PORTFOLIO WANG MODI
This portfolio consists of 7 curated projects in Year 1 Sem 1 of my course of study in NUS Architecture. These projects is a mixture of individual and group efforts with my studio mates, where we envisioned and executed our understanding of the assignments. This portfolio could not be possible without the help and support from my studio mates, Dong Yuan, Aries, Yu Han, Hao Zhen, Ruige, Lava, Wen Xuan, Jolyon, Fran , Ashley and our tutor, Lee May Anne. This portfolio is the fruition of many long but fulfilling days and nights working in the studio.
12 Senses and Experience Field 2
A Sense of Scale: Yogyakarta 8
Constructing Our Intangible City
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Exploring the Possibility of Material 24
Biomimicry for Our Built Environment 32
Geometry and Composition in Structure
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Tropical Paradigm
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12 SENSES AND EXPERIENCE FIELD
THOUGHT Science knows that there are 12 human senses, but each sense has a specific influence on the human soul, and on human health as well. It is important for architects to be aware of this because the building and its environment can affect health. This is especially important for children, as their entire organism and soul life are developing. Professor Christian Rittelmeyer’s book: Introduction in the Building of School Buildings, gives proof that even architectural forms can have an influence on children’s health. Unless there are conscious efforts made by the designers of our physical environment, the world will be increasingly deprived of such senses and experiences. Commercialisation and infrastructurisation dominate our daily environment, leaving no spaces for humanity to experience the range and potential of our senses and emotions, and making it increasingly harder to stay healthy in our own being.
Aims
To gain an understanding of the relationship between our senses and built environment. To experience the 12 senses described in the WALDORF education and philosophy. To experiment with designing an environment which invokes our 12 senses.
Deliverables
A 1:10 scale model of the experience-field, 1 per person.
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CONCEPT The concept for our studio is to have the 12 different play stations, one for each of the 12 different senses, lined at the beaches of East Coast Park, where we can harness the breeze of the sea and the direct sunlight into part of our experience field. Hence the concept of the structures by the seaside can bring coherence and completeness to the overall form of all 12 stations. Each play station should highlight the significance of a certain sense and how it affects our daily lives.
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THOUGHT Sense of thought is how people understand and rationalise changes in their surrounding environment they experience using other senses. People experience changes in their environment with sight, smell or hearing, the process of them making a reaction to said change is when people use sense of thought to adapt to their surrounding environment.
LABYRINTH A labyrinth challenges the visitor’s sense of thought by complicating the direction and orientation of their path, where they will always have to look at their environment’s changes and make adaptations to their movement and direction.
VIEWING DECK People want to be rewarded for their actions or there will be reluctance to try out the experience. By navigating the maze to its end point, visitors will reach the viewing deck that offers the best view of the open sea. This way, they will be more willing to try out the labyrinth.
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1 | TOP VIEW
2 | ELEVATION
3 | VIEWING DECK
4 | USE OF MIRRORS
The entire structure will be elevated above sea level so visitors can remain dry from the experience.
The height of the walls is 1.2 m, which is taller than height of children. Parents will be able to supervise their children and prevent accidents in the labyrinth.
The viewing deck at the end of the labyrinth provides unobstructed and open view of the sea as a reward for completing the challenge.
Mirrors are used to create optical illusion which tricks their sense of sight of visitors and distort the environment. This will heighten the significance of sense of thought the visitor’s experience in the labyrinth.
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A SENSE OF SCALE
YOGYAKARTA A sense of scale is indispensable in understanding architecture and drawing. When we say a space is ‘tight’, ‘cosy’, or ‘oversized’ or overwhelming for a particular purpose, we are referring to a sense of ‘human scale’ or the measure of space required for human activity. The fine-scale measure of space and form for bodily movements for various tasks requires familiarity with the domain of study named anthropometry. An awareness of the human body’s dimensions also serves as a measure for estimation. A sense for proportion refers to dimensions of parts in relation to the whole and is essential in visual estimation when documenting what you see. Familiarity with different scales and the required level of details of construction is also fundamental to architectural drawing.
Aims
Understand the morphology of the old city and be able to discern neighbourhoods as sociomorphological units. Document and learn about anthropometry from the field, in street activities and everyday culture of the sidewalk and five-foot-way.
