Portfolio Internship App 2014

Preludes Select Works prior to M.Arch I

Chiang Chieh Chih

Intro

Contents

As a former investment analyst who will be commencing M.Arch I studies this fall, I am seeking my first professional design internship.

1/ Boston City Hall Plaza

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This portfolio contains a selection of studio and personal projects from 2010 to 2013.

2/ House for 2 Families

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A design novice, my nascent focus is primarily on:

3/ Lincoln Center Atelier

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4/ Bryant Park Bleachers

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5/ Informal Athens

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1) Circulation as a device to organize space and activities on the micro level and 2) Systems - socio-economic, historic, topographic, and other - that inform site and program on a macro scale.

1/Boston City Hall Plaza Activities

Harvard GSD Career Discovery | 2010 - 2013 My design for a residential + community arts facility in Boston City Hall Plaza attempts to alleviate the site’s unbalanced circulation.

Circulation

Shelter

Spring

A second topographical layer, the Complex’s Roofscape rises from the Plaza, creating three layers of circulation curating the public towards the neglected Northern edge of the Plaza.

Public programs (Exhibition, theater, and studios) are nestled in the interstitial space between the Plaza and Roofscape, while the private apartments are located atop to receive sunlight.

Summer

Autumn

Winter

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City

Plaza

Boston City Hall Plaza lies at the nexus of three major axes: 1) Commercial artery, 2) Public transport, and 3) Civic space. Despite its centrality, the Plaza remains isolated from its urban milieu, a barren void in the heart of historic Boston.

The disconnect between Plaza and City is due to its disparate topographies: 1) A physical, fragmented 28’ slope, and 2) a functional terrain unevenly concentrated along the Southern end that leaves the Northern expanse of the Plaza barren for most seasons.

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I designed the Complex as an extension of the Plaza, rising 30’ from both Cambridge St and the Plaza itself - a Roofscape that shelters activities below and hosts events atop, while acting as a new circulation route.

Tectonics By studying the interaction between the Plaza’s two topographies, I designed the Roofscape as an undulating surface connecting the busy Southern edge to the neglected Northern edge.

Least time - Minimum interstitial space

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Most time - Maximum interstitial space Program

Circulation

Public programs with longest duration of time spent, such as the Museum and Theater, are arrayed towards the Northern edge to enliven the neglected area. These programs occupy more expansive interstitial spaces than more ephemeral programs, such as Retail and ticketing.

The design consists of 3 circulation layers with different functions: 1) Roofscape: Interactive zone between resident artists above and the public below, 2) Open Gallery: Free exhibition space connecting the subway to studios, and 3) Concourse: Retail and Theater orient the public towards the Plaza’s Northern edge.

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Apartments

Roofscape

Open Gallery 1) Directing circulation towards the Plaza’s Northern edge.

2) Roofscape creates new circulation paths below and on it.

Museum

Studios

Concourse 3) Interstitial space between Plaza and Roofscape houses public programs.

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4) Private apartments rise above Roofscape for lighting and views.

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Activities

Circulation

Shelter

Before

After

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2/House for 2 Families Harvard GSD Career Discovery | 2010 - 2013 In this House for two very different families, two spaces spiral around a lightwell, each reminded of the other’s presence through interlocking volumes and mutual sightlines.

The Buffs, a fitness-minded intellectual couple, enjoy a sequence of mostly private spaces housing a gym, pool, and library. The Yuppies, an artist couple and their two young children, have larger social spaces for art collection and video screening.

Together, the two families share the common lightwell and rooftop garden.

Buffs Yuppies Adjacencies Private space (Minimal intrusion) Collective void (Mutual sightlines) Social space (Maximal intrusion)

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Tectonics Heavier massing towards larger neighbor & switching views Circulation Buffs: Exercise & Reading spaces & Yuppies: Art & Video display Program Social spaces on Levels 1 to 3 & Private spaces from Levels 4 to 5

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Moments of adjacencies are arrayed along the two houses’ circulation: The collective space of the lightwell features mutual sightlines on the lower, more social levels.

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Social spaces are defined by translucent walls suggesting the other family’s presence, while private spaces contain more opaque walls between the two families.

