PHUONG TRAN Selected Works
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S Ye a r 2 0 1 6 - Ye a r 2 0 2 0 G e o r g i a I n s t i t u t e o f Te c h n o l o g y
ACADEMIC Machination ...................................... Diluvian ........................................... Immersion ......................................... Unity................................................
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D I G I TA L F A B R I C AT I O N Wire-Bending Craft ............................. 59 Dawn and Dusk .................................. 69
ACADEMIC 1 s t Ye a r - 4 t h Ye a r
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Machination Lightweight Structure | Spring 2020 Studio Montgomery, Alabama Professor Vernelle Noel With Architecture Students:Tia Calhoun, Morgan Lee, and Montana Ray And With Digital Media Students: Daniel Phelps and Morgan Chin
The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, located in Montgomery, Alabama, is one of the first memorials in the United States to acknowledge and begin a conversation around the racial lynchings that terrorized African Americans in the United States between the late 1800s and the early 1900s. It is a memorial dedicated to the legacy of enslaved African Americans, people terrorized by lynchings, and begins to spark the conversation into present day assumptions and police violence. The memorial is categorized into four divisions. The first division is the “initial journey”, where visitors are introduced into the background of slavery and the trans-Atlantic Slave trade. The second division is the main memorial, where visitors are surrounded by corten steel “markers” and listings of state counties and the number of lynchings within them. The third division is the “graveyard of unclaim monuments”, where replicas of the steel markers are waiting for state counties to claim them. The fourth division is the burial mound that represents the buried spirits of the victims and where our design is situated. The pavilion documents the creation of a self-sustaining machine. Utilizing a series of parameters and computational design techniques, we experimented with different facets of machines that can be divided into a multitude of categories. Our machine exists as a spatial framework that transforms textiles into multiple dimensions. Built in the center of the site, on a burial mound that captures the grandeur of the spaces the terror lynchings were executed in, our pavilion builds upon the memorial’s narrative by introducing visitors to the experiences of one specific narrative, the story of Jesse Washington.
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Machination
Machine Experiment Models
grid machine with fabric and strings
grid machine with woven strings
stretch machine for one fabric
stretch machine for multiple fabrics
interior wire framing
exterior wire framing
moving grid machine
frozen fabric formed from machine
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Machination
Machine Experiment Models
fabric stretching to connect with other fabric and other frames We experimented with many different types of machine, ranging from grid structures, wire frames, and compression machines. These experimentations were used to understand our materials and its construction while also exploring different machine construction.
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Machination
Wired Models Studies
Iterated Models Our team constructed wired models to study different configurations of tensile fabric to reveal the possibile frameworks for these fabrics.
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Machination
Digital Model Studies
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Iterated Digital Models These are selected works of our digital models in which we study the different parameters of tensile structures. We further applied these logics to the existing grid structure of our site.
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Machination
Overall Site Plan
A. Victims’ Stories
B
C
B. Hanging Memorial A
C. Burial Mound D
D. Graveyard Site
1. AR Visualization With Phone | Visitors learn of Jesse Washington’s background before his premature death.
2. Struggling Fabric | Struggling through the fabric is a symbol of Jesse Washington’s struggle before his lynching.
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Machination
Focused Site Plan
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3. White Noise Audio System | Visitors struggle through the fabric and hear the ferocious voices of the crowd.
4. AR Viewport | Visitors look into the viewport device to watch a documentary that shows Jesse Washington’s life.
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Thousands of African Americans are unknown victims of racial terror lynchings, whose deaths cannot be documented, many whose names will never be known. They are honored in this memorial. Today, Jesse Washington is honored through the makings of this project.
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Scan to see our project in the perspective of a user.
