Portfolio Feb 6th 2023 Spread

Materializing the abstraction. I believe that the initial instinct of design intensions must be valued when it comes to architectural development. It is essentially the cumulative of my experiences, principles, the aesthetic sense, the subjective. The subjectivity is what frames my conceptual theory towards architecture, which cumulatively responds to client’s charge, environment, and building types, The ultimate goal as an architectural designer, is to convert the subjective into objective.

Throughout my academic years, I have focused on enhancing my repertoire of “design ideas“ , to provide and convince the needs of society. This portfolio is intended to display the exploration of my development in conceptual theory towards architecture, through my academic projects and extracurricular works.

At Georgia Tech, the pedagogical focus on traditional architecture, has placed “my project” within architectural discourses, past and present. The referenced precedent studies have valued the importance of architectural history, which has aided in recognizing my designs within rhetorical, structural, performative, and temporal qualities.

Maya Takai

Georgia Institute of Technology Bachelor of Science in Architecture

CHARRETTES FALL 2022 -

Part 1

Postcards from the future.

The postcards evoke “scenes” from the upcoming project, a proposal for the College of Design at Georgia Tech. These postcards were done prior to the start of design.

Academic Project

Georgia Institute of Technology

4th Year Studio

Instructor: Sabir Khan

Individual

Images retrived from Georgia Tech Digital Archive

1. Hinman Research Building 1951

2. ERA 1101 Computer Rich Electronic Computer Center 1954

3. Rich Electronic Computer Center Groundbreaking 1954

4. Georgia Tech Network Calculator Laboratory 1950

5. Rich Electronic Computer Center Groundbreaking 1954

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“High Tech Sister”

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Part 2

The Rich Computer Center building (1971) occupies a prominent location on campus, down the hill from Hinman and across 4th St from Architecture East. Yet it has remained “hidden in plain view” since the 1970s. Now that the computers it housed have been relocated, many actors on campus have their eyes on this piece of prime real estate. The design brief asks to propose strategies for expanding the College of Design facilities at this site.

College of Design Research Center will provide a space to enhance and display the frontier research conducted by five schools of College of Design. The proposal provides various sized volumes for laboratories within the existing cascade from Hinman Research Building to New Rich Computer Building, while the architectural form is organized to follow the slope topography. The combinatory labs may shift the pedagogical focal point to research-based curriculum, as well as providing students with the experience to learn from the functional operating building.

Academic Project

Georgia Institute of Technology

4th Year Studio

Instructor: Sabir Khan

Individual

Georgia Tech’s Hinman Research Building was originally designed in 1939 as a facility for helicopter development. In 2008, the College of Design asked Historic Preservation studio, NADAA to reconfiure as a graduate architecture studio space.

“High Tech Sister”

Hinman Research Building

1947 Constrcution of Calculator Building

1951

Construction of Hinman Connector

1954 Construction of Rich Computer Center

1971 Construction of New Rich Computer Center

2022 Proposal Deconstruction based Historic Structure Report

Ventilation Louvers

Pole to Beam Assembly

Pole to Cable Assembly

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1. Small Scale Research Rooms

2. Large Scale Research Atrium

3. Auditorium

Aerial Photo retrieved from Georgia Tech Digital Archive, 1949

Curtain Partition

Membrane form is explored through this study model. The strings are temporary fixed to the nodes, allowing for pull effect of the strings in analyzing form and tensil composition.

1. Ventilation Opening

2. Rain Water Collectioon System 3. Ventilation Louvers 4. Perforation of Existing Brick Wall

Elevated Structure

Large Equipment Labs

Small Labs

Membrane Lantern Protorype. Study Model

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“High Tech Sister“ proposal within architectural discourses, past and present

The proposal focuses on natural system, allowing environmetal perforance central. This strategic foci will pedagogically enhance research curriculum on environmental performance for SoA to explore. Studies on natural ventilation and thermal comfort is continued in the next two projects.

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1. Small Scale Laboratory

2. Research Atrium

3. Auditorium

4. Recording Studio

Perforation Process of Brick Section

Performative

Frei Otto, Tensil and lightweight structure

Michael Hopkins, Schlumberger Research Center, 1992

“High Tech Sister“ of Hinman Research Buildinng, 1938

Harquitectes, Cristalleries Planell Civic Center, 2016 Material Reuse after 20 years

SPATIOTEMPORAL MODELING OF COVID-19

FALL 2021 - 2022

Window design impact on indoor natural ventilation: CFD modeling to reduce COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that current ventilation design standards for most buildings may be insufficient to reduce the airborne concentrations and reduce the overall viral dose to occupants. As such, we simulated the effect of window arrangements and window types to control the natural ventilation, to impact the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles inside the building.

