JOHN T. NGUYEN
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
PORT
SELECTED WORKS 2014 - 2018
About My name is John. This collection of works is progress statement of my educational journey in landscape architecture. These works highlight comprehensive understanding of the cultural and physical processes that shape environments and envision creative design solutions that realize the complexities of the modern landscape.
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LYRICAL
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RSABG Tongva Planting Design (pg. 03)
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THE i Rethinking the bench (pg. 11)
BARRIO Science Corridor Development Without Displacement (pg. 07)
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MEMORIES UNDER China/Japan Study Abroad - Summer 2017 (pg. 13)
L Y R I CA L NARRAT I V E
Group members : Gilbert Perez | Tatsuyuki S. Winter 2017
The Tongva Native Indian, also known as “The People of the Earth”, is one of the first tribes to inhabit the Los Angels Basin and the Southern Channel Islands more than 10,000 years. Our goal for this design is to create educational and immersive experience for all of our guests at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden (RSABG). Our design is inspired by lyrical storytelling of the Tongva people via music, and mythical storytelling via art installation of an artist. The experience begins at the Southeast entrance of the village. You will be greeted by the blooming yellow of the bladder pod plants, following by the exotic fragrance of the white sage, and last but not least the feeling of protective and homey portray by the tall beautiful blue elderberry trees. Along the pathway, you will find hidden gems that will tell Tongva tales. The storytelling pathways will guarantee create a fun and interacting experience for both the child and parents. The expansion of our project site allows us to relocate and design a new conference center for the staffs, a nice outdoor amphitheater, and a bigger scale of the Tongva village. With the new design concept, we have successfully created more open space and interactive circulations for our guests.
n.t.s
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A-he Ya A-he Ya i-ha-yo-e-e-i-ya i-ha-yo-e-e-i-ya i-ha-yo-e-e-i-ya i-ha-yo-e-e-i-ya [ Heya , welcome ]
Repeat
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[ hey ... welcome ... ya] [ hey ... welcome ... ya] [ hey ... welcome ... ya] [ hey ... welcome ... ya]
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DIAGRAM A : Music Score & Topography
DIAGRAM B : Dance Movement + Circulation
Analyzing the tone of Tongva music, “Welcome Song.” After figuring out the musical pattern, horizontally apply it to the landscape as if a musical note. We translated the musical pattern into topography on flat existing site by using Rhino. After creating 3D model, we have fused onto existing topography on the site.
Since water is a significant element for Tongva Village, we picked up the Tongva music of “Water.” This time we analyzed dance movements of the music. As a first step, symbolize the dance movements in order to represent it abstractly. Then we applied the movements into our landscape circulation.
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Existing Building
Existing Building
Existing Building Restroom Hidden Gem
Conference Center
Landscape Site Plan n.t.s
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DIAGRAM C : Planting Zone
~ Blue Elderberry ~
Schematic Planting Plan n.t.s
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~ CA. Black Walnut ~
~ White Sage ~
~ Bladderpod ~
~ Date Palm ~
~ Toyon ~
~ Holly Leaf Cherry ~
~ Our Lord’s Candle ~
~ Mesquite ~
~ Weeping Willow ~
~ Tanbark Oak ~
~ Pinyon Pine ~
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> El Sereno, located 6 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles, is a predominantly working class Latino neighborhood currently experiencing shifts in its social and communal fabric. Many of the community’s older buildings and infrastructure have recently been proposed for redevelopment through means of a bioscience corridor, and opportunities for public engagement have presented themselves at a crucial stage in the future growth of El Sereno. > I have spent one whole quarter analyzing the corridor’s waste conditions how it has become a huge environmental problem that affect the air, soil, and groundwater of the community. I was able to map out the existing and active recycling centers on the site to propose a new network self-sustainable recycle centers that use waste to do more than just recycle but also producing clean eco-fuel.
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> On a Saturday morning of April 07, 2018, our studio with a huge collaboration of EastsideLEADS host a small community workshop at a local coffeshop right on the corridor to introduce ourselves and share our vision statements of the great potentials opportunities the biohub corridor can offer to the people of El Sereno. > The first exercise was using toys and everyday items to let everybody reconstruct their most memoriable childhood story. [Top left image above] For example, my childhood growing as a 8 years-old boy was just always on my bike exploring the best alleyways around my neighborhood for the best hide-and-seek spots.
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> The second exercise was engaging with the community based on each group’s interest and vision statement. My group used a large scale map, overlay on top was a piece of tissue paper with markers and sticky notes to mentally and visually get the locals’ inputs. From all that data, my group and I take them back into our studio to come up with the proper design. My top three feedbacks from the community are the lack of street trash bins, more waste management education, and more community workshops on recyclable trash that can turn into arts & crafts projects.
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Sketch (left) - Tiananmen Square /天安门广场/ Sketch (bottom) - The Great Wall /长城/
These narrow alleys or /Hútòng/ 胡同 are no more than 5 ft. wide. These hutongs are now historical imprints of how traditional Chinese housing and small town layouts. They might be small and narrow but they carried a great and long antiquity. Making someplace out of no space - The residents/vendors turning their /Hútòng/ into their own store front selling from clothes to food goods. The struggle is the mother of innovation.
Within 500 ft radius of our project Hutong alley, my fellow classmate, Tab, and I went around and collect data on different plant species to study the soil condition, plant family, planting culture of the community, and shade area percentage of the area. I photographed my hand next to the winter melon leaf (above) to record the alley condition inventory to provide a sense of texture, scale, and context. The sofeness of my palm and the leaf can give a sense of how smooth it might be. The veins on my palm and the veins on the leaf also create a relationship between we human have with plants and nature. 14
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With the lack of outdoor space in the Hutongs, the residences have to make the alleyway their own backyard. All it takes is a couple chairs and a table to either drink tea or play chess together is what they do usually do to pass the day. While others took iniative to build their own little homey pergolas of winter melon(top left corner) out of scrap wood. There is still an absense of community ownership and expression of building a greener alleyway. One of our design interventions was to repurpose the existing community center into a community lathe garden that can be open up to have indoor and outdoor interactions. This will allow other activities to take place, such as: farmer market, art and craft workshops, gardening classes, etc. It will be a safe and happy place for the community not only to socialize but also share their knowledge on planting with one another.
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Updated April 2018
714.820.3033 johntnguyen1 @ cpp.edu