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Diluvian Landscape Design | Fall 2019 G e o r g i a I n s t i t u t e o f Te c h n o l o g y C a m p u s Professor Sabir Khan
“Diluvian” is a shrine for the Georgia Institute of Technology’s vehicular mascot, the Ramblin’ Wreck. The car’s history dates back to 1914 with Dean Floyd Field as the original owner. Over the years, the Ramblin’ Wreck has become a mascot for the student body, operating at sport events and student body functions. The word, diluvian, stems from the biblical reference for “flood” in the Book of Genesis. According the biblical story, God saw that the earth was corrupt and filled with violence, and thus he created a flood to reverse its creation. God instructed Noah to build an ark in which he, his sons, and their wives, together with male and female of all living creatures, would be saved from the waters. Viewing the the car as a political, social, and historical figure, “Diluvian” is a project that addresses the larger scale issue of the campus while also addressing the smaller scale issue of the Ramblin’ Wreck. “Diluvian” is a landscape project that erases the chaos of the campus’ current state and replaces the chaos with a recreational plaza. The plaza has a antediluvian (before flood) and postdiluvian (after-flood) states. It becomes a hard scape at certain moments and it becomes a water scape at other moments. “Diluvian” is also a structural project in creating an amphibious shrine, an ark, for the Ramblin’ Wreck as it floats and walks on water during the postdiluvian state. “Diluvian” serves to commemorate the Ramblin’ Wreck as integral tradition to Georgia Tech and serves to what Georgia Tech, as a developing sustainable campus, in the future.
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Diluvian
Ark Genealogy
Historically, cars have been venerated on displays since their inceptions. The design recognizes the need for the Ramblin’ Wreck to become a living symbol and a monument for the past. It reminds us of Georgia Tech’s long burdensome history while also play into question what the future of the campus will be.
Noah’s Ark was a vessel in the Genesis flood and it is synonymous to a haven and a protection. Through placing the car inside a floating ark-like structure, the car becomes an isolated entity infused with political and historical power. It becomes a living symbol for the school’s future and past as it merges history with advanced technology. It becomes a deity walking on water.
Inspired from Camera Catamarametrica, the structure is a floating structure. It can survive the future turbulences of climate change while also preserving a historic artifact..
Water is associated with the Bible but also as a protective element in architecture. Moats create surfaces for display but also isolating the subject from the common ground. Thus, it raises the status symbol of the subject.
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Diluvian
Ramblin’ Wreck’s History
Mini 500 Tricycle Race & Freshmen Cake Race
Homecoming Football Game & Wreck Parade
President’s Graduation Celebration
January December
February son ea all S Softb
March
son ll Sea Basketba
November
September
August
April
Foo tba ll Sea
October
son
Yearly Cycle of Ramblin’ Wreck
Georgia Institute of Technology’s mascot car is a 1930 Ford Model A sport coupe, the Ramblin’ Wreck. The car stems from Tech’s student body’s love for mechanical repairs. Dean Floyd Wright owned the original Ramblin’ Wreck, and he established many Wreck traditions. Today, the Ramblin’ Wreck participates in many Georgia Institute of Technology’s events, parades, and ceremonies. It is an emblem of the student body.
May
June July
Earth Day
Spring Game
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When the Whistle Blows
Diluvian
Pontoon Design
SAILS
RAMBLIN’ WRECK
ROTATING WOOD PLATFORMS
Diluvian
Pontoon Design
WOOD COLUMNS
13’-8” X 12’-8” WOOD DECK
ROTATING WOOD PLATFORMS
FLOATING TANKS
The pontoon will be made from recycled materials. When the Ramblin’ Wreck must attend its campus events, the platforms allow for the car to leave the pontoon. When the car is in the pontoon, the platforms move upward, sealing the pontoon. The sails allow the car float and meander during large storms and inevitable climate changes.
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Diluvian
The Flood Genealogy
At Georgia Institute of Technology, there lies a chaotic junction in which moving vehicles collide with pedestrians. Recognizing the loss of social organization, the project calls for a shared space that invites diverse modes of transportation and diverse groups of people. Thus, the design unites cars, bikes, scooters, buses, trucks, and pedestrians.