After our research, it was deemed that spread of viral particles are affected by indoor airflow vector, caused by 1) ratio of inlet and outlet windows, 2) location of outlet relative to air circulation, 3) initial speed of inlet wind controlled by window type, and 4) initial direction of inlet wind relative to indoor air circulation.

Research

Georgia Institute of Technology

Vertically Integrated Project

Parter/Sponsor: GTRI

Perkins and Will

Team Leader, First Author

CFD analyis were done with grasshopper script and butterfly plug-in. The simulation produced quantitative data, of 1) COVID-19 particle room exposure ratio, and 2) number of agents exposed in a set time frame. The full experiment results are summarized here.

https://www.spatiotemporalmodelingofcovid19naturalventilation.com/

SHAPE GRAMMAR FALL 2022

Exploration of preforated brick wall design, using shape grammar machine. The script is written with Drawscript+ program, producing variety of iteration on formalism coding.

The study also focuses on the environmental performance of the building, specifically on the effect of perforated brick facade on natural systems. The effect of opening arrangements to control natural ventilation is simulatied using CFD. This study is part of a larger study of my studio project, which proposes an unconditioned structure for a research center in the site of the Rich Computer Center Building (1971), as a proposal for the College of Design expansion.

Academic Project

Georgia Institute of Technology

Shape Grammar

Instructor: Athanassios Economou

Individual

Ice-Ray Skeumorphic Variation Study

Type 1 Machine is inspired by the Ice-ray grammar. It is modified in a dynamic way, in that the brick which is a 3D object is considered as a 2D isometric drawing. The machine operates based on added joint configuration of the bricks. Each iteration determines the new system for the next brick in x-y direction.

Type 2 Machine develops from rod placement and curvature. The rods determine the placement of bricks, as well as the perforation. The “site” wind vectors are transformed into the start of the rods, then, they are given instructions of curvature with a grammar similar to the staircase grammar. The rods are considered in elevation, therefore the last iteration of the grammar shows he movement of rods in plan.

Perforation Prototype on wind intensity

Perforation Prototype on wind direction

Type 1 Isometric Ice-ray Machine

Type 2 Rod Machine

ATLANTA WELLNESS RETREAT SPRING 2021 -

The ruin of the New Manchester Manufacturing Company, a textile mill burned during the Civil War, is located at Sweetwater Creek State Park, Georgia. Since then, the foliage has taken over the abandoned site, as it has become a significant landmark of the hiking trails along the Chattahoochee River.

In this site, a welnesss retreat is proposed, including baths, sauna and accomodation. Light structure emphasizing the trees are now taking over the site, while the heaviness of the brick ruins express the history that essentially sits on the site. The tensil force of verticality represents the abstraction of the gravity, which is defined throughout the project.

Academic Project

Georgia Institute of Technology

2nd Year Studio

Instructor: Julie Kim

Individual

Abstraction of Gravity

Study Model, Foliage Taking Over

Komorebi- light filtering through trees

Diving into the pool, you compete the sinking vector and the buoyancy. Then, you slowly arise, floating on the pool, and looking up to the sky. While the water lift you up to the very surface, the glazed structure creates a perspectival path to the sky, allowing for a significant poetic experience.

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1. Relaxation Deck

2. Outdoor Warm Bath

3. Ice Bath

4. Gold Sauna

5. Salt Sauna

6. Massage Rooms

7. Facial Rooms

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Floating on Main Pool

The trees; as it pushes the ground with its roots but also reaches up to the sky, creates a tensil force of verticality that represents the abstraction of gravity. The project allows visitors to realize and feel their own bodyweight in contrast to the architectural spaces, creating a poetic-like atmosphere as one spend their weekends at Sweetwater Creek, just outside of Atlanta.

WEST END AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT

SPRING 2022 -

Peeples St Development is a proposal for an affordable housing complex on the former site of a public school in West End, Atlanta. It includes one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and four-bedroom units for fresh graduate, single-family, families of various sizes, as well as an open public space for mixed use.

The open space allows for a public concert, after-school program, and a space for flea market/bazaar on weekends where small locally owned business can sell their handmade products. The mixed-use space can provide a space to help local program/ business run and be successful on its own.