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2F

5F

GF

4F

Basement

3F

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3/Lincoln Center Atelier Columbia GSAPP New York/Paris | 2013 In this Final project, I investigated how visual and physical accessbilities govern the interaction between Public Circulation, Program, and Site for a Fashion Atelier sited upon New York City’s Lincoln Center Plaza.

Site + Program The Opera and Plaza engages the Atelier through direct views through the Studio and Fabrication spaces.

Bisected by the Metropolitan Opera’s Southern wall, the Site is divided into 3 sections between Lincoln Center, Danrosch Park, and the Opera itself, creating a gradient of accessibility conditions.

A parasitic structure embedded in the Metropolitan Opera’s Southern wall, the Atelier contains Retail, Fabrication, Office, and Studio spaces, each with its own degree of accessibility to the public.

Program + Program Fabrication, the most performative yet formerly least accessible space, is now surrounded by the other Programs.

Public Circulation + Site The public weaves through a sequence of views alternating between fashion fabrication and opera viewing experiences.

Neither see nor enter

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See and enter

See but cannot enter

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Study models

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Final model

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Fabrication

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Retail

Office

Studio

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4/Bryant Park Bleachers Columbia GSAPP New York/Paris | 2013 By analyzing different boundary conditions in Paris’ Center Pompidou and New York City’s Bryant Park, I designed a Bleacher for the latter that contains a gradient of sheltered spaces, ranging from public seats to private cocoons.

The urban rooms of Bryant Park are curated by boundaries of different permanence: Spaces defined by effervescent (human traces) and changing boundaries (foliage) are used for circulation and quick breaks respectively while permanent boundaries (topography) are used for shelter.

Taking its cues from these site conditions, the Bleachers create an undulating surface ascending 40’ above Bryant Park.

Effervescent Boundaries

Changing Boundaries

Permanent Boundaries By connecting analogous boundaries on the facade of Center Pompidou to Bryant Park, a structure is generated upon which the Bleacher lies.

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Public Seats

Semi-Public Entrance

Private Cocoons

The Bleacher consists of modular units that form a gradient of spaces overseeing Bryant Park. Placement, wall thickness, and light conditions variations lead to three types of spaces: Public Seats across the undulating surface, Semi-Public Entrances in the interstitial space between modules, and Private Cocoons nestled within the modules.

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5/Informal Athens Labor Cost

Personal | Fall 2012 Unregulated Space

A major drain on tax revenue, the Greek informal economy is output not accounted by conventional methodologies, including the black market, unreported work, and undeclared income. A significant proportion of the labor force is engaged in the informal economy.

They may be categorized into Illegals, Self-Employed, and Employees.

Entrepreneurial Culture

Informal Economy

In this personal project, I examined the spatial ownership and exposure of three typologies occupied by these participants: The Street, the Periptero (kiosk), and the Polykatoikia (apartment block).

Market Inefficiencies

Illegal Immigration Tax Burden

European Union

9%

Greece’s highly entrepreneurial culture relative to its EU Peers suggests that a substantial amount of economic output may be unreported, as the self-employed have both the incentive and means to conceal incremental activities.

18% 15% 34%

24%

Greece

Peers Median

Official GDP

Informal Economy

Employees

Self-Employed

Greece 16%

14%

Most informal economy estimates are based on tax evasion data instead of Greece’s unique labor market. I estimated incremental GDP based on unreported economic output.

€36 bn €184 bn

Athens

15% 40% 45%

Of the participants in the informal economy, illegal immigrants - the most conspicuous of the three - account for just 15% of economic activity. Each participant occupies a different typology and space.

Peers: Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Slovakia

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Illegals hawking contrabands and drugs are highly exposed in public spaces. They own fluid spaces that react to market conditions.

Street

Periptero

Polykatoikia

Platia Vathis Although the informal economy can be found throughout Athens, I zeroed in on Platia Vathis, a neighborhood North of the KerameikosMetaxourgeio district with a rich ecosystem of typologies. By studying shifting boundaries and public circulation around four blocks, I diagrammed spatial ownership and exposure respectively.

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Owners of periptero kiosks constantly bend the rules to expand the boundaries of their space, which is exposed to heavy consumer traffic.

Due to high social security costs, informal employees, occupying the most stationary but least exposed space within polykatoikia blocks.

Exposure Public circulation Ownership Shifting boundaries 32

chiehchih.chiang@gmail.com (65) 840 12360 #14-04 10 Newton Rd Singapore 307947