Alongside the junction is a resting place for food trucks. Pedestrians line the streets in front of these trucks. Thus, the junction not only serves as a place for passerbys, but also for people who need to rest and stand for buses and for food trucks.
Adjacent to the junction is a row of eight oak trees and a pathway running alongside. The scenic moment crafts a picturesque cadence with nature. However, the trees and route are muddled because of the chaos of the junction.
A large part of the current site is in excavation. Thus, the site is largely unusable. The future of the site is unknown. After the closing of two prominent streets that ran through the campus, the site is now, predominantly, a disordered junction with many activities happening at once.
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Diluvian
Campus’ Current State
1892-Early 1900s River Georgia Tech was originally constructed on Tanyard Creek. The creek is now buried, and thus losing a piece of history. An integral piece of the creek resided at the site, by creating a pond at the site, the design asknowledges Georgia Tech’s past connection with water.
Tech Square
Eco-Commons Georgia Tech’s Eco-Commons is the future of the campus. It involves the creation of green spaces across campus (shown above). The design acknowledges Georgia Tech’s want for more green space that integrates the public and reduce erosion.
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Diluvian
Old State
Grass Areas remain largely unused with many students and other pedestrians using these areas as pathways.
Food Trucks cause heavy traffic at this pathway as many students try to dodge the massive lines or wait for long periods of time.
Carpool Area has heavy traffic issues. Many students wait here for buses and for pickups.
Loading Dock has many trucks entering and exiting. This further blocks traffic.
Current State This chaotic junction is often lined with many people and vehicles. Incoming traffic comes into conflict with pedestrians when they cross the street, unwittingly to the vehicles’ drivers. The layout of the junction also disrupts the grid of the campus and is a sore thumb for the site. The site also collects water due to the various elevations which creates surface water erosion on impervious surfaces.
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Diluvian
Old State
Grass Areas remain largely unused.This region does not abide to the current grid of the campus.
Parking Region is where many cars park along the curb. This blocks incoming traffic.
Congested Region is where many students are unaware of incoming traffic. Risks of car accidents are the highest in this region.
The site is included in Georgia Tech’s future eco-commons plans to increase green space usage for public recreations and for creating an eco-friendly environment. Currently, the public does not use the space other than to travel from one place to another. The design incorporates an effective usage for the site that involves creating a waterscape, urbanscape, and for displaying the Ramblin’ Wreck.
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Diluvian
New State
Ramblin’ Wreck Floating On Pontoon is a symbol for Georgia Tech’s future, present, and past. Urbanscape and Waterscape Postdiluvian state allows for the plaza to function as a waterscape and allows for pontoon to float. Antediluvian state plaza operates as an urbanscape.
Vehicle Hot Spot The site welcomes any vehicles. Pavers allow for any vehicle including food trucks, cars, and loading trucks which continue to be popular vehicles on the site.
New State The once chaotic junction is now transformed into a pond-plaza where it functions as both a detention pond for high flood periods (postdiluvian), reducing floods, and a plaza for when the water recedes (antediluvian), increasing public activities. During postdiluvian state, the Ramblin’ Wreck floats on the pontoon, becoming a symbol for Georgia Tech’s future after post climate changes. During antediluvian state, the car leaves the pontoon and commit to its daily schedule.
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Diluvian
New State
Walkway Under the Trees was largely unused, but with the redesign of the site, pedestrians will use this area more. Turfstone Pavers allow for cars to interweave with the public on grass and create semi-green spaces for the pedestrians.
Bus Stop
Price Gilbert Grove is a historical grove with extreme elevation changes. Because of its sloped nature, it causes water to flow to the site.
The plaza invites all modes of transportation, inspired by Denmark’s woonerf where the public and vehicles interweave and are conscious of each other. Eye contact and human interactions are used as effective means for vehicle movement rather than signs. The vehicles will slow due to pedestrians and the increased freedom in vehicles’ movements will ease the current chaotic traffic on the site. Through a woonerf inspired design, the plaza becomes a shared space between all modes of transportation.
