Emma Lau: Portfolio [Digital] (as of June 2021)

EMMA LAU SI YING: PORTFOLIO

EMMA LAU SI YING PORTFOLIO 2021

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Emma Lau Si Ying Portfolio [Digital] as of June 2021 Ideally viewed in two-page view.

A high resolution version may be viewed at www.tinyurl.com/elsyportfolio0621.

EMMA LAU SI YING: PORTFOLIO

Design Work 120 Days: The Carnivalesque Island of Crabs (2020-2021)

Research and Writing 04

Studio Lilian Chee

House of Fallen Leaves: A Changing Home for a Changing Family (2019)

The Soanean Abstraction of Neo-Classical Architecture: Multiple Interpretations of Antiquity (2019)

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Constance Lau

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Studio Ong Ker Shing

A new pedagogical framework for the integrated teaching of PASSIVE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION IN THE TROPICS (2019) Cheah Kok Ming and Samant Swinal Ravindranath

Lost in Furniture-scape: The Hunt for Secondhand Furniture (2019)

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Studio Liang Lit How

Built Work Waves: i Light Singapore (2017)

Product Design and Prototyping 44

Half Moon Chair (2018)

Stacey Cheang and Tomohisa Miyauchi

Designing Resilience in Asia: Pendopo in Semarang (2018) Junko Tamura

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SuperFarm Singapore (2021)

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Resume PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE National University of Singapore (May 2019 - Nov 2019) Research Assistant Supervisor(s): Cheah Kok Ming and Samant Swinal Ravindranath Secondary author of ‘A new pedagogical framework for the integrated teaching of PASSIVE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION IN THE TROPICS’. Awaiting publication. Jobscope included writing the paper, analysing case studies and finding suitable references.

Emma Lau Si Ying 18 Sept 1997 Singaporean

LAUD Architects (May 2018 - July 2018) Architectural Intern Supervisor(s): Matthew Yeo and Rathika Florence Davamoni

+65 emmalausy@gmail.com

Design development stage for a high-rise residential condominium at Cairnhill. Jobscope included weekly iterations for unit layouts, services/M&E and amenities, and preparation of materials for client meetings.

EDUCATION National University of Singapore Bachelor of Arts (Architecture) (2016 - 2020) Highest Distinction [CAP 4.56] Dean’s List (A/Y 2018/2019)

DP Architects (June 2016 - July 2016) Architectural Intern Supervisor(s): Tania Wee (Pre-University Internship) Shadowed the construction stage for Sengkang General Hospital.

Master of Architecture (2020 - 2021) [CAP 4.40] Delft University of Technology Student Exchange Programme (Sept 2018 - Jan 2019) Raffles Junior College (2014 - 2015)

CLEO Magazine (March 2016 - May 2016) Fashion Intern Supervisor(s): Cheryl Chan Preparation for photo-shoots, logistics procurement and management, writing articles and assisting in article publication.

You may view my portfolio at www.tinyurl.com/elsyportfolio0621 and download it here at www.tinyurl.com/elsyportfolio0621-DL

LEADERSHIP AND VOLUNTEER WORK The Architecture Society (TAS) (2017-2020) A student-led, non-profit organisation established in 1981, that serves and represents the students of Department of Architecture (DOA) in National University of Singapore (NUS).

President (2019 – 2020) Oversaw and coordinated timelines, logistics and budgets of each sub-committee alongside executive committee. Acted as liaison between DOA, Singapore Institute of Architects and the student body. Took charge of administration duties to ensure all events abided by regulations, as a recognised society under Registrar of Societies, Ministry of Home Affairs.

Education Director (2018 – 2019) Organised events focussed on providing learning opportunities and improving learning experience.

Annual events include Firm Visits, Inter-varsity TAS Debates between NUS and SUTD, and academic feedback sessions between students and department.

Publicity Director (2017-2018) Produced publicity material for various events in the TAS roster. Required close coordination with all committee members to abide by concurrent timelines.

