Calvin Leung
2023
Architecture Portfolio: Selected Works
Calvin Leung
2023 Architecture Portfolio
Contact info: Email: cleung02@syr.edu
Tel. HK: +852 92290052
Tel. US: +1 315 679 9880
issuu: https://issuu.com/cleung02
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/ in/calvin-cl-leung/
Contents
NWS Superblock
Fall 2020 Studio ARC 307
Co-Cluster
Spring 2021 Studio ARC 407
Prattsville Artist Complex
Spring 2021 Studio ARC 409
Backbone of East Flatbush
Fall 2021 Studio ARC 408
Urban Nomads: Cardboard City
Fall 2022 Thesis (on-going) ARC 505
Regally Orange
Spring 2020 Jewellery ARI 243
NWS SUPERBLOCK
The Near West Side of Syracuse is one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the US, surrounded by a belt of warehouses and industrial buildings, where the Erie Canal once flowed. The Neighbourhood becomes cut off from downtown, creating a huge wealth disparity within a very short distance.
Our site is located on the north west corner of the Near West Side neighbourhood, in an existing affordable housing estate. This location was chosen because of the high density of occupants but lacks parcels like the surrounding detached houses that divide the block.
There is an unusual amount of charities and non profit institutions within the Near West Side, yet each remains separate, making access difficult, reducing their effectiveness.
We introduced 3 new components to the site: 2 new Axis, a bridge and a central walk way to act as both public space and circulation, connecting the institutions nearby. A Farm that is tended to by residents of the neighbourhood.
The organization of the site is dominated by automobiles, roads and car-parks, by combining the housing project into one super block throught the introduction of a central axis; This allows us to take back these public space that can otherwise be used by the inhabitants.
Farming Fields
We propose a communal farm on the existing two blocks. This was picked as our initial starting point since it isn’t divided into multiple parcels of private property; we introduce a texture to the surface as organization for the farm.
We envision that in the future the farming pattern can extend outside the block boundary and spread across Syracuse.
We organize the field into different zones informed by existing site conditions to provide the necessary infrastructure that is required for the farm to function. Which includes the tool shed, compost, and a nursery to extend the shorter growing sea sons of Syracuse.
The farm can both provide fresh produce to supliment their diets while also privid ing an opportunity to learn new skills and build relationships between neighbours.
Bridge Axis
On top of the planting field since we are returning the ground floor back to vegetation and food production we impose an elevated axis, one on the ground floor that give some of these public spaces back to the local people and seek to connect the neighbouring service and institution together.
The bridge axis focuses on the education and furniture repair, it finds its path within the void of the houses and creates multiple connections above ground to form an additional platform for the building it touches.
They also contribute to the education of the furniture repair training for the homeless people that comes from the Huntington family centre, and the volunteers will be people from the Syracuse habitat of humanity that provides the skill and the tools. A non profit organization that contributes to building reconstruction in the local community. A large workshop will be located at the central node where the two axis intersect and at both ends of the bridge are the market spaces.
Farming Fields
In addition, the third floor will form as a private platform for the residents. Some necessary structure is provided on the roof so the people can gather and hold events or forums about how they want to improve the community.
The Central Play Axis is created through the retaking of the road that runs through the two halves of the Housing Blocks. The turns the otherwise redundant space in the an accessible play space back to the neighbourhood. By introducing this connection this also creates a safe walk able passage way connecting the neighbourhood to the Park and School to the west
The Central Play Axis includes a collection of block on wheels that allow the residents of the neighbourhood to create their own landscape and reprogram this new space as they see fit.
Central Axis “Castor Toys” Catalogue
CO-CLUSTER -
Designed as A House for 100 People, this co-housing projects focuses on the private vs public
Instead of each person having their self contained unit with a bedroom & living room, toilet & kitchen; our projects, “Co-Cluster”, minimizes the amount of private space of each inhabitant, while maximizing the shared spaces into “a landscape of continuous living rooms”.
By doing so, these new continuous “living rooms’ are ab le to more efficiently host lager programs that are otherwise impossible in smaller self-contained units such as movie theatres, gyms and billiards.
