban anchor allows for the restructuring of communities within the site. The depletion of site visitors and the major decline in business activity leaves residents with very little. The infrastructure and connectivity of the Armature pulls locals together and breeds new housing typologies along with small, locally supported businesses within its periphery.
Urban Inhabitant (Local Urban Producer (Worker)
Organizational Bias Year 4, Fall 2016 Critic / Jesse LeCavalier Assignment 4: Crisis — Multiple Agencies Group work of 5| Duration: 2 weeks
In this phrase, agencies/organizations get together and develop a scheme that addresses the priorities of all agencies, together with the premise: climate change. Taking into account issues such as food shortage, energy shortage, and new modes of working, living, and recreation in 2040, the projects propose hybrid conditions of working, living, moving, and production of food. Ecological layers are also conceived to tie the hybrid fields together.
Existing Site Conditions
Residential Towers
Office Pods
Retails and
Housing
Markets Housing Pods
Elevated Housing
Hydroponic Farms
Recreational Pavilions On The Water
Housing On the Water Utility Facilities
First Iteration of Model showing vertical farms, cultural centers, mat housing, river and river recreational facilities, worker spaces, water and utility tower, and market halls.
Water Towers
Residential Towers
Office and Retail
Utility Facilities Housing and
Housing
Office Pods
Framework
Elevated Transportation
Housing
Algae Skin Office
Electric Tram Cultural Facilities Electric Charging Station
Existing
Cultural Facilities
Train Station
Commericial Spine
Second Iterations of the model showing hybrid conditions to promote co-existence such as living, working, utilities, transportation, cultural facilities, commerical facilities, etc.
Organizational Bias — Models
1
2
3
4
5
6
Physical Models to test different scenarios and frameworks: 1. Armature, 2. Culture agency, 3. Mass migration, 4. Hybridity and armature, 5. Tech Incubators and entrepreneurs, 6. Multimodal connection
7
8
9
10
11
12
Physical Models to test different scenarios and frameworks: 7. Mass migration, 8. Hybrid and armature, 9. Neoliberal development,, 10: developer undertake, 11. Centralized water system, 12. Student housing adaptive reuse
System Infrastructure: Material Concrete CoAD Masonry Design Competition Year 2, Spring 2015 Critic / Marcelo Lopez-Dinardi Design Team
This competition has two folds: the project and the build. The project asks to design a police station located in Perth Amboy (NJ), with the emphasis on the architectonic of masonry. The project features a connection from lower train station level to Elm street, and the systematic application of CMU on architectural elements through out the whole building. The build, however, is not conceived as a small scale representation, or a partial mockup of the project. CMU - the most common and cheap material in construction, was used as a starting point for architecture investigation into the construction of material, spatial perception, and the complexity and reality of things.
Plans of police station project
Diagram shows how system is applied throughout the building
Plans of police station project
System manifested in space and volume
System Overlaying on Section
System Overlaying on Site
Site
System Operation Diagram
Path for quick passage
Extracting and cutting part of the system to create slope
System Overlaying on Site
Site
System Operation Diagram
Diagrams show system application on geometry and architecture operations
Wall 5/5 Most Complexity
Wall 4/5 Intermediate Complexity Wall 3/5 Least Complexity Wall 2/5 Intermediate Complexity
Build diagram - wall complexity
Wall 1/5 Most Complexity
Build diagram - perception and visibility
Diagrams of the build - show the complexity and spatial perception the CMU walls
Diagram — CMU Cuts Matrix
Physical Model — Plexi Glass
The build - full scale (6'x8'x8') at NJIT-CoAD
Close up photos of the build
Undisciplined CMU NJIT CoAD Book Summer 2015 Editors: Marcelo Lopez-Dinardi, Pier Paolo Pala, Chau Tran, Yuliya Veligurskaya Task: Book layout
This book documents the efforts and outcome of the Brick build competition of the Spring 2015 studio. Shifting from the expected representation of the whole building, the focus was given to the exploration of the material parameters and cultural dimension of the project on the given site of a 6’ x 8’ x 8’ volume. The basic CMU was chosen due to its commonplace status in the construction industry stimulating unexpected readings including its cultural implications. The design process was not linear and it required simultaneous exploration and production through digital, physical, and analog methods. Primarily this publication documents the build or mock-up, however, it showcases the individual work of a group of students including the final selection from which this project was based. While the built project is meant to last a year, this book is a long-lasting record of the process that produced it and the varied realities that were provoked through it.