Project ORCA (May 2017-August 2017) Publicity Director Overseas Community Involvement Project in Vietnam, under Residential College 4, NUS. Coordinated a design team to produce fundraising merchandise. Designed publicity material.

AKIID Freshmen Orientation Camp (Dec 2016 – June 2017) Project Director Annual camp for the incoming freshmen of NUS Architecture and Industrial Design students. Coordinated and oversaw the timelines, logistics and budgets of each sub-committee. Acted as liaison between DOA, NUS and the executive committee. Took charge of administration duties to ensure all events abided by regulations stipulated by NUS. Raffles Runway (Fashion Design co-curricular club) (2014-2015) Vice-Chairperson Oversaw the organisation and execution of annual fashion show, alongside executive committee. Profit from ticket sales ($1000) were donated to Singapore Red Cross Society. Informally took over Chairperson role when former Chairperson pulled out.

SKILLS Adobe Photoshop Vocal Performance

Adobe Illustrator Presentation

Adobe InDesign Research and Writing

AutoCAD Administration

Rhinoceros Modelling People Coordination

Grasshopper SketchUp

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120 DAYS

ABSTRACT Christmas Island’s prominence as colonial and mineral extraction territories, and more recently, as Australia’s appointed detention island, has severely side-lined its natal identities. Yet, the island is known above all for its annual Christmas Island red crab migration. By weaving the iconic spectacle of the red crab around native practices and myths, the thesis creates a temporal architecture of festival that celebrates the island’s cultural, civic and historical identities.

It engages a coast straddling two sites – the sea goddess’ temple and the earth god’s cemetery, reflecting contradictory but complementing perspectives about the island’s ecological future.

The architecture comprises two coastal systems: a floating mobile worship procession, and a sea wall columbarium with soil-stabilising pandanus tree groves. Space is re-examined through the body of the crab. Architecture is designed around its rhythms, movements and physiology. Further, crabs play practical, symbolic and mythical roles in the festivals of veneration.

Through the spaces, rituals and spectacle of these mytho-natural festivals, the abstract matter of climate change is tangibly manifested, with Christmas Island reimagined at the frontiers of culture-climate activism. The evocative architecture examines the mediated relationships between human, animal, environment and place, raising questions on the politics of sustainable human inhabitation. In addition to increasing tourism and national ecological responsibility, the architectural proposition creates new political conversation around the island that may re-position its significance in Australia’s political portfolio.

TUTOR’S NOTES

A/P DR LILIAN CHEE, Thesis Supervisor

Emma’s interest in Christmas Island, a place she had not visited, results in 120 days, a thesis which explores the limits of architecture with remote sites and subjects. The distinctive spectacle of the island’s red crab is leveraged in a temporal and shape-shifting architecture – festivaland time-based – centred around the crabs’ mating and migratory schedules. The challenges of reading a site from afar, coupled with the balancing of fact, fiction and speculation, are intriguingly demonstrated in the weaving of the biological crab narrative with two island-specific mythical rituals. It advances significant ideas about remote research, while obliquely critiquing architecture’s relationship with its non-human others.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many thanks to A/P Dr Lilian Chee, student mentors Wong Zi Hao and Ian Mun for their patient guidance; guest reviewers Erieta Attali, Stephen Cairns, Erik L’Heureux, Jiminez Lai, Constance Lau, CJ Lim, Victoria Marshall, Ong Ker-Shing, Peter Sim, Tham Wai Hon and Tiah Nan-Chyuan for their invaluable insights.

120 DAYS

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120 DAYS

Ceremonial Temple

Section through ceremonial temple

Palanquin Rest Stop

Section through sea goddess temple

Existing Sea Goddess Temple

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Growing Pandanus Trees and Sea Wall

Mature Pandanus Tree Grove

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Earth God Columbarium

120 DAYS: THE CARNIVALESQUE ISLAND OF CRABS

Ceremonial Temple at Old Site The climax of the procession occurs when the crabs spawn their eggs. Boats, crabs and island are blessed.