Shared programs also extends to kitchens, Laundry and toilets as these programs are unlikely to be used by everyone at the same time, therefore overlapped spaces can be cut down and relocated for “living”.
The residential level plan show how the volumes are organizes and also hint at the possible programs and arrangements within the project.
Cluster Typology
This over all living space is further divided into 4 sub communities of 25 people, this allows for better control of the shared space and allowing for each to have their own identity, developing their own specific programs within their living rooms
And each of these 4 communities are made up of the following volume typologies
(from top to bottom, left to right)
4 x The double, 2 inhabitants bedroom
4 x The Single, 1 inhabitant bedroom
1 x Utility “L”, Kitchen + Pantry + Dining
1 x Utility “I”, Toilet + Showers + Laundry
To connect the elevated domestic to the public ground of the city, 2 Grand stairs and a central axis which cut through the project are introduced.
This not only acts as circulation for the inhabitants, but also becomes a gradient become public and private, allowing both the urban to spill into the domestic and vice versa.
The grand stairs also double as an extension where people can sit and interact.
The Project itself is elevated, which serves two main purposes. First is to give more privacy to the inhabitants living above. Second, by creating this new plane for living above, the ground of the city itself can be left undisrupted, giving space back to the urbanity below.
Finally, the flat roof reintroduces a sense of order and “stabilizes” the chaos of the cluster and floor planes below. The roof is also able to bring focus to the space below through the use of skylights. These skylights are placed over parts of the “Continuous landscape of living rooms” highlight certain parts that are collective and communal, bringing definition to the undulation landscape.
After developing the Archetype, the design is applied to a context allowing for further adjustments and adaptations. The site chosen was in Wapping, London; located on what was known as the Middleton’s and St. Bride’s dock, the buildings on the site served as warehouses for these docks. It was a timber yard in the 16th century and sugar warehouses in the 18th century. The void in the ground was also the site of the Thames tunnel opened in 1843, it is currently inaccessible and only used as a maintenance tunnel. The aerial image on the top left is the site from 1922 with most the warehouses present, the one below it is the current sight conditions with the opening to the tunnel clearly seen.
The operation here was to retain the original street facing façades while creating bigger openings within them to allow for ease of access.
This site strategy allows for the historical aspects of Wapping to be preserved while still allowing the ground to be open to the public as following one of our main points of our original archetype.
The edges of the roof plates follow the original profile of the warehouses; the open ground floor allows its programs to spill out on to the surroundings.
Interior view of central axis
The central axis of the project acts as both circulation and a gradient between Public and Domestic, staying true to the archetype.
PRATTSVILLE ARTIST COMPLEX
Calvin Leung Javier LamPrattsville Artist’s Complex denotes the new era of artist domination in Prattsville. The building engages the corner of the site, allowing the members of the town to be a part of the life of an artist.
The studios are open spaces that allow artists to walk freely between different creative spaces. The guest residency is designed to allow a private space away from the public, while also having their own lounge to interact amongst themselves. The icon theater is hidden from the street but is revealed by the increase in intensity of the terracotta tiles. The overall design is interwoven with multiple layers of public reveal and privacy, based on phenomenological effect. The inner north facing walls of the courtyard also reacts to the need of the occupants by capturing the more diffused northern daylighting for the studio spaces
The structure is primarily concrete, the site is prone to flooding and the building acts as a bunker for the residence. The floor and roof employs a waffle slab system allowing longer spans for wide uninterrupted interior. The gridded nature of the slabs als0 brings a sense of order and pixelization to the space.
EXISTING
Prattsville Artist Complex
EXISTING
ENGAGE STREET CORNER
EXISTING
Exsisting
ENGAGE STREET CORNER
ENGAGE STREET CORNER
ACTIVATE INTERIOR COURTYARD
Activate Interior Courtyard
ENGAGE STREET CORNER
ACTIVATE INTERIOR COURTYARD
Engage Street Corner
ACTIVATE INTERIOR COURTYARD
PIXELATION
Pixelation
Organisation Strategy
Reflected Ceiling Plan
The Backbone of East Flatbush
On our visits of the Neighbourhood of East Flatbush, one of the phenomenons that stood out to us most was the rail condition that exists along the south-eastern edge.