Academic Project

Georgia Institute of Technology

3rd Year Studio

Instructor: Ryan Roark

Individual

Residentials across Peeples St SW

PeeplesStSW

Precedent Study

Interpretation of Brunswick Centre London, Patrick Hodgkinson, 1972

Molded with rockite cement

Each unit acts as an individual housing component rather than apartment units. They are composed of two floors with a double height living room that is open to the sky. The open living room can be covered, creating a flexible use for the space, in addition to the protection from rain.

Bazzar Space

Type 1_apt. B

Type 1_apt. A

The enclosed “exterior” living room can provide a sense of unity with nature within a busy city of Atlanta. The separated rooms between two floors allows for a more privacy within household, furthermore, provides a vertical circulation which allows for an enlarged feeling of the space as one would move throughout the building units.

Collage with Precedent Study

-La Muralla Roja, 1968 by Ricardo Bofill

-Enrico Fermi School, 2019 by BDR bureau

ATLANTA BELTLINE ARTISTS COLLECTIVE FALL 2021 -

The Beltline Musicans Colletive is located on at the intersection of the Atlanta Beltline and North Highland Avenue that simultaneously comprise both a bridge and a portal. This unique / complex topography allows for a three-dimentional challenges that enhances its characteristics. The breif of the building includes music production and performance, an artist-in-residence, and café.

The project is developed through exploration of different artistic medias; music, art, dance, and architecture, to encounter and reflect each other.

Academic Project

Georgia Institute of Technology

3rd Year Studio

Instructor: George B. Johnston

Individual Project

As the Atlanta beltline proposes a new light rail project, the facade perpendicular to the beltline resembles the old Atlanta Union Station, which was unfortunately demolished in 1971.

Atlanta Union Staion, 1871

Collage with Étienne-Louis Boullée, Visonary Works

Iron Column on Beltline Phil Proctor, Installed in 2014 Corinthian column weighing over 13 tons, this 23-foot tall iron sculpture was created entirely out of historical railroad artifacts. The column represents Atlanta’s architectural and railroad history. The structure also recalls the Corinthian columns on the façade of the former Union Station, the city’s main railroad station, demolished in 1972.

7. Rond de jambe en l’air 8. Adagio

9. Grand Battement

4. Rond de jambe a terre 5. Frappe

6. Fondu

1. Plie 2. Tendu

3. Degage

Exterior Circulation Recording Studios “Grand Battement“

Barre Lessons model: myself

GOTHIC FIGURATION AND DEEP DECORATION FALL 2020 -

This project is developed through research and design, specifically working on the problem of decoration, which has been banned from architecture since the early 1900s. (“Ornament and Crime“ - Adolf Loos) With decoration generally being viewed in direct opposition to depth, the project focuses on how it can charge the atmosphere and space itself.

The project is divided into two parts. First being the research phase of figuration and configuration, where the C, J, S-figures are extracted and analyzed from Gothic Tracery. Then, the design phase focused on proposal for a newcomers club in the site of Chicago, to help immigrants be better acquainted with the chicago community.

Academic Project

Georgia Institute of Technology

2nd Year Studio

Instructor: Lars Spuybroek

Partner Project with Kayla Rinoski

1. Beauvais Cathedral, France, 13th C

2. Amiens Cathedral, France, 13th C.

3. Bordeaux Cathedral, France, 14th C

4. St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague, 14th C.

5. Strasbourg Cathedral, France, 13th C.

6. St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague, 14th C.

7. Church of St Peter and St Paul, England, 14th C

8. Canterbury Cathedral, England, 12th C.

9. Exeter Cathedral, England, 13th C.

10 Meaux Cathedral, France, 13th C

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C-Figure

J-Figure

S-Figure

Figuring

“Ornament and Crime“

-Adolf Loos

The eight-storey building is proposed in the corner site of Chicago, developed from C-figure “sheets“ created with Machine 4. The density of configuration determines the circulation paths within the structure. Ornament, decoration, charges the space: it does not wrap it, rather, ornament permeates space.

Chicago has one of the largest and most diverse immigrant populations in the country. The Newcomers Club will provide each member with opportunities to become better acquainted with the community.