Sea Goddess Procession

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Palanquin Rest Stop

Existing Sea Goddess Temple

As night settles, the floating palanquin stops at local rest stops for casting for prayers.

Crabs prepare to spawn.

Pre-procession festivities begin accordingly.

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120 DAYS

Sea Goddess Procession (Sea Goddess Temple) This mobile event takes place over the course of one night: the first spawning event of the crab season that coincides with the death anniversary of Mazu, the sea goddess. Since the beginning of the day, the pregnant crabs, which gather up to 18 hours before the night of spawning have gathered in the small, shaded and hence humid crevices of created in the temple’s brick foundation. The sprinklers suspended across the temple plaza ensure the air and ground stays moist.

(Procession Rest Stop) At 7pm, as evening turns to night, people gather to prepare their offerings, food and objects to be blessed in anticipation of the long night, while some crabs begin to move down towards the cliff to prepare themselves for spawning.

The palanquin stops at small rest stops along the cliff route, for performances that entertain both humans and goddesses. The crabs have vacated the coastal land, and congregated to the cliff, freeing the in-land for such events.

(Ceremonial Temple) At last, at 3am, the crabs are ready to drop their eggs into the ocean along the cliff side, and the palanquin follows suit by docking at the new ceremonial temple, a cliff side structure that doubles as an activated temple when the image of Mazu is placed within the altar. The crabs have stained the cliffs red as they gather along cliffs, rocks and pools. The spawning of the crabs symbolise continuation of life on the island.

Worshippers pull this floating inhabitable palanquin that carries the sacred image of Mazu along the high rugged cliffs, beginning at the current sea goddess temple and ending at a cove where the old temple used to stand before it was torn down unceremoniously.

Worshippers believe in power of proximity to the image or statue of Mazu, believing that being close to, and specifically going under the image would bestow her good fortune, while incense snoke carries both their prayers and fortune. Islanders pray for safety in sea and weather-related events, while boat-owners bring their boats to sail underneath the image and be blessed. As the statue of Mazu goes over the cliffs, the crabs are blessed as well.

In order to ensure the incense smoke is filled with blessing, and kept away from the crabs in close pexity, an inhabitable skin is created to channel the smoke towards the image and to the people waiting on the cliff side.

Sea Goddess Palanquin: The Blessing of Crabs, Boats and People

Qing Ming Festival After the accumulation of sand Year 10 Cleaning of the Seawall Urns Tree as Soil Stabilizers

Qing Ming Fes After the crab m Year 5 Pandanus Tree

Commemorati

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The Shifting Beach and Mature Pandanus Trees Year 30

stival migration

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Water Crematorium Nutrient-rich water residues from water cremation flows to enrich the pandanus grove.

e Groves

ion of Crab and Human Death

Sea Wall Columbarium Swell Season Crab migration underway Year 0

Earth God Columnbarium Seawall

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120 DAYS

Visting the Guardian Crab Tree Groves The earth god columbarium changes based on the swell seasons. It comprises three components, the sea wall that houses the ancestral remains, the soil stabilising pandanus groves and the water crematorium.

The cemetery and other parts of the coast in this area are susceptible to high waves and erosion during the swell season, resulting in the soil in-land becoming increasingly unstable.

This was made worse by the soft soil caused by the burrowing crabs. The intervention transforms this burrowing action of the crab to become a constant and necessary part of coastal protection.

Attracted by the food left out for the earth god and the ancestors, the crabs here become gardeners, aerating the soil as they burrow and mate within. At the end of the crab migration, the soil is suitable for growth of pandanus trees, with any dead crabs found to be buried within as well. Over time, the prop roots of the tree stabilises the ground against further erosion, while the crabs continue to keep the soil healthy and clear of fallen leaf debris.

The sea wall houses the ancestral remains, keeping most of the waves at bay. When high waves do overtop the wall, deposition of sand occurs as the water drains away slowly, eventually creating a shifting beach that is constantly being eroded and formed.