The current rail line is underused with trains only running a few times a week. The track is elevated above the ground on a 13ft berm and cut right though existing roads creating multiple dead end that are misused and neglected.
This presents an opportunity to reactivate these areas as new pedestrian circulation both along the track and across it, rebuilding the connections that the current rail track has severed.
The link and QR code will show a video analysis of the existing site condition and a the project proposal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVeNJ5szCLg&t=3s
BROOKLYN TERMINAL MARKET CONNECTION
There is an existing track branching off down to the ground level to the Brooklyn Terminal market. The proposal takes advantage of this to create new pedestrian pathways, further strengthening the connection of the East Flatbush neighbourhood to the Market.
DEAD END CONNECTION
One of the most stand out condition while on our site visits were the multiple dead ends created by the rail track. Tucked away from automobile and industrial traffic, these dead ends are prime places for pedestrian circulation and address the lack of publicly accessible open spaces within the neighbourhood.
URBAN NOMADS
Self expression is the most important component of Public Space. Public Space is crucial to all but especially to those most marginalized in society, as this might be one of the only outlets where they can represent themselves. Especially with the recent political landscape in Hong Kong, and crackdowns following the introduction of National Security Laws; this right to assembly in a Public Space has become a more and more of a rare occurrence. One can argue that by simply assembling, it is inherently an act of representation and in so an act of protest, which is why the idea of a Space being Public is so important to all.
The Foreign Domestic Workers system of Overwriting the city starts with a very literal act of covering the existing with a new surface, this pixelazation of the city is done mostly through the use of disassembled Cardboard boxes. The Foreign domestic workers have their territory of activity, with each group usually occupying the same spaces each week. The extent of the floor covering demarcates the extent of their space, Parceling their territory.
On Sunday, is it common to see many Foreign Domestic Workers Gathering around public plazas and roads of Hong Kong, chatting, sharing food, singing, dancing... This temporary transformation Overwrites the city surface, completely disregards the existing boundaries and rules, creating its own ad hoc system that piggybacks off the existing infrastructure of the city
Finally objects and component are placed within their parcel domestication their space. As discussed previously this is their way of pushing back against their isolated living conditions throughout the weeks and one can argue that this new domestic is encompasses what a real home is to them than the accommodation provided by their employers.
This Culture of having domestic maids is ingrained within the very architecture and design of flats in Hong Kong most flats above a certain square-footage have built in maid quarters.
Typically separated from the main living area of the flats and usually located at the back of the kitchen and Laundry room.
One can argue that these designs have a hand in perpetuating this continued culture of exploitation. However this is unfortunately is perhaps the best case scenario, in other cases, Foreign Domestic Workers might not have their own living space at all. With some having to sleep on bed rolls on the floor with their personal storage being relegated to only a few suitcases. This lack of separation between personal space and their work place create a sense of both physical and social isolation.
OVERWRITTEN CENOTAPH
IMPROMPTU CARDBOARD CITY
The goal of this thesis is to amplify this ability for the Foreign domestic workers to make place. First is to create a new Architectural identity, a place and object which allows the Filipino Domestic Workers to recognizing and build. recolonizing the colonial monuments of Hong Kong, to create a bottom up resurfacing of the city.
Inspired by my research into the significance of jewellery in monarchical powers along with the closure of the jewellery workshop due to pandemic restriction, The “REGALLY ORANGE” collection aims to challenge the conventional idea of jewellery as an item of timelessness and of precious materials.
The orange peels were treated like hide, oiled then tanned in the sun. This created a surprisingly durable and tough material that remain quite flexible even when fully cured.
Galvanized steel fencing wire is used in creating the wire work, is much more durable then conventional precious metals yet still corrosion resistant and hold a surface finish well.
Finally, the pieces are set with “gemstones” made of tape and tissue. Tape and tissue are layered together then cut open to reveal a marble like cross-section.
The collection is every chaging, the orange will brown and mold, the steel will rust and the tape & tissue will yellow.
“REGALLY ORANGE”
REGALLY ORANGE
REGALLY ORANGE
