Portfolio // Le Phuc

Le T. Phuc Architecture & Design A collaborative collection of undergraduate projects in Environmetal Design

Architecture can tell a story.

Architec ture is the communication of a stor y- a prac tice of transmitting experience from one person to the nex t, from generation to generation. At the core of these experiences, we all have in common familiar yet unique vocabularies, values and beliefs that have all been synthesized in language and ar t.

Architec ture is a stor y presented in the language of the tec tonic, made real by the physical and phenomenological. Architec ture is a stor y that evokes the sublime and the simple.

It faces some of the most difficult questions of the world today. Architec ture is faced with limitations, such as materials, physics, and prac ticalit y; stor ytelling has no limitations.

Only through a man’s imagination, his past, and hopes for the future, can we look at this stor ytelling, as guidance and inspiration...To rewrite the past, while still experiencing a new future...in architec ture.

This por tfolio is an investigation of how architec ture can tell a stor y through process and produc t per formed in mixed media. It is also a stor y of my development as a designer from year one to present day.

Contents Black Narcissus

01

House of the Future

02

Aquatic Centre

03

Acoustic Wall Treatment

04

BIM and Integrated Project Delivery Thesis

05

Brazilian Residency

06

Cinematic Architecture

07

Tectonics of Materials

08

Modular Installation

09

Literature and Architecture

10

Thomas Park Pavilion

11

Personal Work

12

01

Black Narcissus Narrative Through Digital Fabrication Year Three // Fall 2011 // Gabriel Esquivel

Narcissism: Self-Admiration How can we communicate a stor y through the process of digital fabrication? How can digital fabrication teach about architecture?

The precedent came from looking at contemporar y fashion sensibilities and techniques thinking of it as an “haute couture” sur face. We also took a look at the 1947 Michael Powell film “Black Narcissus,” where a group of nuns travel to a remote location in the Himalayas to “domesticate” the local people and environment, only to find themselves increasingly seduced by the sensuality of their surroundings. What was important about the film was understanding the power of “sensation”, the recognition of your desires to the point of self-contemplation; an aesthetic displacement, you see your sensual self in the work as an act of narcissism. Narcissism as a natural condition of self-admiration and a distorted self from reality, which it is more about the absurdity of the “cultural” concept in a pursuit for an argument of beauty.

This project is a garden of contemplation where the sur face of reflection is the piece itself.

The piece is joyous and ominous, it attracts and repels because it sense of super ficial ornamentation. It climbs up the wall caressing it. This piece does not operate within the notion of effect (literal reflection) but through affect, a true moment of qualia.

Conceptual form one

Option one

Option two

1 3 2

2

3

1

One

Two

Three 1 . Z i p p i n g p i e c e s t o c o n n e c t t o t h e m s e l ve s t o b u i l d t h e f o r m 2 . M a p p i n g o u t l a yo u t o f t h e p i e c e s t o s u c c e s s f u l l y p u t t o g e t h e r t h e f o r m 3. CNC cutting the pieces for assembly 4 . D e t a i l e d i m a g e o f t h e c o n n e c t i o n f ro m o n e p i e c e t o t h e o t h e r

Four

Air

Return

Rendering

Return Air Distribution

r-Intake Supply

n Air Distribution

Objectives Explored In Black Narcisuss, I was able to explore the aspects of parametric design using digital fabrication. During the duration of this project I volunteered in participating in, I was exposed to the computer programs of Rhino and Grasshopper. Scripting was also a key element in the digital fabrication process.

Airflow Diagram

γ ƪ

02

Digital Fabrication

Narrative Through Fibrous Formation Year Three // Spring 2012 // Gabriel Esquivel

House of the Future: Fabrication The design was prompted by the question, “How can we design a house in extreme environments that necessitate the use of high per formance composite construction while exploring the generation of fibrous assemblages through high population agent-based methodologies?�

The design methodology involved feedback between three main areas of design experimentation: 1. Multi- agent generative design algorithms, 2.

Explicit digital modeling, and 3. Composite fiber fabrication experiments. The design prompted an organization of matter that drew from an understanding of micro-structures such as those found in butter fly wings; where color and pattern are determined through the organization as a geometrical configuration rather than through chemical attributes such as pigmentation. In the fabrication process, experimentation in different types of resin and fiberglass was examined. The process is documented and narrates the future of design.