This beach becomes suitable gathering spaces for the crabs during migration, with shallow pools of water amongst damp sand. While never sinking as they usually do, the new graves may often be covered in sand and marine debris, requiring a constant upkeep that is in line with ancestral worship practices of the Qing Ming festival.

All pockets of sea wall and pandanus tree groves are connected by the flow of nutrientrich water that is a by-product of the water crematorium. While the bones are stored in an urn in the sea wall, the water is channelled to all the tree groves to improve land fertitlity.

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120 DAYS

Sites of Ritual along the Coast

Earth God Columbarium Sea Wall

Existing Sea Goddess Temple

Sea Goddess Procession

Route of Sea Goddess Procession

Existing Earth God Cemetery

What is Christmas Island?

Since its founding, the far-away Christmas Island has been given many conflicting identities by colonial and post-colonial masters: an island of phosphate mining, of political detention, of untouched natural wonder.

However, Christmas Island is the most famous for one image: the red crab migration. (right) Geographical location of Christmas Island

120 DAYS

Set in the middle of the Indian Ocean along the equator, the climate of the island is split into a dry season, and a wet season, or a crab season. With the first rainfall signalling the wet season, the crabs emerge from the forest to begin their weeks-long migration to the coast, with the entire event taking up 120 days, in which the islanders live alongside these crabs.

In the Forest: Dry Season, Wet Season

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120 DAYS

Within these 120 days, the crabs engage in breeding activities such as replenishing their fluids after the long trek, digging burrows for mating and finally releasing their eggs into the ocean. The gathering of the red bodies forms fantastical images of red crab formations, creating a spectacle that attracts eco-tourists to travel to this remote island.

Crab Migration Rituals

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Spectacle of Crab Formations The gathering of the red bodies forms fantastical images of red crab formations, creating a spectacle that attracts eco-tourists to travel to this remote island.

In the Forest: Dry Season, Wet Season

Crossing the Road

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Spectacle of Crab Formations

Through the town

Along the beach

120 DAYS

Spectacle of Crab Formations

At the coastal blowholes

Along the coastal cliffs

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Unfortunate Crab-Human Encounters However, the islanders live in a discordant, sometimes antagonistic relationship with the migrating crabs, such as by using barriers that crabs eventually breach, resulting in the slow massacre of the endemic population.

“Waking early the next morning (partly due to the toc-toc-toc of wayward crabs crawling up my window), I readied myself...”

“They are on the roads, the beaches, in the forests and even scratching on your front door.”

“On a more local note, I have to dodge crabs every time I park the car and walk up to the house, and in the morning when I wake, there are at least fifty crabs in the backyard and around the washing line area.”

“our aim was to see the crabs and they were all around the lodge and came to visit us on our veranda”

“Stephanie’s family runs sprinklers to give the crabs much-needed water.”

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Unfortunate Crab-Human Encounters

“At lunchtime, the crabs wander among the students’ feet, munch on leftovers, then continue their journey.”

“Lots of crabs around the area during migration season, don’t run them over and look out for them hiding under the bushes, under your tires and in the balcony.”

“...the school grounds, where special crab boards have been installed on doors and windows to stop the crabs scuttling through the classrooms and interrupting lessons.”

“Sometimes, school kids must jump over calf-high barricades to avoid sharing their classroom with their red friends.”

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My house is a physical register of the life within, challenging the norm of a house as a static vessel while the family it contains is constantly changing.

As the family grows up, they no longer spend as much time together: within the house, members carry out similar routines in the same spaces, but at different times of the day. My house attempts to capture the presence of each family member through the introduction of fallen and decaying leaves into the living spaces.

My project taps on the natural processes of leaves (accumulation, decomposition and staining) to articular each family member’s movements and use of spaces within the home, thereby capturing a rhythm of life that changes as the family grows. Through designing the interactions between leaves, architecture and human, the family is able to read and experience the visual and spatial effects their individual lives have on the home, particularly on the communal ‘ground’ floor.

