Washington University in St Louis 2011-2013 DNC Architects, Inc. 2008-2009 University of Maryland 2006-2008
ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO John Song
Recycling Consumption | Fall 2013 CORE House - Affordable Housing | Fall 2012 Wetlands: an Organic Economy | Spring 2012 Living With A Horizon | Fall 2011 Graduate
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7700 Old Georgetown Rd. | Summer 2010 DNC Architects
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The Mediatheque | Spring 2008 Desert House | Spring 2007 Undergraduate
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Sketches Photography 1
Recycling Consumption | Fall 2013 CORE House - Affordable Housing | Fall 2012 Wetlands: an Organic Economy | Spring 2012 Living With A Horizon | Fall 2011 Graduate
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7700 Old Georgetown Rd. | Summer 2010 DNC Architects
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The Mediatheque | Spring 2008 Desert House | Spring 2007 Undergraduate
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Sketches Photography 1
Recycling Consumption Degree Project | Fall 2013
Materials Sorting Area 2
Crestwood Courts is currently an empty mall in the city of Crestwood, MO, a historic suburb of St. Louis County. As shopping centers have defined our consumer culture, there must be a new identity to the sustainability era that is upon us. The objective is to reuse the mall’s 1 million square feet of wasted space by turning it into a Materials Reclamation Research Center for St Louis. The functional spaces of recycling are integrated with the city by integrating materials processing, public viewing areas, research labs, and landscape. When these disparate processes function as a mutual system, they become a community, and less about commodity.
Storage Corridor 3
Site Strategy Models
PERMEATE
LIFT
GRAVITATE
FRAME
TRAIL 4
Contextual Aerial
Subtraction
Program Insertion
Landscape Integration
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Visitor’s Area
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Recycling
Learning
Study models
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Cross Section Through Recycling Process
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Longitudinal Section Through Storage Corridor & Recycling Center
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stl PLACE east Affordable Housing Studio Pt. 1 | Fall 2012
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Credits: Prof. Don Koster, JEMA Architects, and the studio team Fall 2012
PREMISE
1907
1950
2012
North St. Louis is an area of the city ~2 miles from downtown that once embodied values of community and neighbors. Declining population, demolition, and disinvestment created an urban desert of abandoned buildings and empty parcels. This cheap land was bought by McEagle Development, who is currently convincing the Supreme Court to approve $4 billion in TIF funding for the design of a new neighborhood in North St. Louis.
PROPOSAL Great homes begin with great neighborhoods. St. Louis Place takes advantage of numerous existing infrastructural assets with an opportunity to grow into a transit hub for the community in the near future. This transit-oriented growth promotes both the local community and its connectivity to the city. Our proposal embraces this potential by defining what makes a great neighborhood, starting with the street. Street improvements are integrated with the concept of low-impact design. This sensitivity to the site is what ultimately gives value to the people living in the community.
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St. Louis Assets Mapping
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Chamben Road
Lambart International Airport Northland Jennings Station
UMSL Riverview I-70
I-70 Union Kingshighway Newstead Fair Avenue Grand Parnell N. Florissant
WASHU
Forest park
14th Street
SLU
st.lous station
I-44
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St. Louis Regional Infrastructure 13
CORE House Affordable Housing Studio Pt. 2 | Fall 2012 The CORE House has three goals: multi generational living, flexibility, and fostering porch conversations. The porch opens up to its neighbors, and functions as an “outside room�. Variations of the facades depend on the lot widths, corner lots, and siding material. 14
typ. 24’ parcel
stacked service spaces to create flexible plan
winter sun
BACK
-stairwell lit from above -access to loft
intersecting volumes porch an essential part of home
winter sun
FRONT
FRONT
BACK
Typical Neighborhood Site Plan + Section
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Heat Island Reduction -high albedo built-up roof -drains to rain gardens on site
Brick Cladding -characteristic of St. Louis Natural Ventilation -hopper windows along clerestory window Sheltered Porch -protects from rain -light-shelf for loft
Detail Wall Section 16
Street Elevation
With a modest budget, every square ft must have an intention. A simple box volume with a central service core frees the perimeter for spacious living spaces. A skylight monitor washes the side of the core with natural light, which illuminates the double-storey living space. Due to real budget constraints, the floor area is maximized for adaptability. The simple rooms can be retrofitted to provide for Living-in-Place.
Second Floor Plan
Ground Floor Plan
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goals
1: Multi-generational living -flexible plan -poche space turned inward 2: Security -eyes on the street -porch as buffer 3: Sense of community -porch as meeting place -extension of interior
Process Porch Model
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Top: Massing + Light Studies Bottom: Interior Concepts
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Wetlands: an Organic Economy St. Bernard Parish Wetlands Studio | Spring 2012 Tucked in one of the most remote corners of the US is St. Bernard Parish, just east of New Orleans. The parish is the site for the Army Core of Engineer’s 140 linear miles of surge protection system that bears the full impact of hurricanes before it reaches New Orleans. 13-foot concrete walls surround the parish, having detrimental effects on the already fragile ecology and economy of the parish. To empower the sparse population of St. Bernard to regain a sense of understanding of their place, this project reconnects them with the natural and artificial infrastructures that has shaped their lands by adding a third infrastructure: recreation.