Form

Prototypes

Line work

Zbrush Explorations

Exterior Rendering

Objectives Explored In the House of the Future, I was able to explore the mixed medias of expoy resin and fiber glass. In the section of the house, different uses of resin and fiber glass were manipulated to achieve the form. The computer program used to create the form was Maya and the texture was created using ZBrush.

Project One

One Two Three Four Five

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Z i p t y i n g f o r m i n p l a ce C N C f o r m s c u t a n d cove re d i n t r u c k b e d l i n i n g M ate r i a l ex p l o rat i o n o f d i ff e re nt tex t u re s s o a ke d i n c a r re s i n a n d p l a ce d o n f o r m A s s e m b l i n g o f t h e f o r m’s p i e ce s M a n i p u l at i n g c a r re s i n to re d u ce a i r b u b b l e s u n d e r s u r f a ce o f t h e s k i n

Project Two 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Fo r m cove re d i n fi r s t l aye r o f e p ox y re s i n a n d fi b e rg l a s s Co l l a b o rat i o n o f re d u c i n g b u b b l e s i n e p ox y re s i n a n d fi b e rg l a s s U n m o l d i n g fi b e rg l a s s f ro m f o r m s by exce s s ex p o s u re to h e at Tu r t l e wa x i n g f o r m s to e n s u re f o r e a s y u n m o l d i n g o f fi b e rg l a s s a n d re s i n L ay i n g co at o f f a b r i c ove r fi r s t l aye r o f fi b e rg l a s s a n d re s i n

One Two Three Four Five

03

Aquatic Center Narrative Through Site

Year Three // Spring 2012 // Jasmine Benyamin

Gibbons Creek: Abandoned Futures The often-simplified notion of site merely in relation to a notion of formal and visual context is challenged in this project. How can the concept of site specificity be examined in both the meaning and application of “site” and “specific?” How can designers consider site as landscapes to be constructed rather than just occupied?

Gibbons Creek Reser voir is home to the Texas Municipal Power Agency coal power plant.

The creek is man-made and dependent upon the power plant for aquatic life as well as steady income. It is situated across from the primitive camping site and the swimming zone. How can the power plant and the surrounding native area be used as a design tool for the aquatic center rather than just land to be occupied?

It is a combination of nature and industr y; inside and outside; phenomenology of both a philosophical design and industr y. The aquatic center combines nature and industr y in the inside and outside spatial organization. It considers the sublime of nature versus industrialization, as well as ever ything that includes it (pollution, dead, capitalism, etc).

Conceptual Montage

Conceptual Space

Public

Private

Semi-Private

Spatial Organization

PRIVATE SEMI-PRIVATE PUBLIC AREA

PUBLIC/ SEMI PUBLIC

Objectives Explored In the aquatic centre project, I focused on combining the landscape and the structure as one. The programs used in this project were AutoCAD and Revit Architecture. The idea of public and private spaces and isolation were manipulated as well.

04

Acoustic Wall

Narrative Through Tradition Year Four // Summer 2012 // Mark Clayton

Acoustic Wall Treatment We proposed a multi- functional wall treatment to be installed in the Langford Building of Texas A&M University. This wall treatment would ser ve as an acoustic wall to idealize the reverberation time in a classroom and also as an ornamental piece to showcase the Texas A&M campus comrader y.

Texas A&M is a school based upon tradition. Generation upon generation of families draw upon these traditions to be the driving force of comrader y in the university. The campus itself, parallels the student body tremendously through it’s architecture. In creating the sur face design for the acoustic wall, the first step involved mapping four buildings in the architecture school and four secondar y buildings of historical importance. The sur face sought to emphasize the apparent movement of the architecture program across campus. A 5x5 mock up of the wall section was constructed and the process was documented.

Assembly A s s e m b l y b e g a n w i t h o rg a n i z at i o n o f t h e p i e ce s a n d t h e n fi n d i n g t h e co r re c t j o i nt f o r t h e co r re c t t r i a n g l e. Th e j o i nt s u s e d a re c i rc u l a r d i s k t h at a re we d g e d i nto t h e t r i a n g l e s to b e s e l f - s u p p o r te d. Th e “r i b s� o r t h e s c a ff o l d i n g b e h i n d t h e s u r f a ce u s e s a s i m i l a r s l o t t i n g te c h n q u e to h o l d t h e co n n e c t i o n . E a c h o f t h e t r i a n g l e s we re a s s e m b l e d i nto s e c t i o n s o f f o u r, t h o s e f o u r s e c t i o n s we re t h e n a s s e m b l e d i nto t h e ove ra l l s u r f a ce.