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Diluvian
The Flood Section
Detention Pond-Plaza Detention Pond-Plaza
Courty
In recent years, woonerf and complete streets have transformed the public realm for cars and for people. Modelled after a woonerf, a space that combines different modes of transportation, the project is a grand plaza with different levels of elevations. It creates a gradient of water from beach to land. People can sit along the coast line of the detention pond-plaza during high tides. When the water has been absorbed into the earth, the plaza transforms into a flexible urbanscape.
EXPANSION JOINT TREADS OVERHANG 3/4”
POROUS PAVERS
SIDEWALLS
BACKFILL
Porous Pavers at Sitting Area Section Detail
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yard
Diluvian
Path
The Flood Section
Green Plaza
Bus Terminal
Turfstone pavers are utilized on grass regions to support different loads, such as trucks and cars. The flexibility of the pavers allows for the plaza to become a stage for different operations. Because of its porous nature, the pavers reduce stormwater run-off while also creating a semi-green space for pedestrians.
Incoming Traffic
CONCRETE GRID PAVERS
SOD PLUGS
TOPSOILS IN OPENINGS
COMPACTED AGGREGATE BASE
BEDDING SAND
GEOTEXTILE
COMPACTED SOIL SUBGRADE
Turfstone Pavers Section Detail
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Immersion Sanctuary | Fall 2018 Studio Angel Island, San Francisco P r o f e s s o r J u l i e J u -Yo u n K i m Lyceum Fellowship Merit Award Winner
im·mer·sion noun. deep mental involvement. Angel Island has a history riddled with discrimination, segregation, and prejudice. In a place plagued with turmoil, Immersion replaces the previous powerhouse as a poetic representation of new beginnings. Imbuing the island with peace, Immersion becomes a wormhole to other dimensions that are odes to the present, the future, and the past. Immersion spawns from a series of charcoal drawings, studying the elements of darkness and of light. Their interplays formulate new meanings of varying spatial dimensions that provoke innate human emotions. In Immersion, concrete becomes a structural conduit of these dimensions that transverse people from their current states. Darkness is the dimension of the unknown where one is searching and discovering for the known dimensions. When light seeps in, the space transforms into a spiritual dimension for the present self and for the forgotten history. As the island continues to prosper, there is an acceptance of history, but there is also an embrace for the future. In these different dimensions, a sanctuary emerges from darkness, light, and human emotions. The poetry does not exist without living souls.
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Immersion
Preliminary Charcoal Studies
transcension
passing by
into the unknown
light well in the distance
cracked wall
crevice of light
ominous light
concealed wall
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Immersion
Physical Model
recorder of time and of cadence
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Immersion
Physical Model Narratives
praying in a cavern
procession of cadence
the imbuement of light
transcension of the cave
crevice in the darkness
different levels of vision
lights dancing
moire effect of glass
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Immersion
Physical Model
glass creating shadows of light and darkness
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Immersion
Axon
Immersion To Time The tapering hallway is a portal to other portals and other dimensions. One journeys to moments of tension but can also break free from the rhythmic pattern. Darkness conceals the dimensions, but the light reveals them. The space is composed of heavy boulders and it is a slit into the Earth. The cascades of light mimic the rhythms of movement as it records the progression of time and of cadence.
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Searching The Light
Perspective & Charcoal Study
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Immersion
Axon
Immersion To The Past The canopy extends to the earth with 50 different columns. Each column has 3,500 tick marks that represent each of the 175, 000 Chinese immigrants who were detained at Angel Island. The space is organized with a grid pattern that is further repeated vertically to create starry lights. Because of its dynamic organization, the space allows for heritage events to occur, and thus merging the past and the present together.