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Bike Trail & Observation Deck
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Structure Lightweight Concrete Structural Deck
Ground Surface -Marketplace -Dock -Bike Trail -EcoTourism
Existing Sector Gate -New Gate: +31 ft -Old Gate: +18 ft
Tidal Salt Vegetation
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Landscape Strategy
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This project reclaims Lake Borgne by burying the surge wall with dredge collected from the Mississippi River, and regenerating the coastline into a Tidal Salt Marsh ecology, which naturally combats storm surges. Program: The project reconnects people to this foreign landscape via a proposed 15-mile bike trail that runs above and parallel to the wall. The primary focus location is at the Bayou Dupre floodgate. There, the bike trail transforms into a eco-tourist friendly park. The floodgates also allow for maritime access for fishermen who depend on Lake Borgne for income. New boat docks allow the fishermen to establish markets at the base of the park. Two more locations for floodgates with similar programs are added to the bike route.
Left: Experiential concepts of the bike trail and eco-tourist park. Right: Final Model shown at the intersection of water, wall, biking, park, and wetlands 27
Design: Instead of denying the landscape, the architecture conforms to the topography, requiring visitors to negotiate the sectional quality of the spaces. Spaces are carved, retained, concentrated, and diffused, unifying architectural and landscape elements into one experience.
Process Models and Montages 28
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Living With A Horizon Graduate Housing Core Studio | Fall 2011
DOWNTOWN ST. LOUIS
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Uninterupted Horizon
PRIVATE
existing 9 storeys
existing 9 storeys
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
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Raised Balcony
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PUBLIC
Extend Balcony Raised Floor
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
No Privacy
Front Porch
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existing 9 storeys
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODU
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PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
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Residents (10-17)
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
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TIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
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existing 9 storeys
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
Horizon Bar (9) Guest Units (6-8)
Public Park (2-5)
Ground Retail
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The premise for my urban housing design is the Midwest’s uniquely flat terrain, which served as the region’s farming industry. Situated in downtown St. Louis, people forget that the city was built on such a landscape. My project reconnects its tenants with the Horizon. By lifting the apartments above the skyline, residents can obtain an intimate relationship with the sky via panoramic views towards the flatness that surrounds the city. The terracing of my apartments reflects this horizontality. In addition, a mid-way rooftop bar, hotels, and a multi-level urban park reconnects the residents to the broader community.
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Pinwheel Clusters to vary each floor
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T DN
Typical Residential Floor
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT
Interiors, Framing Views
DN
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7700 Old Georgetown Rd. Client: B.F. Saul | Building Renovation | DNC Architects | Summer 2010
In an effort to attract more GSA tenants, the client asked DNC to renovate an 8-storey office building on a limited budget and schedule. Our concept changes the character of the building by focusing the budget on key areas: Redefining the Northeast corner, redesigning the main lobby, and upgrading mechanical units. I was responsible for the design of the new curtain wall that would replace the building’s brick corner, which would become the new entrance. The concept of the lobby welcomes users through a gallery type space. The clean and light-colored finish materials add to the openness of the lobby, welcoming people towards the elevators.
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Top: The budget is focused on the prominent corner of the building, while providing upgraded amenities like higher ceilings and low-E glazing.
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Right: A translucent backlit wall is one of the features of the lobby. Project Architect: Jef Fuller, AIA; Project Designer: Tony Than
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The Mediateque Civic Promenade | Spring 2008 In the digital era, the function of the public library has progressed from being a repository of books into a forum for rapid communication of information, exchanges of ideas, and education - the mediateque. The image of a library may now include computer labs, classrooms, local art galleries, and even the bustling coffee shop, all serving as amenities to its book collection. How peoples’ experience change as they move through these spaces is the focus of this project. This project proposes a modern library in the Chinatown of DC. A curtain wall of glass is the building’s main exterior feature, welcoming visitors from the busy street into the lobby atrium. A sequence of stairs in the atrium weave through a curved porous screen, changing the visitors’ experience between public and private. Sectionally, the curved element is extended into the stacks and reading rooms on the upper floors, naturally lighting the space while providing panoramic views of the city.
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con tro
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Reading Room
Views
Vertical Circulation
Sun
Public
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FL. 1 Atrium Lobby
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FL. 3 Library
FL. 6 Reading Room
FL. 7 Rare Books
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Left:
Experiences change depending on the side of the screen wall.
Below: Vertical circulation is influenced by the spaces they serve.
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Climate Response 20 +10 Desert House | Spring 2007 This project combines lessons of sustainable design and contextual living. Sited in Tucson, AR, the climate creates an environment that demands the house to adapt to hot days and cool nights. A load bearing adobe & brick construction offers beneficial thermal properties. Oriented south-southeast to capitalize on the southern solar gain, its southern face is mostly left opaque. On the contrary, glazing on the north face provides the living spaces within mild natural daylight.
Program EXTERIOR PATIO LIVING ROOM
ENTRANCE COURTYARD LANDING
PRIVATE SPACE
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ND
GROU
Design One 20-foot cube and one 10-foot cube are partially sunken into the ground, using the earth as a natural heatsink. Connecting the two volumes is an open-air court that sectionally mediates between the public/private zones of the house. The porosity of the space also provides cross and stack ventilation through the house.
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Northern Light Well
East Elevation 44
South Elevation
Cross & Stack Ventilation
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Select Sketches “From the eye to the mind, and mind to hand�
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Photography Capturing great spaces around the world
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