Renderings

Budget

Details

Objectives Explored Acoustical Analysis

In the acoustical wall treatment project, I explored a more scientific approach to sound reverberations. Also, the form was produced using parametric design in the computer program Revit. Also, acoustical analysis software was utilized.

Ideal Reverberation

05

BIM & Integrated Project Delivery in Higher Education Narrative in the Traditional Sense Year Four // Spring 2012 - Fall 2012 // Mark Clayton

Abstract, Objectives, and Conclusions The new building construction contract form of Inte-

Three Texas university systems (both private and

grated Project Delivery (IPD) was investigated through a

public) participated as well as a variety of architects rang-

series of interviews of architects, contractors, and univer-

ing from medium firms to larger firms as well as contrac-

sity system representatives. Integrated Project Delivery is a

tors. The method that these three university systems were

business model that brings together all stakeholders in a

chosen (Texas A&M University System, the University of

design and construction project, including owner (or

Texas System, and Rice University) was based on the size

client), builders, designers, and consultants. By reducing

of the university system.

incentives for conflict, it provides a continuity of information flow from start to finish, and eliminates most of the opportunity for communication error. It enables greater optimization of all needs from start to finish and facilitates incorporation of sustainable strategies. One of the recommended practices in IPD is the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM.) Research investigated the inducements and barriers to adoption of BIM and IPD for campus facilities design, construction and operations.

Texas A&M University system and the University of Texas System are the two largest systems in Texas. They were ideal candidates for the study because they provided projects that fall into the multi-million dollar range. A private system was also ideal in this research to show the dynamic between public and private sectors. Data was

collected through one-on-one, casual interviews with a

The goals of these interviews were to determine

variety of architects, contractors and university system

whether the uses of BIM and IPD in the work place are ben-

members. The selection of architects and contractors

eficial for the architecture industry as a whole and if there

ranged from medium sized firms to international sized firms.

will be any further advances with this new form of project

For the university system members, the universities that

delivery.

were interviewed were Texas based; Texas A&M University, the University of Texas, and Rice University. Participants responded to semi-structured interview questions on the topics of IPD, BIM, and the future expectation of the two in sessions ranging from 20 minutes to one hour and a half in length. The interviews were recorded, and the data was analyzed to identify experiences and attitudes with respect to IPD and BIM.

After in depth analysis, it can be determined that for not just the university system owners (in both private and public) but for architects and contractors collectively, the utilization of BIM and IPD principles are incredibly beneficial for the industry. BIM and IPD principles have proven to reduce project schedule, allow for better collaboration among the team, and in some cases, reduce cost. The surface has only been scratched in terms of BIM and IPD. The

advances that BIM and IPD will have in the future will

ples. It is hoped that the use of BIM and IPD principles be a

increase project quality in all aspects from design to com-

standard of practice in the near future.

pletion. BIM and IPD principles have helped reduce cost, speed decisions, and increase quality in not only design but also in construction and construction management.

Research Plans and Methods This research will investigate the extent of which IPD with BIM implications are a successful form of project delivery and also whether those directly involved (architects, contractors, owners, and engineers) are for or against the new contract form in higher education.

The research conducted will involve interviewing 40 participates that vary from different university system members, architects, and contractors. Companies include the University of Texas System, Texas A&M University System, Rice Uni-

The hope for the future of BIM and IPD goes beyond the level that BIM is currently being utilized. In higher education, owners expect in the future these 3D BIM models

versity System, HOK, Gensler, Kirskey Architecture, SHW Group, BRW Architects, Skanska Construction, J.T Vaughn Construction, Linbeck, and many more.

nents after construction completion. The surface has only

Research Methods Include: Literature Review University Approval Interviewing Design Data Collection Data Analysis Thesis Composition

been scratch in regards to utilization of BIM and IPD princi-

Thesis Approval

that are being shared between the architect and contractor, will help in facility management and deferred maintenance.