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Remembering The Past
Perspective & Charcoal Study
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Immersion
Axon
Immersion To The Future The ceremonial space has a series of glass screens with historical images engraved onto them. The glass screens are organized according to the timeline of Angel Island. One image cannot be seen without the other images and one moment cannot be seen without the other moments. As occupants walk through the glass screens, they are leaving the past and walking to the future, the sea.
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Embracing The Future
Perspective & Charcoal Study
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Immersion
Axon
Immersion To Self Deep in the earth, the cave serves as a place for occupants to have self-reflection and to have a connection to the cosmos. It conceals itself in the darkness until one reaches an ambiguous light in a narrow crevice. They approach the crevice and are enlightened with unearthly lights.
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Embracing The Future
Perspective & Charcoal Study
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Unity Cultural Center | Fall 2017 Studio Chicago, Illinois Professor Lars Spuybroek With Luke Jennings
Ornamentation and structure are often seen as diverse and independent of each other. However, during the Gothic age of architecture, ornament and structure intertwined with each other. Throughout history, this relationship was forgotten, and people associated the two elements independently. “Unity” challenges the one-dimensional relationship between structure and ornament. Instead of ornamentation perceived as an aesthetic element and structure perceived as a technical element, Unity converges the languages of aesthetic and of technical. Inspired from Gothic traceries, a series of neo-gothic traceries were designed. They occupied the exterior and the interior. The traceries became an organization system that suspends pods in place. Each pod represented a program and each flower indicate the beginning of a pod. “Unity” is an inclusive multi-social club that enriches the community with expressions of art. Like the unification of ornament and structure, the people and the art become one with “Unity.”
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Unity
Tracery Study
FIGURES
PAIRS
GROUPS
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Unity
Tracery Study
CONFIGURATIONS
These are select portions of our studies. We studied existing traceries to understand their different control points. We categorized them according into multiple categories: figures, pairs, groups, and configurations.
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Unity
Structure to Image Study
The first stage composes of a grid spread study where points affect the warping nature of the grid. The second and third stage are flower creations that melt with the overall structure of the grid system. This creates a system of tension and compression. The structural grids transformed into layers of screens of experiences and structure.
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Unity
Structure to Image Study
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Unity
Exploded Axon
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Unity
Frame
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Unity
Physical Model
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Unity
Physical Model Perspectives
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D I G I TA L F A B R I C AT I O N 3 r d Ye a r - 4 t h Ye a r
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Wire-Bending Craft Wire-Bending | Spring 2019 Digital Fabrication Lab Professor Vernelle Noel With Jamieson Pye
The Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is an annual event held on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday in Trinidad and Tobago. The event is well known for participants’ colorful costumes and exuberant celebrations. The celebration is famous for its elaborate costumes that are hand made by regional crafters. We adopted the techniques of the crafters while also applying to a technologicaly and computational age. We explored ways in which the craft can survive in a technology ridden world. Programs such as DIWire, Grasshopper, and 3D printing were utilized to manifest connections that, historically, were generated by hands. However, our initial studies involve creating structural form through practicing Trinidad handicrafts and traditional materials. The purpose of our exploration is to understand and further promote the historic craft.
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Wire-Bending Craft
Shape Grammar Studies
Key
Aluminum Wires Music Wires Acrylic Wires Fiber Glass Tape
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Wire-Bending Craft
Shape Grammar Studies
Shape grammars were utilized to create multiple connections. Studies of material interactions gave insight into construction. These connection moments were the poetry behind our projects.