More at: https://issuu.com/marcelolopez-dinardi/docs/un-disciplined_cmuweb/1
System Infrastructure Blur Year 2, Spring 2015 Critic / Marcelo Lopez-Dinardi Final Review
This project is about blurring, a response to the pervasive context of Perth Amboy from the site observation :visual noise. Process of making collages of site analysis, visions for the town and the project, drawing of unit aggregations and linear aggregations provides the starting point for architecture operations to achieve this�blur�. Strategie were employed: split levels, scattered platforms and programs, weaving paths and system of enclosure to blur: boundary, programs, path, in/out relationship and perception.
Row 1 — Site analysis
Row 2 — City vision
Row 3 — Project vision
Linear Aggregations
Operation: From unit to system to plans
Subtracting and elevating - System flexibility
Plan system
A way to conceive the "blur" - Diagrammatic axon of overlayed plans and sections
A way to conceive the "blur" - Sketch
Diagrammatic plans show multiple split levels, scattered platforms and weaving paths
Diagrammatic sections show split levels and blur enclosure
Diagram showing the flexibility of structure, as related to geometry and system application
Axon showing structural columns
Axon showing flexibility of system, as a variation to include multi-color glass for the enclosure
Part of exploded axon showing scattered platforms, programs and activities
Composite axon showing blur enclosure and activities
Urban Collage Year 4, Spring 2017 Critic / Michael Stephen Zdepski Final Project: Boutique Hotels on the Arno River, Florence
This project appropriates the idea collage urbanism by taking the system of 3 ancient walls, scale, aggreate and collage them on different sites. The collage urbanism happen at different scale and elements: plan, section, facade, and interior spaces. The aggregation of the collaged plans direct movement through site, and provide common amenities for the locals and tourists such as incubators, bike rentals, and create an urban living room with niches of activities. The collage also create different clusters, which can be taken as a prototype to place and modify on other sites. The permutations of the collages are placespecifi, and respond to different sites’ program needs. The plan patterns and movement appropriates Florence’s spatial conditions, with organic growth pattern, open and enclosed courtyards, public and private realms, and roof pattern. By taking the historic palimpsest of the three walls for the plans, together with taking contemporary graffii artworks to create different interior environment, the schemes are palimpsest of cultural, historical, and social heritage.
Site Mapping - Florence Network of Transport and Cultural Places
Building Strategy - Collage and Thicken Walls
Site Recreation Space Strategy: Tactical and Temporary Space Fuctions
Building System Diagram
0'
Section AA
Boutique Hotel in the context of a Florence plaza
Left to Right: Plan +4', 24', 44'
0’
10’
20’
30’
Section BB
Piaza, Street and Roof Activities
The Thick 2D Indeterminate Futures Year 5, Fall 2018 Critic / Thomas Navin Final Project: Staten Island Site - Trash Talk!
The anaerobic facility and waste management site is situated in Fresh Kills, Staten Island, and explores the principles of landscape urbanism as an organizational system for the evolution of the agrarian culture and the hybrid programs. With proposition "from trash to food", the site is conceived as an extension of James Corner's Fresh Kills Park's design, with productive landscape lies at the heart of the programs. The landscape serves as an organizer for the site hybrid programs, proximity, relationships, and the determinacy/indeterminacy of its programs,and considers the phasing strategy, degree of indeterminacy in the landscape evolution. The project and programs grow over time to accomodate, grow and absorb future functions. In a large scale, the site will become part of the network of organic waste treatment, energy production, as well as site of food production and recreation.
Macro Scale
Macro Scale — Site Program, Stakeholders, and Input/Output Anaerobic Process
INPUT & OUTPUT IN RELATION TO CONTRIBUTORS FRESH KILLS, STATEN ISLAND
WORKERS’ FACILITIES
EMPLOY LOCAL WOKRERS WORKERS FRESH KILLS RESOURCE COLLECTION FOR COMPOST
EDUCATION
RECREATION
VISITORS
EXCESS/BIO PRODUCT
ACTIVITES INTEGRATED WITH FRESH KILLS PARK
LOCAL FARMS
FERTILIZER ANAEROBIC OPERATIONS ON-SITE FARMS TRAVIS NEIGHBORHOOD
RESTAURANTS FOOD
FARMER MARKET ELECTRICITY
NYC NEIGHBORS
Stakeholders and Input/Output Relationship
GRID
Site and Land Use
Stakeholders — Who Uses the Space?