HOUSE OF FALLEN LEAVES

Part A: Investigations of Dirt

Decomposition of leaf on tissue (Stored in a plastic container, watered with compost water)

Decomposition of leaf on garden tile (Stored in a plastic container, watered with compost water)

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HOUSE OF FALLEN LEAVES

Study of the the staining of concrete caused by wet matted leaves (Week 12)

Fallen Leaf - Architecture - Human

My intrigue with decaying leaves began when I noticed how they inhabit our built environment in great abundance, creeping into holes and gaps, climbing levels and gathering on slopes and edges. If uncleared, these leaves would then disappear slowly within our spaces, as they decompose into the stuff of ‘dirt’. The ability of fallen leaves to occupy the built environment in unique ways, and then change in colour, shape and consistency over time (due to the processes of unseen micro-organisms) gives itself spatio-temporal qualities that could be explored. Fallen leaves are also highly sensorial and exist in vibrant variations, creating potential for evocative and beautiful spaces.

Decomposition of leaf on soil (Stored in a plastic container, watered with compost water)

Illustration of the factors of a leaf in a gap in the stair (Week 1)

HOUSE OF FALLEN LEAVES

How leaves gather

How leaves move

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HOUSE OF FALLEN LEAVES

Plan of trees on site

Study of leaves and trees on site

Study of volumes of leaves

HOUSE OF FALLEN LEAVES

Observations of a family growing apart I modelled the family I am designing for based on my own. I noticed that as the children grow up and become more indepedent, the family membes begin to lead increasingly separate lives and spend share less time and space with each other. What this means is that although all members stay in the same house and use the same spaces, their daily cycles do not overlap, and as such these few spaces are not used at the same time.

From my studies of my family, I observed that all members occupy the same few communal spaces (often alone)and spend the most time in their personal spaces (bedrooms).

Family: Daily rhythm (Weekday)

However, once in a while, the family would gather for special events and celebrations, and the remaining spaces that are not frequently used are then activated.

Family: Annual Rhythm

Trees: Annual Rhythm

“How do we fill the gaps in between as they grow in different directions?

How do we rethink the space at home that is often unfilled throughout the day?

How do we emphasis the time and space that overlap?”

- Prompt questions from Week 4

Family: Daily rhythm (Weekday)

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HOUSE OF FALLEN LEAVES

Part B: Translation into Architecture

House of Fallen Leaves My house is a physical register of the life within, challenging the norm of a house as a static vessel while the family it contains is constantly changing. As the family grows up, they no longer spend as much time together: within the house, members all carrying out similar routines in the same spaces, but at different times of the day. My house attempts to capture the presence of each family member through the introduction of fallen and decaying leaves into the living spaces, using the processes of grating, accumulation and staining.

My house is a translation of four main components in my research of leaves:

Movement and gathering of leaves,

Rate of decomposition of leaves,

Study of leaves on site,

Cycles of the family.

Iterations were made in attempt to design the role and (physical) position of the decaying leaf within the living space of this specific family, and the articulation of the relationship between leaves, architecture and human users. The final project is one that enables the family members to attach meaning to the decaying leaves via physical processes carried out on the leaves using architecture, working alongside the natural biological processes of decomposition (grating).

Another approach is to design the architecture so as to create new relationships between humans’ use of space and fallen leaves that create spatial changes (accumulation). Lastly, the house acts as a device that articulates the passing of time by capturing the effects of natural cyclical phenomena (staining), alluding to the cycles of the family.

(Week 2) Mock-up of the relationship between action, leaves and architecture

(Week 3) Measuring the time spent in different spaces

(Week 3) Visualising the voids between the solids

(Week 2) Mock-up of the accumulation of leaves Iteration 1, Short Section (Week 8) Concept models (Weeks 2 and 3)

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Iterations

Final model

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HOUSE OF FALLEN LEAVES

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Legend Communal Level Neutral State First Floor Plan

1- banquet space 2 - dining space 3 - central kitchen

4 - back kitchen 5 - bbq space 6 - laundry space

7 - study space 8 - theatre space 9 - chilling space

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HOUSE OF FALLEN LEAVES

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Legend 10 - daughter’s room 11 - son’s room

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Private Level Neutral State Second Floor Plan

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Legend 12

12 - parents’ room 13 - grandma’s room 14 - balcony

Private Level Neutral State Third Floor Plan 0

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HOUSE OF FALLEN LEAVES

Grating:

Accumulation:

This process hinges on the observation that the amount of time each person spends at home changes as they enter new phases of their lives.

