Portfolio 2018 Kenji Lam by Kenji

KENJI LAM ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO 2018

Student Work

THE LABRARY

p. 4-11

PLAY.STATION

p. 18-21

CITY OF R/I

LANDMARK REMAKE

p. 12-17

p. 22-25

Professional Work

VANKE CITYWEST TOWER

p. 26-29

THE MEDIUM TOWER

p. 32

VANKE ASIAN GAMES CENTER

PERISCOPING HUTONG

p. 30-31

p. 33-35

THE LABRARY CENTRAL MARKET, CENTRAL M2 Thesis, 2017 Tutor: Prof. Nelson Chen Program: Future library / Learning hub The device “Unleashed”

WHAT IF OUR LIBRARIES BECOME MORE LIKE LABS? The thesis argues that with the ‘Infobesity’ brought by the digital world that led to a trend of global closure of public libraries, instead of digitalized their resources, libraries should evolve from a passive repository of information to an active co-learning laboratory for creating and sharing new knowledge. This vision relies on developing a new typology of library, a LABRARY, that allows social interaction be the main drive of learning. At the site of current Central Market, the LABRARY is designed to be like a gateway that brings the street life into the architecture and resembles the essence of Agora of Ancient Greece, a marketplace for ideas.

The LABRARY was intended to nurture a community of creativity. The site was at current Central Market with the hope that the LABRARY would become a new generator for building a community of innovation within the district together with Tai Kwun and PMQ, forming a Cultural Triangle for the exchange of ideas. The site was part of the elevated walkway system that connected the Central Harbourfront and the mid-levels of Central, supporting heavy pedestrian traffic flowing between the commercial part and the residential part of Central every day. The LABRARY was intended to redevelop the site, instead of renovating the existing Central Market, to give the community a totally new definition of a marketplace.

Bring the street in The LABRARY would extend the street from the elevated level up to the top of the building by having 3 continuous public staircases that linked up the public programs along the journey. The aim to prolong the street was to allow more ‘urban friction’, social interactions, sidewalk conversations, exchange of ideas to happen between people of different backgrounds. Arriving at the ground level public fountain along Queen’s Road Central, people can walk up the staircase to the atrium at the elevated level. It was a large social gathering space for events to happen. Performance cube could be opened up facing towards the atrium for public speeches, band shows, dance performance, etc. Audience could then proceed one level up to reach restaurants and retails. From here, they could further walk up to the rehearsal area, multi-media gallery, makers’ hub, ‘Fabrication box’, sky lounge and eventually the sky deck at the top through the three spiraling public staircases. Along this journey, the public would naturally browse through all the incubation units and have a glimpse of what projects were going on inside. With the subsidiary staircases branched from the public staircases, they could easily walk-in and engage with people inside the units just like picking a book. 6

The prolongation of street

View from Des Voeux Rd. Central At the side facing the Des Voeux Road Central, the LABRARY would connect with the Hang Seng Bank Headquarter through two bridges with transparent cover. People would see a gathering platform with plantation and the “Fabrication Box” above.

View from Queen’s Road Central Walking down from the Central mid-level walkway system, people would be looking at a big public fountain in front of the LABRARY as a social gathering hotspot. Above it was a performance cube enclosed by translucent channel glass to reveal a glimpse of activities inside.

The Collections Instead of being the destination of printed information, the LABRARY would become the birthplace of new knowledge. Prefab incubation units would be the new ‘Collection’ that captured the moments of creation and invention. They were designed to accommodate inventors, researchers, novelists, student project teams, social labs, fabrication workshops, media production studios, etc. The units were modules that allowed expansion of size to fit programs of varied nature.

Typical Floor Plan

All levels that housed the incubation units would be accessible by the subsidiary staircases that stemmed from the public staircases around the atrium. Common area with vegetation and sitting area was at the end of each level. Bridges that connected the two parallel blocks would have counters to retrieve books and artwork from the underground archive.

Ground Floor Plan

1:500 model

The Device

CITY OF R/I

SHAM SHUI PO DISTRICT, HONG KONG M1 Spring Term, 2016 Tutor: Prof. Colin Fournier Program: A Vertical City

The device “The way things go”

IMAGINE IF MANUFACTURING COULD BLEND WITH LIVING The future city (City of R/I) is based on the assumption that artificial intelligence (A.I.) and robots will dramatically change the way we think of manufacturing. Thanks to A.I., most of the tedious work would be taken over by robots. It thus frees us for innovation and creativity. With the help of the latest technology such as 3D printing and Augmented Reality (A.R.), industrial production will no longer be dirty and noisy but clean and silent. This allows production and living to blend together and create a playful and lively city that is totally different from what it is now. In general, it is a process of decentralizing the ‘bulky and dirty’ manufacturing work to different parts of the city, even into the households. Ultimately, it shows that when each individuals offer the opportunity to explore, innovate and create, the city will become a diverse and cheerful place.