Macro Scale — Site Landscape as Organizer of Programs in Time
Future Site Activities — Pedestrian path, anaerobic facility, hydroponic farms, platform farms, green houses, energy production
Future Site Activities — Remediation landscape, anaerobic facility, train yard, wind energy, platform farms, wooded area, and depestrian path
Site Phasing Strategy
PHASE 1: Layout nature structure, path and nature patches Add anaerobic facility and truck path.
PHASE 2: Start forming bike path to link farms. Farms: horizontal farm, large nature area, ecological patches. Start create platform farms (Agronica) structures. Create compost facility for farms.
PHASE 3: Create land form for recreation by water, major intersections, and within farms. Start some small recreation by water and planting by the river. Start farm and cooking, educational programs to attract people to site.
Site Plan Strategy
PHASE 4: Start operate energy generator facility and energy field. Farm: create stepping platform farms, expand platform farms, and green houses. Initiate "bosch" parking for cars.
PHASE 5: Create spaces for large festivals and events. Create water scapes and recreational activities by water. Restaurants operate by using organic food grown in farms. Start converting trash transfer train to carry, bring and distribute compost, food, and organic waste to the neighborhood.
PHASE 6: Grow hydroponic farm and algae culture by the water. Add more recreational nodes along pedestrian path. Expand pedestrian paths to link farms to recreational spaces. Create the Department of Sanitation of New York Loop educational programs.
Meso Scale — Building as Landform
B
A
Anaerobic Facility — Building Plans
B
C
A
C
0'
Ground Floor Anaerobic Facility — Building Elevations
0'
Section AA
B
A
B
A
5 4 C
C
3
2
C
C
6
9
8
0'
0'
First Floor Plan
Roof Plan
B
B
A
10
A
1
1. Staff Lounge
6. Visitor Conference Room
1. Foodscape
5. Public Pool
2. Staff Bathroom
7. Operation Room
2. Landscape
6. Landscape
3. Staff Office
8. Digester Lab
3. Public Roof
7. Ecological Picnic Area
4. Staff Conference
9. Public Lobby
4. Sunken Seating
8. Rainwater Retention
5. Visitor Bathroom
10. Public Engagement Area
0'
Section BB
Meso Scale — Building as Landform
Micro+Meso+Macro Scales as Related to Time
Hybrid program evolution in phases. Hybrid programs includes: anaerobic digestion facility, educational programs, productive landscape, transportation, recreation and park, and energy and compost production.
Social Activator Homogeneous Dwelling Year 3, Fall 2015 Critic / Anthony Schuman Assignment 2 (Group of two): Horizontal Aggregation of 100 Micro-Units on an Acre
This project takes each unit and elaborate on the potential of each, by making one a housing unit, and another public program unit. The housing units are about compact living, and are arranged in a horizontal manner. The public program units are plugged in between to activate the spaces in between, to accommodate for different social needs and life style needs. By these different activities/ programs that bring people outside and create an interacting community, the larger ambition is to transform how people live together and with each other.
Physical Model—Pavilions
Physical Model—without Pavilions
Dwelling Unit
Sectional Perspective—Interactions and Activities
Dwelling Unit—Rolling Door Mechanism
Bathing Area Cooking Area
Eating Area Socializing Area
Painting Area
Sleep
Public Program Unit
Storage
Public Program Unit—Spatial Transformation
Ground Floor Plan
Ground Floor Plan—Circulation
Cross Section
Second Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan—Circulation
Longitudinal Section
Sketches—Pavilion Programs
Temporary City Nomadic Dwelling Year 3, Fall 2015 Critic / Anthony Schuman Assignment 4: Hybrid - FAR 20 - Micro Units Duration: 5 weeks
This project explores the temporary nature of live, work, and play, and how to accommodates for multiple interpretations of these functions. Micro-unit provides a starting point for high density living (FAR20) in 2040, and allows for flexibility and adaptability of uses, in which residents can inhabit, adapt and move on as they wish. Maker spaces are provided to accommodate for the shifting nature of work—gig economy, and recreational spaces are provided to create social groupings, or multi-level associations within high density living. Specifically, the project ponders on these questions: How long do people like to live in micro-units? Will people work from home more in the future? Do they keep moving around depends on work conditions and commissions? How do we accommodate for interactions and create social groupings within high density living? How dense is too dense?