As each member utilises their private spaces, whole leaves are grated and fall onto the earth below, contrasting with the whole leaves

My house captures three states: the Everyday, the Celebratory and the Dormant through the accumulation of leaves. Spaces that are commonly used are elevated and clear of leaves, joined by pathways that have been formed through the repetitive act of walking. When the family gathers for special celebrations or family dinners, spaces that usually lie dormant are activated and cleaned, leaving imprints of the wet leaves on the decks.

When the family goes abroad, these leaves accumulate and causes the house to shrink.

The more time a person spends at home, the larger their pile of grated leaves is. Hence, at one moment in time, the house measures the amount of time each person spends at home relative to each other by comparing everyone’s pile. However, when the ground-scape changes (due to a change in size of grated leaf pile), the house captures a shift in the life of a member.

Staining: The house ages over time, its surfaces stained as rainwater and leaves interact with each other. While the exterior of the house is unstained, the interior surfaces are washed with matted leaves and natural pigment.

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Mechanism of Leaves Long Section

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LOST IN FURNITURE-SCAPE

Lost in Furniture-scape

The Hunt for Secondhand Furniture A secondhand furniture shop is like a theatre set, where shoppers hunt amongst the landscape of bulky treasures, for the one piece that completes their home, by the image or narratives it conjures. But... it isn’t very efficient for a business.

how do we capture the thrill of hunting for secondhand furniture, but yet operate in a smooth and efficient way? by moving furniture in the three coordinates.

Instead of lining up furniture on a single plane, place them on mobile platforms and lower them into the retail space, Hovering above is a large machine of hoists, from which furniture enters and exits the stage.

Upon entry, shoppers are greeted by a cloud of platforms, their potential booty peeking through.

Outside, people gather in the central boulevard that is flanked by a workshop and outdoor seating, watching the lifts carry the furniture up and down, into the service basement below.

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The Hunt

The Cloud of Platforms

(Left) Concept Collages (Right) Exploded isonometric

The Layers

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LOST IN FURNITURE-SCAPE

LORRY LIFT

CARGO LIFT PENDING ROOM

SORTING ROOM SERVICE WORKSHOP

CARGO LIFT

Basement Plan

CARGO LIFT

ASCENT

INFO DESK FURNITURE-SCAPE

DESCENT CARGO LIFT

Second Floor Plan (Retail Space)

LOST IN FURNITURE-SCAPE

LORRY LIFT

ASCENT

ENTRANCE

ATRIUM

OUTDOOR DECK

LIFT

CARGO LIFT

COURTYARD

CAFE

OUTDOOR DECK PUBLIC WORKSHOP

CARGO LIFT

First Floor Plan

CARGO LIFT OUTPUT LANE

ADMIN OFFICE

SERVICE LAYER

INPUT LANE CARGO LIFT

Third Floor Plan (Service Layer)

CUSTOMER CARPARK

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SERVICE LAYER

FURNITURE-SCAPE RETAIL SPACE

PUBLIC WORKSHOP

ATRIUM

COURTYARD

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CARPARK

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LOST IN FURNITURE-SCAPE

LOST IN FURNITURE-SCAPE

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WAVES: I LIGHT SINGAPORE

Waves i Light @ Marina 2017

Conceptual Drawings

A project that began as a Year 1 assignment exploring the tropical skin led to the opportunity to construct our design in 1:1 scale.