Owners hope that one day the “information� part of BIM will be investigated more to be able to identify manufacturer, label, life expectancy, and price of these building compo-

06

Sao Paulo Residency Urban Refuge

Year Two // Fall 2012 // Gabriella Campagnol

This project explores the concept of finding refuge in the contemporar y city. Sao Paulo is the largest city in the southern hemispheres and Americas. With a ver y small square footage and a site in the middle of downtown Sao Paulo, how can the design communicate a space of urban freedom from the hustle and bustle of city life? How can architecture set the notion of place? Place being an area of permanent stability in the ever changing city of Sao Paulo.

The solution: a combination of city and suburban; the contradiction of the two places meeting. Traditional San Paulo building materials consist of concrete because of the exposure to high humidity throughout the year. Wood is a trditionally building material used to generate a friendlier, and more inviting place. The joining of the two elements internally and externally, create a harmony yet still creating a sense of place; a sense of belonging to the city.

ECONOMICS

BDRM

BDRM

WORKSHOP GARAGE

BEDROOMS VERANDA

LIVING

PRIVATE PUBLIC

Objectives Explored In the Brazilan residency, I explored the aspects of sustainablity in the computer program Revit. This is an earlier project, therefore, the basic objectives that were explored was the utilization of space, movement, flow, and native building materials.

BATH

“Breaking the Box� -Frank Lloyd Wright

Topsoil Plant level

Green Roof Detail

Growing medium

Weathering

Filter sheet Drainage layer Protection layer

Source Rock Waterproofing Roof construction

Brazilian Residency Model

07

Cinematic Architecture A Form of Physical Dialogue Year Two // Spring 2011 // Jasmine Benyamin

Cinematic Architecture “Cinematic architecture confronts the stable with the temporal. It aims to dissolve or expose the concept of a static material world through a buzz of constant change….cinematic architecture is a form of physical dialogue. And like any dialogue it should lead to a higher level of knowledge and understanding…”

– Pascal Schoning, Manifesto for a Cinematic Architecture The exploration of “cinematic architecture” through heterogeneous media prompted the redesign of the Queen Theater in Br yan, Texas. The scope of the work asked for an installation for cinematic viewing within the Queen Theater. How do architectural and film space collide?

With this collision, this installation was explored not only as a process that spans the trajector y of design, construction, and occupancy, but also – and perhaps more fundamentally- as a dialogue between people and space; a stor y.

Section and Plans

Inspriation

Renderings

08

Tectonics of Materials

Exploring Narrative Through Experimentation Year One // Foundation Studio

The Tectonics of Materials and Lines The next several experimental uses of materials were prompted to investigate how different uses of medias and var ying dimensionality can teach about architecture.

The goal of these material experiments were to highlight traditional uses of basic materials and translate them into architectural inspirations related to common words. In this particular case, the words selected were: accrete, fracture, and fold, all which can become architectural. An exploration of relationships between the words, their definitions, and how they can relate to materials found in traditionally building construction (concrete, steel, and lumber) was analyzed. After looking at the different building materials at a microscopic scale, it can be concluded that architectural inspiration can be drawn simply through the tectonics of the materials and how they can mimic the qualities of the construction materials.

Fracture: The act or process of breaking; a break, rupture // Concrete

Accrete: To make larger ; to grow together ; to fuse // Lumber

Fold: To bend over or double up; to place together and intertwine // Steel

Fold Model

Accrete Model

Fracture Model

09

Modular Installation

Narrative Through Interdisciplinary Studies Year Two // Fall 2012 // Gabriella Campagnol

Union of Mathematics and Architecture The design was prompted by the idea of, “How can an installation teach about architecture?� More importantly, how can we, modern day designers, create a cohesive harmony between the different sciences, mathematics and art through architecture?

In an exploration of relationships between mathematics and architecture, the idea of this installation was to capture motion.

The goal was to highlight architectural synthesis, or more explicitly, the relationship between the Fibonacci sequence and motion.

1

2 4

10

Color In Architecture Literature

Year Two // Fall 2012

Thesis

An investigative study of color and meaning in architecture: To what

extent does feeling directly link meaning dichotomy in architecture with the aid of color being used as a prime example?