Deliverables
1x A2 sheet urban neighborhood preliminary study from Week 6/Fieldtrip, per team 1x A2 sheets urban neighborhood observation from Fieldtrip, per team 1x A2 sheets building facade and entrance plan at 1:50 scale with feature documentation (none-scale) from Fieldtrip, per student 1x A2 sheets sidewalk / five-foot-way documentation from Fieldtrip, per student
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CITY MAP 1:10 000 Scale
NEIGH
1:1000 Sc
JALAN K.H. AHMAD DAHLAN Our group decided to study and document the street of Jalan K.H. Ahmad Dahlan to look at the level of commercial activity and its effect on the surrounding architecture. It is relatively close to tourist hotspots such as Bank of Indonesia and the kraton at one end and closer to the river it has kampung communities line across narrow alleyways. This gradual contrast in urbanisation and commercial level makes it interesting to study how the locals interact with the architecture. We categorised the street to 3 different areas, fully commercialised area, where it was closer to the city centre, and aimed for tourists, in the middle section of the road, where it serves both tourists and the locals, it is for mixed use and finally closer to the river that solely serves the community living around the area. 10
COMMUNITY
MIXED USE
COMMERCIAL
This area consists of smaller shops that are aimed towards local residents
This area consists of a mixture of shops that are aimed towards both locals and tourists
The shops in this area has mostly English signages and are aimed towards tourists
HBOURHOOD MAP
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COMMERCIAL COMMERCIAL
1:500 Scale
OBSERVATION
ANALYSIS
Larger and taller buildings
In this region of commercialised buildings, the main economic activities take place in spacious malls. Since some signages are in English, this may indicate some businesses want to target at foreign tourists.
More modern architecture English signages There are relatively less noncommercialised buildings
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NON–COMMERCIAL
MIXED USE COMMERCIAL
1:500 Scale
OBSERVATION
ANALYSIS
Presence of shophouses
In this semi-commercialised area, businesses are housed in both large and small buildings. Businesses in larger buildings tend to target both locals and tourists while the smaller shops are intended for residents.
Mixture of small and large buildings There are relatively more noncommercialised buildings than the commercialised area
NON–COMMERCIAL
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COMMUNITY COMMERCIAL
1:500 Scale
OBSERVATION
ANALYSIS
Buildings are relatively smaller
In this community based area, businesses are operated in a much smaller scale, usually catered to residents within the community. The buildings are also smaller and closer to each other, helping to form stronger social bonds with the neighbourhood.
A lot of non-commercialised buildings Some shops are found within the communities of houses.
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NON–COMMERCIAL
YOGYAKARTA In late September 2017, the studio embarked on its first architecture trip to Yogyakarta, a city in Indonesia that is widely known as the soul of Indonesia’s culture, arts and heritage. The city contains architectural relics from 8th and 9th century, under Buddhist and Hindu dynasties in the past. Yogyarkarta has an interesting urban landscape that can be traced back to the heart of the city, the Kraton. The city expanded and developed with the Kraton as its centre till this day. In the modern day, Yogyakarta is one of the most developed cities in Indonesia, and the historical and cultural pluralism of the past few centuries are still in full display in Yogyakarta’s urban development and planning. This trip was very eye opening for me to experience architecture from centuries ago via site visits as well as have a better understanding of how a city morphs and sprawls outwards through the neighbourhood documentation done by our group.
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Residents use space to hang and dry their clothes.
Residents are seen to transport goods between the stores and their homes.
Residents have the convenience of using the space in front their house to park their motorbikes
Children use the space for ball games
The open porch at the junction is a meeting space for neighbours to chat and interact
JALAN R.E. MARTADINATA STREETFRONT DOCUMENTATION
The alleyway along Jalan R.E. Martadinata not only serves as a passageway between buildings, but also functions as a multi-use public space for the residents. I witnessed a variety of activities going on during my visit. The alleyway has been adapted by the local residents for daily activities as well as social interaction.
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MUSEUM SONOBUDOYO FACADE DOCUMENTATION
For the study of building facade, I visited Museum Sonobudoyo, which studied and appreciated Javanese culture. It showcased many important collections of traditional Javanese artifacts such as 8th century statutes and bronze work, traditional batik and wayang kulits (shadow puppets). However what attracted me to the architecture was the unique roof of the main building that looked like a trapezium. Such a roof structure and house type is known as the ‘joglo’ house of traditional Javanese origin.
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CONSTRUCTING OUR INTANGIBLE CITY
PRIVATE HOUSING Architecture is an art and synthesis of all those capacities. To become architects with such myriad capacities, it is essential that we be able to observe, feel with deep sincerity, and be empathetic to the people whom we serve as designers of their home and city. Only with such strong foundations and values can architects deploy their skill and technology for the betterment of our built environment. This week, studio will explore our ability to express ourselves via artistic processes called collage and collagraphy, in collaboration with Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI).