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Atom
Connections
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Atom
Form Picture
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Infinity
Connections
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Infinity
Form Picture
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Infinity
Connections
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Wormhole
Form Picture
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Dawn and Dusk Wire-Bending | Spring 2019 Digital Fabrication Lab Professor Vernelle Noel W ith Mehmet Bermek,Aditi Bharadwaj,Ashlee Br yant, Shreya Kumar,Shilpa Mehta,Niloofar N i k o o k a r , D a n i e l O d d o , J a m i e s o n P y e , S u s h m i t a Tr i p a t h i , a n d J i n Yu
The project, Dawn and Dusk, stems from traditions of the Trinidad Carnival. Participants of the carnival utilize wire-bending techniques with aluminum wires, acrylic wires, fibre-glass rods, and fibre-reinforced tape to form intricate costumes. These techniques can be broken down into shape grammar patterns. The project utilizes the Bailey-Derek Grammar to make an architectural light-weight pavilion. Phase I consists of making a free-standing pavilion with traditional techniques of the Carnival. Material and connections research studied the interactions and the strengths of the materials. We listened to the materials to understand its natural curvature and its natural movement. We studied techniques to strengthen various materials, such as fibre-glass rods and the various tape that can further reinforce the connections. We also developed new shape grammars for the connections. We studied the interactions between the skin and structure and the various connections generated from that. We documented the performances of the materials. As a team, we constructed our pavilion by hand, a crucial method reinforced from our studies. In Phase I, we made one crucial mistake in our structural form. Our geometry was not closed, and thus the load of the fabric weighed down the structure, leading to it collapsing. Future research will involve developing a new geometry and new studies of skin as structure. Our pavilion is architectural approach for keeping a dying craft alive. It questions how structure and construction can be made in the future.
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Dawn and Dusk
Connections Documentation
Connections were developed and tested with DIWIRE, and force machine. The force and points were carefully documented and charted. The connections were placed through utilizing Grasshopper definitions.
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Dawn and Dusk
Connection Strength Test
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Dawn and Dusk
Structural Analysis
A = Transparency
B = A + Transverse Tertiary
The digital model was originally idealized as a single surface geometry. It was split and offset thickness of the secondary rods is 2 to 3 rods with 1/4” diameter each. Tertiary rods were 1 t
CONCEPT MODEL
DIGITAL MODEL 1
Overall geometry definition. Fabrication annotation concept.
Physical Model 1
DIGITAL M
Overall geome Fabrication anno
Physical Model 2 Physical Model 3 Physical Model 4
PROTOTYPE 1
Physical Model 5
Overall geometry definition. Fabrication annotation concept.
Scale 1 to 1 for strength test of fiber glass rods and tapes.
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PROTO
Scale 1/4” diameter wit
Dawn and Dusk
Structural Analysis
C = B + Longitudinal Tertiary
D = C + Secondary
into four layers apced according to anticipated average of the material thicknesses. The to 2 rods with 1/4” diameter each.
MODEL 2
etry definition. otation concept.
OTYPE 2
e 1:3 th 4, 2, 1 bundles
DIGITAL MODEL 3
Individual pole lengths management.
CONSTRUCTION PROTOTYPE 3
Scale 1:1 1/4” diameter with 3, 2 bundles
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Dawn and Dusk
Skin Construction Process
Step 01 Test of color variation 01.
Step 02 Test of color variation 02.
Step 03 Neoprene used for skin.
Step 04 Laser cut neoprene.
Step 05 Nut, bolt, and plastic sheet.
Step 06 Neoprene connected to center.
Step 07 Neoprene connected to side.
Step 08 Twisted pattern.
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Dawn and Dusk
Skin Construction Process
Step 09 Using metal connection.
Step 10 Attaching skin along to spine.
Step 11 Zip ties as flexible connection.
Step 12 Spinal Connection
CONCLUSION From our construction process, we learned about various lightweight connections that can be used to develop new shape grammar. The geometry of our structure was not capable of taking the weight of the neoprene. Thus, our pavilion collapsed. We learned that, with a closed geometry, our pavilion substantially take the weight of the neoprene. Another view point is viewing the skin as a structural element in which it would compress the structure. Even though the spine was of lightweight aluminum, instead of fiber glass rods, the weight of the rod members and the skin weighed down the spine, and thus causing the pavilion to collapse and flatten. Future investigations will explore potential skin as structure.
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