Micro Unit Plan
Micro Unit Section
Site Analysis Collage Journal Square—History and Development
Site Analysis Collage Journal Square—Revival of Art and Culture
Diagram of Micro Unit—Rotated Walls and Enclosure
Site Analysis Collage Journal Square—Positive Changes
Ground Floor Plan
Unit Complex Floor Plan
0' 10' 25'
45'
Section AA
0'
10'
25'
Section BB
45'
Section AA—Detail
Section BB—Detail
Section BB—Detail
Work Experiences & Internship
Elements At the Met Summer Work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Summer 2016 Research Project Assisting the Architecture Curator — Department of Modern and Contemporary Art
This research follows an initiative by Beatrice Galilee - the architecture curator at the Met. The project appropriates The 14th International Architecture Exhibition directed by Rem Koolhaas with the chosen theme Fundamentals, which dedicated to the celebration of the contemporary, and looks at histories and tries to reconstruct how architecture finds itself in its current situation, and speculates on its future. The research provides an introspection into the Met's collection with the elements' various time frames, scales, materials, and cultural meanings, and aims to showcase the Met in its plethora of architecture collections.
ca. 2630–2611 B.C
ca. 1417–1379 B.C
ca. 560–75
650–750
A.H. 755/A.D. 1354–55
ca. 1319
1581
16th century
ca. 1600
ca. 1711–56
ca. 2150–2010 B.C.
5th–6th century
second half 17th century
18th century
ca. 1780
19th century
probably 19th century
19th century
19th–20th century
19th–20th century
ca. 1184–1153 B.C.
ca. 6th–7th century A.D.
15th century style
second half 16th century
last quarter of 16th century
ca. 1675
1600–1700
18th century
18th or 19th century
ca. 1800
ca. 2458–2446 B.C.
ca. 2446–2389 B.C.
ca. 2353–2323 B.C.
ca. 2289–2255 B.C.
ca. 1981–1550 B.C.
ca. 5th century B.C.
380–362 B.C.
380–343 B.C.
332–30 B.C.
ca. 300 B.C.
ca. 2381–2323 B.C.
completed by 10 B.C.
dated A.H. 1119/A.D. 1707
ca. 1478–82
1506–15
ca. 1547–48
1680
ca. 1682–84
1695–1700
ca. 1720 or later
Timeline of the Elements — Walls, Doors, Windows, Columns, Period Rooms
1801
1804
ca. 1810–18
19th century
19th century
19th century
ca. 1905–15
1931
1933
1991
late 19th century
late 19th–early 20th century
1910
1915
1915
ca. 1923
1935–43
1933
1969–71
1989, printed 1991
1882–84
second half 19th century
19th–20th century
late 19th–early 20th century
1900
ca. 1905
1908–9
1915
1930–31
1931
dated 533–43
ca. 6th century
late 10th century
1350–1400
early 15th or 19th century
Qianlong period (1736–95)
1765–67
1879–82
1905
2013
1748
ca. 1768–72, with later additions
1765–66, remodeled 1769–71
1763–71
1766–69
ca. 1774, with later additions
ca. 1785, with later additions
ca. 1810
1912–15
1989
Breaking the Diagram Winter Intership at OPerA Studio, Brooklyn | 2016 Task: research stage, design development and graphic visualization for the project reconsidering the new zoning law and policy in East New York, Brooklyn.
The project takes East New York's upzoning event as a starting point to reconsider what can be done better in East New York. Beginning with studying the new massing and facades along Myrtle avenue and Fourth avenue in Brooklyn, outlining different variations that zoning law can take shape in East New York. My role in this project is identifying the typology, problems associating with building massing that adheres to zoning law, and ideas of how to take advantage of the zoning guidelines into something more exciting and socially integrated.