10 years from now

20 years from now

30 years from now

The agriculture

Hypothetical city of future Sham Shui Po, City of R/I

Diversity matters City of R/I is the future projection of Sham Shui Po, a place that had flourishing light industry. R/I means the blending of Residential and Industrial land use. It was first applied in Sham Shui Po by the government during the 1960s that allowed workers to live close to the factories. It was proved to be a disaster to human health due to the neglect of the air and sound pollution. This leaves an impression that manufacturing is an undesirable part of the city and going to the tertiary industry is always welcomed. Yet, is this good for our city’s diversity?

The Robot, future AI assistant

The House

It is all about life Within the crane there were four levels namely (from top to bottom) : Leisure, Communal, Fabrication and Logistics. The leisure level would have gardens and restaurant. It was a place for recreation and relaxation. The level below was for communal life. It connected to the shop front of the House which allowed interactions between inventors and their neighbors. Classrooms, lectures and cafe were at this level to assist active learning. The floor at this level was operable that could be opened up to form a large fabrication space with the level below. The fabrication level would have shared resources for different kinds of invention and manufacturing. Finally, it was the logistics level at the bottom that only robots would be there to transport the goods from the Houses’ storage to the community.

1:1000 conceptual model

1:100 model

The device

PLAY.STATION HUNAN, CHINA

M1 Summer Term, 2016 Tutor: Prof. Peter Ferreto Program: learning + playing device for the children Conceptual of using modular design

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY FOR KIDS TO LEARN? The task was on a research and design basis that we had to select a topic about Gaobu village to study and to suggest a design that follows the findings. Our team chose “Children” because they represented the future of the village in the trend of rural-city migration. Our team believed that they were creative and inventive. Instead of designing something that had a code of practice to follow, we decided to gave the freedom and autonomy to the children. PLAY.STATION was a modular learning and playing device (toy) designed to unleash their power of imagination. It was a floating platform that could be divided into six smaller components for different game modes. Due to the varied level of stability between a single component and a combined platform, children would realize they need to help each other in order to successfully getting onto the ‘STATION’.

Do it in 1:1 scale

The kids knew they could enjoy jumping off into the river at deep-water section (left) and usually the shallow-water part were for girls (right)

With limited time, it would be a challenge to realize the 1:1 model. Our team studied the depth of the river, the human proportions of children and finally sourced the materials from the bamboo forest nearby. With the help and donation of villagers, we made all the six components of the design. The final product was carefully sanded for safety. After finishing the 1:1 model, our team found that the children invented even more games through the design than we could have imagined. They would play them as swimming aids and drift boats. When putting them onshore, the design would become chairs or tables. The result was inspiring in the sense that it was a mutual learning process that the designers have to learn about the users’ behaviors for better design.

Getting dimensions of boys and girls for determining the scale of the design Working together with the villagers

1. Constructing bamboo structure

3. Adding paving

2. Inserting water bottle for floating

4. Sanding the edges for safety

Fabrication procedure

LANDMARK REMAKE SAI YING PUN MARKET

M1 Fall Term, 2015 Tutor: Prof. Tieben Hendrik Program: Wet Market Renovation Concept model

SOMETIMES, SMALL CHANGES CAN ALREADY MAKE A BIG IMPACT TO THE COMMUNITY Landmark Remake was a renovating project at Sai Ying Pun market, Western district. It aimed to reestablish a sense of belongings at the heart of the community. With the opening of West Island Line of MTR, the district was experiencing a rapid rate of gentrification. Old buildings were torn down for expensive residential high-rise. Local shops were forced to give space for foreign restaurants and bar due to increasing rent. The identity of Sai Ying Pun, which was famous for its strong neighborhood bonding, was losing bit by bit. The project did not aim to overturn the situation but to bring back some noises at the prominent area of the district by creating good quality gathering spaces.

View from Second Street (Before and after) 22

Better circulation The original market had a confusing circulation with escalators and stairs not connecting with each others. The new design changed the orientation of some of them and inserted an elevator at the atrium for good visibility of route. The bridge connection to the Center Street Market was removed to encourage street experience and to bring back the view to the harbor. Outdoor stepped plaza was connected to the dining area at 1/F to jointly form a large gathering space at the heart of the community.

Temporary toilet on Center Street was converted to an outdoor plaza

Alteration and addition works

The night market

1:100 model

VANKE CITYWEST TOWER HANGZHOU, CHINA

Jan- 2018, In-Completion Role: Site analysis, Concept development, Massing study, 3D modeling, CAD and Presentational drawings Team Member: Bob Pang (Supervisor), Sherman Sun Program: Mixed used office tower with start-up companies

COULD AN OFFICE BUILDING BECOME A STAGE FOR IDEAS AND SOCIAL INTERACTIONS? Following the success of Vanke Asian Games Center Competition, we were commissioned to design the Vanke CityWest Tower in Hangzhou. It was positioned as an iconic office tower that would welcome startups, high-tech companies and university students. I was responsible for providing one of the three design options to the developer, Vanke, and it was chosen as the final scheme for further development. The design was bridged from my Thesis project, that the 14-storey building would become a stage for showcasing ideas and fostering social interactions. It featured a continuous public stairway from ground level to the garden at 6/F, providing ample outdoor retail space and seating area.