Node Diagram

6. RESIDENTIAL FUNCTIONS 2800 SF Guestrooms, (6 @ 300 sf ea.) 1800 sf Guest Suites, (2 @ 500 sf ea.) 1000 sf

5. WELLNESS FUNCTIONS 4000 SF Locker Rooms, (2 @ 400 sf ea.) 800 sf Fitness Room, 800 sf Urban Garden, 1200 sf Counseling Center, 1200 sf

4. MEDIA INTERACTIVE FUNCTIONS 3600 SF Reading Room, 900 sf Interactive Rooms ,(4 @ 150 sf ea.) 600 sf Gallery, 600 sf Auditorium Multi-media Space 1500 sf

3. DINING ENTERTAINMENT FUNCTIONS 4250 SF Expresso Kiosks, (6 @ 75 sf ea.) 450 sf Lounge/Bar, 1200 sf Café Restaurant, 1200 sf Kitchen/Laundry Area, 600 sf Staff Lounge, 200 sf Staff Lockers, 600 sf

2. SERVICE CORE AREAS 2700 SF Mechanical Electrical Room, 400 sf Tel Data Closet, (@50 SF/level) Custodial (@ 50 SF/level) Service Loading area, 300 sf

1. RECEPTION ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS 1580 SF Lobby Wait Area, 600 sf Reception, 200 sf Coat Room/Storage,180 sf Administration Zone, 600 sf

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“Worm’s Eye Perspective into Slots”

Precedent: Sportbars, 1997, LTL Architects

Instead of simply wrapping the large volume with the sheets as if the are merely facades, they are multipled throughout the volume. The density of patterns create flexibility within spaces, allowing for programs to successfully adapt, as well as creating pathway within.

The nodes of “apple“ configuration patterns are thoroughly considered as it will become the structural nodes for beams.

ICELAND MOVIE PAVILION FALL 2022

The Iceland Movie Pavilion competition asks for a place to introduce visitors to Icelandic cinema, as well as to offer fans a place to gather and share their passion for film. The concept is developed with the idea of camera obscura, the view towards the volcanic mountains (real) is reflected to the cinematic screen. (artificial) Small gallery space with a bar to cater guests are included in the center of the paviliion.

Buildner Architecture Competition Team Project with Alex Zhang, Linna Xia Role: Representation, Concept Development

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Entrance

Camera Obscura

The next 4 pages showcase selected series of projects and conceptual proposals for my hometown Mashiki, Kumamoto which was severely affected by the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake disaster. As the Mashiki will go through town redevelopment for the upcoming years, this proposal will visualize the future townscape of Mashiki.

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Rebuilding a home for my family with BROCK architecture firm in Kumamoto Japan. The significant contribution I’ve made is the plan proposal, which recreates the atmosphere and circulation paths of our “old house“ built in mid Showa-era, in a cost-efficient and modern way. This project was built in 2019, and currently working on our exterior landscape design.

Residential Architects: BROCK architecture firm

Contribution: Plan Proposal Material Selection

Study Models

Post-Representation

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1. Takai House 2

2. Danchi

3. Tsujidanchi Park

4. Kouminkan

5. Ossuary

6. Intersection 1

7. Town Hall

8. Bus Stop

9. Intersection 2

10. Kiyama Shrine

11. Undo Koen

12. Bunka Kaikan

1. Entrance

2. Dining Room

3. Tatami (Living Room)

4. Bathroom

5. Bedroom

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Old House, Engawa

New House, View from the living room

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Precedent Study

La Muralla Roja, Alicante, Spain

Ricardo Bofill, 1973

MASHIKI, PREFAB PUBLIC HOUSING COMPLEX

“Danchi”, 団地 is a Japanese public housing complex provided by government authorities. Although danchi were the symbol of Japanese modernism in the 1950s-1970s, now the danchi serves as a lonely and sterile places, where neighbors rarely bothered to communicate with each other. This residential project will propose a new style of prefabricated housing complex, by experimenting with form composition to create intertwined courtyards within.

団地

Kumamoto Proposal Project Residential Individual

MASHIKI, TSUJIDANCHI PARK STUDY CARRELS 辻団地公園

This project was initially designed for Mason Building courtyard on Georgia Tech Campus. As found similarity in the site environment, the study carrel prototype is now placed in the unused park within the public housing complex in Mashiki, Kumamoto. The addition will create a quiet workspace for young adults outside.

Kumamoto Proposal Project / Academic Project

Georgia Institute of Technology

1st Year Studio

Instructor: Michelle Rinehart

Individual

Sibling 1 Sibling 2

A.M. Desk Light

P.M. Desk Light

Summer Wind