East New York Location
Building Form Study
Streetscape and Facade Study
Initial Concept: New Typology with Work and Live Integration
Zoning Diagram
Block Variations in Relation to Zoning Law
Strategy A Block
Strategy B Strip
St. Mark House Summer Internship at OPeraA Studio, Brooklyn, New York Summer 2017 Type of Project: Residential Renovation Task: Model Making, 3D Modelling, Graphic
The project involves a complete renovation of a house in Brooklyn. The house features a double wall core which allows for the rest of the space to flow freely, and a rooftop space with garden. In this project, I mostly involves in making the physical model, 3d modelling for physical model making, and graphic visualization.
Residential Renovation Summer Internship at OPeraA Studio, Brooklyn, New York Summer 2017 Type of Project: Residential Renovation - Construction Document
I envolved in making and refining the DOB Set for the Wyckoff Project to be submitted to the Department of Building in New York City. The project invovles site survey, remodelling the existing conditions, as well as adding new features for renovation.
Facade Design Summer Internship at OPeraA Studio, Brooklyn, New York Summer 2017 Type of Project: 1 Story Commercial Building Task: Design Development of Building Facade
The facade design takes inspiration from a lego-house that the client asks for. The design exploration doesn't take the lego concept literlaly but tries to explore different options in the facade that have more spatial and visual quality. The results are some early explorations in the facade that study light, pattern, and visual connection of inside and outside.
Research
Reclaiming Newark Vacant Lots MIP 652 - GIS
Year 3, Fall 2015 Professor / Megan Marini Group work of two
Currently, Newark only has 11 farms, which can feed 0.074% of Newark food demand. This research projects asks questions about self-sufficiency in urban farming in Newark: what happen if we turn 50% or 100% of all vacant lots in Newark into farms, what are the economic yields and capacity of these farms, and what are the social dimensions they facilitate. By this exploration the project aims to understand about resiliency of urban farming, the network of farms and facilities that support it, the interrelated transportation network, potential human resources and economic values yield when implementing this model.
Covege of Existing Farms
Vacant Lots and Existing Farms in Newark
Framework
Research Pill Logistics Arch 534 - History of Architecture Technology Year 3, Spring 2016 Professor / Jesse LeCavalier Group work of two: Graphic Layout, Writing
This paper looks at pills as concentrated pieces of technology. The understanding of their physical attributes, designs, packaging and logistics of production and distribution, policy and procedures, as well as their illegal economic strata help us understand how pharmaceutical contents are designed, manipulated, and packaged to become familiar, standardized and attested objects that assimilate into our daily lives. The range of exploration includes, but is not limited to: pharmaceutical marketing, advertisement, color theory, tablet design, and consumption. With these findings, we aim to understand how its consumption affects our interactions and perceptions of our environment...
Full Article http://issuu.com/chautran6/docs/01_tran_veligurskaya_final_paper_pi/1
Matrix| lCapsules Capsulesand andTablets Tablets as as aa Logistical Logistical Pharmaceutical Matrix PharmacueticalMicrotechnology: Microtechnology:
Oval
Diamond
5,6 & 8 side
Rectangle
Round
Square
Triangle
52 James Street Year 2, Spring 2015 Critic / Marcelo Lopez-Dinardi Two student group project
This project asks to design a front and back faรงade for 52 James Street. Taken from the context of surrounding row houses, defamiliarization was employed as a strategy to reconfigure and recombine familiar elements such as color patterns, textures, opening capacities and bay windows. Surrounding facades were drawn, and then overlapped, to provide the defamliarized openings for the studied faรงades. Color and texture were also taken into consideration, to provide the faรงade with both smooth and rough surfaces. These elements, when combined, serve as a collage which is both familiar and unfamiliar.
Front facade
Defamiliarizing row house context - by laying surrounding facades, and gradually lowering image quality to study familiar colors and textures
Back facade
Facades of surrounding row houses
Study of opening capacities of surrounding row houses, and defamiliarizing by overlaying them in different positions
Picking front and back facades based on 40% - 60% rule asked by the assignment, 40% opening for the front facade, and 60% opening for the back facade
Drawings and Sketches
1
2
3
4
5
1. Still Life (pencil) 2. Still Life 2 (charcoal) 3. Still Life 3 (pencil) 4. Sleepy (pencil) 5. Art Class (pencil)