Aims
Collage and bricolage: Students will understand the notion of collage and bricolage in relationship to the formation and morphology of urban space and city. Technique: Collagraphy, Embossing, Frottage: Explore how to deploy the techniques in architectural drawing and documentation. Art and Architecture: Students will have an introduction to the art works and exhibition at STPI, to cultivate an understanding of how artists conceptualise their art works and carefully put their ideas and processes together when crafting their works.
Deliverables
Collagraphy, Embossing, and Frottage works incorporating the spoken words and photographs, to be done by each studio. Construct a Freeformat installation in the gallery space at STPI.
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CONCEPT In this week’s project, our studio wanted to explore aesthetic representation of morphology and landscapes of the different residential neighbourhoods in Singapore, in particular about private housing areas, that are highly non-uniform in their aesthetics that set them apart from government HDBs. Most of this neighbourhoods are hidden in lush green canopies in quiet and secluded roads that are intentionally kept away from the bustling city life, in the form of tranquil and peaceful retreats.
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We studied 11 different neighbourhoods and documented their uniqueness of the urban landscape: different neighbourhoods with neat rows of semi-detached houses or secluded bungalows with its own swimming pools and large backyards. We opted to use show the different layers of textures – houses, green canopy and swimming pools to highlight these urban retreats that make up part of urban neighbourhoods in Singapore.
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1 | GROUP PRESENTATION
2 | INDIVIDUAL AREA
3 | DIFFERENT LAYERS
4 | FROTTAGE METHOD
This is our group presentation of our works which documents a total of 11 private housing estates in Singapore’s different neighbourhoods. This allows us to highlight the difference of private housing estates from public housing ones: the varying sizes of the houses and the sense of urban escapism in the layout.
The estate I documented is at Dover Rise, which is listed in URA as a Good Class Bungalow Area (GCBA), the buildings are sparse and further apart, they are also larger and surrounded by large trees and contain their own swimming pools.
The work consists of 3 layers usually seen in architectural maps: the bottom layer is the plan view of the houses, the second layer is the water bodies(swimming pools) of the houses, followed by the top layer which is the green canopy that envelops the houses.
The houses are represented by the carbon outlines created by frottage, a method of rubbing a piece of paper against a popped up map’s uneven surface area to create the outlines of the bungalow’s sizes and forms.
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EXPLORING THE POSSIBILITY OF MATERIAL
CANE-DY WALL “Exploring the Possibility of Material” gives the participants the possibility to develop and test sustainable construction materials made from renewable resources. The workshop is guided by theoretical concepts of urban metabolism, circular economies and sustainability. Students will learn about material flows and stocks, urban mining and material transformation. All modern construction materials make the best use of specific material properties. Some exhibit good compressive strength (for instance earth) while others better tensile strength (for instance bamboo). So-called composite materials make the best use of two or more material properties by combining specific base materials (for instance bamboo- reinforced earth).
Aims
Identify a scarce resource (natural, artificial, energetic, waste product, space). Describe the pressure this resource exercises on an ecosystem & the consequences of a ‘conventional’ continuous resource exploitation or waste accumulation. Speculate on the potential of your resource and identify the gap in perception. Explain your approach to activate it and describe the external parameters necessary to make this approach viable. Assess the resource in terms of renewability, sustainability and innovation. Apply a transformation technique to the resource and produce an object that could be considered a building material. Develop and document this technique or tool. Deliverables
2x A2 boards, graphic presentation of the process per group (3-4 students) A physical material sample or model per group
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CONCEPT In Singapore, we face a shortage of natural resources that are vital to building and construction. One of the key components of building construction is the use of concrete to make bricks for construction. Concrete uses sand as one its raw ingredients and we are extracting sand at a faster rate than that at which is naturally replenishes. Concrete cannot be recycled to make bricks again and hence it is a downward cycle of extracting more resources to make concrete.
In 2016, Singapore discarded about 790000 tonnes of food waste that was worth $200 million. There is a lot of possibilities for sustainable building materials if we can tap into these food wastes and make them usable again.
SUGARCANE BAGASSE
EGGSHELLS
Sugarcane drinks are very well received in the hot and humid climate of Singapore. After the juices is squeezed out, the inedible waste is often thrown away.
Eggs are used in many favourite local dishes like fried carrot cake, however the eggshells are often discarded due to its smell and possibility of diseases.
Eggshells have high fibre content and hence makes it a good tensile element for renewable bricks.