Program allocation

More than a box The massing was broken down into several volumes to address the site context. Shops were at G-3/F and connected with the surrounding greenbelt. It thus formed a pleasant street-like experience between the building and the Metro station nearby. Flagship store was shaped to become a visual anchor point.

Retail Street

Flagship store as an ‘anchor’

Greenery to connect with greenbelt

Auditorium and Co-working space

I also helped working on the master plan that indicated the vehicular access.

From concept to drawings The main design feature was the continuous public staircase. When we further developed this scheme, I was asked to design carefully to how high the stair would reach, which floor it would connect to and what programs it would provide. During the process, I worked closely with my supervisor on the location of the service cores, lift lobby and column.

Diagram showing the concept of a continuous belt of shared space

Working with plans and sections The office lift lobbies were the threshold between the public circulation and the private office area where security system would be installed. I was then assisted on drawing up the elevations, sections and carpark basement plans. Works included arranging carpark lots and ramp position.

5/F: Circulation to the co-working space

South-facing elevation

3/F: Circulation to the podium plaza

G/F: Retail and carpark Retail

Internal circulation

Office

Public circulation

Section

VANKE ASIAN GAMES CENTER COMPETITION HANGZHOU, CHINA

Nov 2017-Jan 2018 Role: Site analysis, Massing study, 3D modeling, Landscape and flagship store design, Office lobby interior design, Presentational drawings Team member: Bob Pang (Supervisor), Francis Man Program: Mixed-use office and serviced apartment towers

HOW CORPORATE OFFICE ECHOES WITH SPORTS GAMES DEVELOPMENT? The invited competition was to design the Hangzhou headquarter for one of the biggest Chinese developer, Vanke. The site was at the entrance of the future Asian Games Village which would be converted to a district of high-class business and residential development after the Games.

Asian Games Village

Creating connected open spaces

At conceptual stage, I was to study the context and massing orientation that would best unleash the site potential. Options were made for different position of the towers, public space area, office entrance points and flagship store.

Asian Games Village

Tilted orientation to maximize view

Metro

Asian Games Village

Directing visual focus

Twin towers with different branding As the serviced apartment would target the younger generation, the entrance lobby was designed to be more like a communal space compared to the office one. Case studies

For the flagship store, a wrappingribbon like metal mesh facade was designed to bring in a dynamic atmosphere to the site.

Entrance lobby of office building

Case studies

Flagship store facade design

Entrance lobby of serviced apartment

THE MEDIUM TOWER VENICE ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE 2018

Mar 2018 Role: Concept development, 3d modeling, Logistics of materials, Fabrication Team member: Kevin Siu (Supervisor) Program: Installation

INSTALLATION TO CONNECT THE VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL The Medium Tower is the medium between physical and virtual, freedom and limitation, private and public, information and application, it is an emblem of our needs and interactions. Pixelation forms the whole tower creating numerous physical pocket spaces, addressing the possibility and freedom of the tower typology. While QR codes are integrated on the towers façades, visitors can scan through the series of QR codes on the façade and access online spaces that open up further discourses and interactions. The Medium Tower seeks to establish a complimentary relationship through the online spaces with its 99 neighbors and add layers of insights to the understanding of vertical free spaces.

Mock-up of overlaid acrylic to test the result of QR code scanning

PERISCOPING HUTONG BEIJING INTERNATIONAL DESIGN WEEK 2018

Sep - Oct 2017 Role: Concept development, 3d modeling, tender drawings, site coordination Team member: Shuyan Chan (Supervisor) Program: Installation

HOW TO CONNECT CHILDREN AND ELDERLY TO FORM A ‘NEW NEIGHBORHOOD’ ? ‘New Neighborhood” is the main theme for Beijing International Design Week 2017. The design focus was on addressing the issue of increasingly broken and aging neighborhood at the Baitasi Hutong district since the younger generation kept moving out and the elderly were staying. We picked a courtyard site as it symbolized the sense of gathering in Chinese culture and tried to transform it into a public playground, re-energizing the Hutong area by providing children a new option to have fun and interact with other community members. The installation superimposes a merrygo-around with periscopes, inviting the public, especially the children, to observe their neighborhood from a different perspective. With the help from the elderly, the merry-go-round would spin and allow the kids to overlook the panoramic aerial view of the district. It is hoped that through the process, children and elderly from different families could enjoy together and form a new neighborhood network.

Merry-go-round + periscopes There were different height of platform and sitting on the merry-go-round that created a landscape for kids to play around. Together with the position of the periscopes, it also suggested different body gestures to peek into the mirrors. They can stand, sit, squat or even lie down to enjoy the panoramic view of the surrounding environment.

Elderly help spinning the merry-go-round Kids looking into the periscope to explore the neigborhood

Making mock-up I was also responsible to do mock-up after proposing the concept. Different mock-up was made during the design process to test whether the periscope mechanism would work in a 5-meter long pipe. Research was done about the correct angle and shape of mirror inside the pipe.