We were involved from ideation till execution, liaising with contractors, lighting consultants, sponsors and event curators under our tutor’s guidance. The crowdfunded project was on display at i Light @ Marina Bay in March 2017.

Team members: Emma Lay, Neo Ying Shan, Tan Xuan Contractor: Altitude Construction & Trading Co. Pte. Ltd. Lighting Consultants: BizLink Associates Marketing Team: Jason Shenn Cheong and Lai Yann Ting Tutors: Tomohisa Miyauchi and Stacey Cheang

Models

East Side Facing the gentle morning sun

Elevation A Main Entrance Balance of sunlight and wind

Main Ventilation Parallel to dominant wind direction along the N-S axis

Elevation B West End Facing the harsh afternoon sun

Construction Sketches

Fabric to structure connection detail

Foundation

Light fixture details

WAVES: I LIGHT SINGAPORE

“A little chapel”

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I LIGHT SINGAPORE 2016

Parabolic shell

I LIGHT SINGAPORE 2016

Facing the view of Marina Bay

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Enhancing Exchange, Facilitating Education, Fostering A New Vernacular.

Designing Resilience in Asia: Pendopo

The brief called for a design intervention in the coastal city of Semarang, Indonesia, an area prone to diurnal floods and drought. I assisted with site study, flying down to Semarang with them, ideation, execution and presentation.

The scheme aims to strengthen both physical and social resilience of the villages. The entry won in the ‘Architecture’ category, with the prize money funding the prototype built onsite.

Team members: Kevin Chandra, Jason Shenn Cheong, Nijel Hong, Rahmat Khaizarudin, Timothy Ou, Emma Lau, Goi Yong Chern, Anthea Phua Professor-in-charge: Junko Tamura

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The proposed design is a modular construction system that considered costs, material availability and the way of living of the people there. The system can be built up in two ways based on the socio-economic situation of the resident.

The blue network running through villages was tapped on, by using freshwater landscape to act as a visual indicator of incoming seawater floods.

Facing the view of Marina Bay

Facing the view of Marina Bay

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DESIGNING RESILIENCE IN ASIA: PENDOPO

The project introduced a pile foundation system in lieu of the commonplace reinforced concrete slab, in attempt to combat sinking of the buildings due to subsidence.

DESIGNING RESILIENCE IN ASIA: PENDOPO

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Majority of the labour was villagers, volunteering in the spirit of gotong royong, an Indonesian phrase meaning “mutual aid”. This resulted in periods of high and low construction activity.

This allowed us with our little construction experience to learn and assist on-site.

Once the key new knowledge (the foundation system) was transferred and constructed, the villagers completed the project with local materials and techniques to finish their pendopo.

Local craftsman provided the woven screens, while saltwater resistant plants were provided to grow amongst the community steps.

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The Soanean Abstraction of Neo-Classical Architecture Multiple Interpretations of Antiquity

The Soanean Abstraction of Neo-Classical Architecture is a two-part investigation into the historical mutation of Classical architecture and English architect’s Sir John Soane’s treatment of the style in his house-museum at 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields in London.

In the first half, I examine how the form and principles of classical architecture transformed from Antiquity to 18th century England as a political, moral and aesthetic tool. Having identified the methods of designing and interpreting Classical architecture, in the second half I study how Soane subverted these norms by abstracting Classical architecture through fragments and new compositions. By positioning Soane’s house and design methods as part of the genealogy of Classical architecture, the research provides richer interpretation of his house as both aligning with and defying the design conventions of his time, thereby exhibiting both classical and modern design sensibilities.

In response to this research, an art installation titled fragmentation and recomposition was designed for the National Gallery Singapore.

This research was done as an assignment for the module “Narrative, Montage and Multiple Interpretations” conducted by visiting Prof. Constance Lau from University of Westminster. The research period was preceded by an 8-days intensive workshop in London.