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In order to be more self-reliant and sustainable in the long run, it is better if we can look around us for other alternatives to replace the use of concrete in making bricks.
Eggshells are able to withstand a high amount of force and hence acts as a good compression member.
EXPERIMENTATION PROCESS
1 Collect sugarcane waste and eggshells from hawker centre
2 Tear sugarcane to get fibers
3 Remove membrane from eggshell
4 Crush eggshells smaller sizes
5 Mix binder in proportion
6 Layer elements evenly in tray
7 Apply binder between layers
8 Heat in oven at 250oC for 30 min
to
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EXPERIMENT 1
ANALYSIS As we are exploring the possibility of the alternative brick made from food wastes, we used different layers and methods in preparing the materials. The bricks are then tested are their water absorption, permeability and strength of the products which follow the process explained before.
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EXPERIMENT 2
SUGARCANE FIBRE
SUGARCANE FIBRE
YEAST AND RICE FLOUR
YEAST AND RICE FLOUR
SUGARCANE FIBRE
SUGARCANE FIBRE
YEAST AND RICE FLOUR
YEAST AND RICE FLOUR
EGGSHELLS (BLENDED)
EGGSHELLS (POWDERED)
ABSORPTION
ABSORPTION
PERMEABILITY
PERMEABILITY
STRENGTH
STRENGTH
EXPERIMENT 3
EXPERIMENT 4
EXPERIMENT 5
SUGARCANE FIBRE
SUGARCANE FIBRE
EGG MEMBRANE
YEAST AND RICE FLOUR
SUGARCANE FIBRE
SUGARCANE FIBRE
SUGARCANE FIBRE
GELATIN
YEAST AND RICE FLOUR
YEAST AND RICE FLOUR
EGGSHELLS
SUGARCANE FIBRE
SUGARCANE FIBRE
SAWDUST
EGGSHELLS
ABSORPTION
ABSORPTION
ABSORPTION
PERMEABILITY
PERMEABILITY
PERMEABILITY
STRENGTH
STRENGTH
STRENGTH
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EXPERIMENT 1
EXPERIMENT 5
This experiment created a possible product that has a concentration of eggshell on one side and high concentration of sugarcane bagasse on the other. This resulted in the brick to be very strong on the eggshells side and quite brittle on the other. The gaps between the crushed eggshells allows air and water to flow through the brick.
Similar to Experiment 1, the concentration of eggshells and sugarcane bagasse is polarised on the two sides of the brick. However as bigger pieces of eggshells is used, the brick is able to retain more compressive strength then its predecessor. There is also sugarcane used in this experiment, hence it can absorb more water as well. There are also larger gaps as well foe better air permeability.
However we believe their is still potential for a stronger product if we increased the quantity of eggshells and how the layers are placed.
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Overall Experiment 5 creates a brick that has many of the features required for it to be feasible to be used as an alternative replacement for concrete to make bricks. Te main limitation however, is the lifespan of the materials, which decomposes after 4 to 6 weeks.
VENTILATED WALLS
WALL PLANTER
FERTILISER BLOCK
The bricks are highly permeable and when used to build houses and shelters, it will allow air to pass in and out the building for better ventilation and cooling.
When the brick is used to build walls, its high nutrients content can allow plants and wall creepers to grow on it and hence it will beautify and cool the building.
Alternatively, the bricks can also be used as fertiliser blocks for plants to grow in. Eggshells are high in calcium and bagasse has high fibre content, both of which can be used as nutrients by the plant
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BIOMIMICRY FOR OUR BUILT ENVIRONMENT
YGGDRASIL TOWER Our planet, Earth, faces devastating environmental challenges. Its surface has been severely damaged, and much wildlife has been destroyed. Natural resources have become dangerously scarce, to the point where they can no longer sustain the whole population of the planet. The population has risen to over 10 billion, and wars and food shortages have displaced millions of people, forcing them to migrate to urban areas. As a result, urban areas have required high-density development to accommodate the large numbers of people. People are living in super high-rise towers in these areas – towers that have been designed to perform like a bio-organism, to seamlessly integrate into the lives of humanity. These super towers have been designed to provide the population with five basic, essential needs: Air (wind), Water, Sun, Soil (ground), and Trees. The super tower has its own cycle of ecology, and the five so-called ‘elemental super towers’ have been designed according to the principle of Biomimicry.