Introduction

meaning of certain objects or people. One argument that is discussed to further prove the previously stated claim is the comparison of connotative definition and denotative definition and how they can be applied to architecture. In this argument, color symbolism and psychology is braised upon, but the bulk of the argument lays in the comparison and how it relates to architecture. The second claim that is discussed is color dichotomy.

An investigative study will be used to analyze to what extent does feeling directly link meaning in architecture and how the aid of color is used as an example of meaning dichotomy. Dichotomy can be defined as “a division into two mutually exclusive groups or entities.”1 What this entails is the splitting of a whole into two separate parts that may or may not connect with each other. There are two forms of what can be considered dichotomy; jointly exhaustive and mutually exclusive. Jointly exhaustive means that ever ything must belong to at least one piece and mutually exclusive means nothing can belong to the same part at the same time. The dichotomy within the meaning

Color can be used as either a modifier of architecture or an as aid to

of the words “meaning” and “feeling” in architecture is proven to be jointly

directly link feeling and meaning as one. The use of color as an aid for evoking

exhaustive; they belong to the same part or the other; a division. They are

feelings within a human are broken down into three major factors; size and

directly related to each other in the sense that one cannot happen unless it is

proportion, targets and backgrounds, and color temperatures. As for the

affecting the other. One of the main arguments that will be discussed is

example of color being used as a modifier in architecture, the main aspects that

whether or not color is used to directly link meaning and feeling as the same.

are considered are the designer-collection, the architecture, the interior-décor,

Historian and author Charles Jencks was quoted as saying, “It is clear in fact,

the label, the location, the room, and the color ways. The last claim towards

that because meaning is a function of social contract, architecture can signify

color in space is an analysis of an opposing side that claims color has no effect

in other ways also, through the medium of style.”2 The definition of social

on feeling, hence, having no relation to the meaning of architecture. Ozenfant

contract implies that individuals unite into a society by a process of mutual

describes in his article Colour Solidity: the Appearance of Architecture, that the

consent. If the majority of a whole is agreeing or having a certain mindset on

color we see on the facades of architecture is merely virtual. There is no

certain issues, then it is more than likely that that certain issue or mindset

relation to true feeling. It is then discussed that the use of color as symbolic

will be the right one. The power that the majority of the whole has, if taking

and therapeutic is another claim used to prove that feeling directly links to

into consideration Jenck’s model of social contract, is that they define the

meaning.

11

Thomas Park Pavilion Conglomeration of Man and Nature Year Two // Fall 2012 // Gabriella Campagnol

Exploring Narrative Through Nature How can we communicate the idea of nature intertwining with the built environment? To recognize an element of nature, such as a butter fly, yet not being a direct representation of it? Does the juxtaposition of nature and the built environment take away from one another?

In this proposed structure, the elements of nature are interlaced within the lattice structural walls of the pavilion. Butter fly patterning is abstracted and, in some circumstances, superimposed as well as reflecting in the voids of the lattice. The idea is to communicate the built environment and nature, into one cohesive stor y.

Elevation 1

Elevation 2

Section

Plan

12

Personal Work

Interior Perspective Canvas Board with color Pencil 12” x 12”

Lotus Flower Canvas Board, Oil Pastels, and Watercolor Paint 24” x 24”

Abstract Perspective Sketch Paper and Color Pencil 12” x 12”

Langford Perspective Drawing Sketch Paper and Pencil 24” x 24”

Exploration of Jubilant as a Form Museum Board 10” x 10”

Exploration of Jubilant 2D Canvas Board and Ink 24” x 24”

Team Collaboration Modular Installation Jessica Emerson Amy Whitman

Black Narcissus Dylan Weiser Erin Templeton Hugo Fabian Megan Arrington Miaomiao Xiao Catlan Fearon Arnold Ghil

House of the Future Fabrication: Ryan Wilson Karla Castillo Kathy Xiao Jorge Cruz Steven Scibona Eric Opperman Shane Bearrow Matt Omeodu Adrian Cortez

Acoustic Wall Treatment Kathy Xiao Karla Castillo Juan Guerra Victor Balldio Hannah Woods Melissa Webb

“...if I could think what I would do, other than architecture, it would be to write a new fairy tale, because from the fairy tale came the airplane, and the locomotive and the wonderful instruments of our minds...it all came from wonder.”

– Louis Kahn