You may read the full work at https://tinyurl.com/thesoaneanabst

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Archive of images of my “Grand Tour” through London in summer 2019, exhibiting the modifications of elevations over time (Source: Author’s own)

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EMMA LAU SI YING: PORTFOLIO

A Collage and Dissection of architecture from Antiquity

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EMMA LAU SI YING: PORTFOLIO

EMMA LAU SI YING: PORTFOLIO

Multiple Interpretations of the Corinthian Column

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EMMA LAU SI YING: PORTFOLIO

The low ceiling of the Coleman Street Entrance amplifies the grandeur of the fragments displayed in the fairly narrow and high courtyard. The viewers may not realise that the facade of the building they are in has been erased, and would interact with the objects before realising that it has been ‘displaced’ from its original source.

EMMA LAU SI YING: PORTFOLIO

The installation recognises Singapore’s neo-classical colonial architecture as a generation in the ‘genealogy’ of architecture from antiquity, specifically an offspring of English Neo-classicism. The English once again attempt to construct a version of colonial reality via their architecture by organising the padang in Singapore as a ‘town square’, lined with cvic buildings built in their interpretation of classical architecture. At the time, this grand architecture fronted the Singapore shoreline to greet incoming trading ships.

My installation proposes to cover the entire facade of the Former Supreme Court building with white panels on the stone facade, and the prominent Corinthian columns with a gold steel, referencing the tree-like column addition to the two colonial buildings in their transformation to National Gallery Singapore (NGS).

The classical architectural elements of the facade will be plastercasted and made into fragments, similar to the ones displayed in Sir John Soane’s Museum. The plaster casts will then be displayed in the UOB City Hall Courtyard, an interior courtyard space that used to be open to air. This space is chosen as the white plain structure best mimics the rhythm of the main facade. Upon display of the plaster casts, two things occur: the interiorisation of the external facade into an inward-looking interior surface, and the fragmentation and re-composition of the Neo-classical facade.

The architectural fragments will be displayed on the columns and beams of the interior courtyard, intermingled with plaster casts of the archaeological fragments found during the excavation of the site of NGS.

The scale of the column capitals often surprise viewers when brought into close proximity, as they are often viewed from a distance. The opportunity to interact with the fragments in real scale provides a new tactile sensation.

Following the Soanean method of abstraction, my installation displays the fragments as separate artefacts, not recognising them as parts of wholes, but wholes in themselves.

Fragments are arranged to allude to the Corinthian columns on the original facade of Former City Hall, placed only at the top half of the structure.

Similar to Soane’s curation, related fragments will not be placed together.

This will give viewers the chance to consider the artefact as object, before understanding what it is and where it came from.

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EMMA LAU SI YING: PORTFOLIO

EMMA LAU SI YING: PORTFOLIO

The Continued Genealogy of Neo-Classical Architecture in Colonial Singapore: A Dissection of the Former Supreme Court Building and City Hall.

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PLYWOOD SURFACE

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WIRES IN TENSION hold the upper and lower frames in equilibrium, by holding the upper frame up. The wires are pulled further in tension when the chair is sat on.

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COMPRESSION BAR provides a limit to the rotation of the seat by acting as a compressive member that rests on the lower frames.

PIVOT is the member around which the upper frames rotate, and the member that holds all the frames together in compression.

Dymaxion House by R. Buckminster Fuller is fundamentally a system of lightweight compressive elements, bound in a web of tensile elements to hold the entire structure in equilibrium.

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ACTIVE FORCES Half Moon Chair employs the same system of structural frame and nonstructural surface - the seat, to make the chair functional.

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HALF MOON CHAIR The Half Moon Chair is the representation of halves, the dichotomies within which equilibrium must be achieved so that the world at large may function. The chair exhibits the necessary balances between tensile - compressive, line - surface, before after,

DETAILED SECTION

so that the chair as a whole may be structurally and ergonomically logical.

DETAILED SECTION

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Non-structural surfaces such as the walls and roof are attached to make the house into a living machine.

HALF MOON CHAIR

1:3 Model One of the tasks in the assignment was to construct a realistic model of the chair in 1:3 scale.

EMMA LAU SI YING: PORTFOLIO

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