Aims
With this undesirable yet plausible scenario in mind, the future architects are asked to come up with the design of the five ‘elemental towers’ according to the principles of Biomimicry. The task is to define each element in terms of the natural resources required, then to design each super tower to be able to harness its resources. Each tower is rather mono-functional. The tower should be 1,189 metres tall and the building’s exterior parameter cannot exceed 841 metres. Deliverables
One tower model in 1/10,000 scale (1cm=10m) per 2–3 students.
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CONCEPT In the future, due to mass deforestation and pollution, the largest rainforest of the world are destroyed and only semblances of natural habitat are left in the world. In many urban areas, due to lack of trees and green plants, there is rampant pollution and alarmingly high temperatures. Animals and wildlife also lose their natural habitat and face extinction as a result.
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YEAR 5
YEAR 10
PINE CONE
TROPICAL RAINFOREST
Pine cones have one of the best natural water collection systems found in nature. The scales of a seed-bearing cone opens up in response to change in humidity. The scales are slanted inwards to collect rain water and allow it to flow towards the core.
Tropical rainforests are home to a variety of wildlife that coexists due to its different layers that carry out different functions. The emergent layer provides shade and shelter, the canopy layer bear fruits to attract wildlife to form habitats, the understory layer that makes up most of the smaller, individual plants and animal habitats.
The scales found in a pine cone can be replicated into the shapes of our module units, that are slanted inwards to collect more water for growth of wildlife.
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Hence our concept is to create a supertower that can function as a vertical rainforest in dense urban environments that follows the properties of natural rain forests, so as to provide habitats for wildlife and allow the reinvigoration of trees to alleviate the effects of air pollution and global warming. The tower will be made of different modulated units for easy transportation of trees and wildlife.
We can identify and mimic the functions of each layer of the rain forest. This allows the tower to maximise its function to create an entire habitat for wildlife and plantation growth.
FOREST MIST SLANTED TILTS Tilts which mimic the properties of tree branches can be used to hold up nests for birds to set up their nests.
The top layer form forest mist from photosynthesis to cool the air in the morning.
WILDLIFE HABITAT Animals form living habitats here and aid in seed dissemination and reproduction of plants and trees
MODULES NATURE PARK The individual module can be converted to nature parks and reservoirs to give men in the future some escapism from the dense urban environment.
Fitted modules allows trees to grown and moved a more suitable location.
A CHANCE OF NATURE The modules here can be turned into natural trails and parks to give man another chance to witness the beauty of nature.
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1 | ELEVATION The tower mimics the layers of a rain forest, from top to bottom: emergent layer, canopy layer, understory layer and forest floor. Each layer carries different functions and the whole structure works in the same way as a rainforest .
2 | EMERGENT LAYER The emergent layer houses the largest and the luscious trees. Hence the modules are larger to enable the trees to receive more sunlight to provide more shelter and shade.
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3 | CANOPY LAYER This layer consists of modules that also serves as habitats for animals such as birds. The openings consists of shelter and resting places for the animals. Slanted tiles to hold nests are also found here.
4 | TOP VIEW From the top view, the modules can be seen to spread out in an octagonal manner which allows plants to receive water and sunlight from all directions throughout the day. 37
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GEOMETRY AND COMPOSITION IN STRUCTURE
THE VERTEBRAE + THE SNOWFLAKE Technics are the details and methods of architecture: its means of fabrication and production, and its method of joining, sealing, and fixing‌. In natural history the origin of form is through the interaction of inorganic and organic chemical structures under the influence of living evolution. In Mathematics form is expressed as abstract relationship that can be constructed as a geometrical form. From which ever starting point in the contemplation of its origin, Materials and the way they are brought together into form space is the central act in the creation of architecture. The appreciation of the nature of materials becomes the starting point of tectonics.
Aims
By considering wood and by limiting the absolute linear dimension of each form to no more than 100mm the following: A. Bridge a gap between two parallel edges 600mm apart. (Span) B. enclose a square void of 400mm X400mm (Dome) The minimum rise of the span is to be no less than 50mm. The load at mid-point as a point load shall be two full coke cans in weight. Deliverables
Geometry and composition was considered by Wren to be the sources of all Beauty. Hence the ability to detect, read geometry and then to recompose to achieve space form becomes fundamental to the operation of design.
Two models A1 drawing of the plan, elevation and section of the models at 1:2 scale A Report with picture of process models.
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CONCEPT
INDIVIDUAL MODULES
Our objective for the bridge is to create an elegant and efficient structure that bridges a gap between two parallel edges (600mm) apart. The human body already contains a load bearing structure that is our vertebrae. It is created by smaller bones joined together to form one structure that is able to bend to a certain degree to distribute the forces exerted on it. We hope to biomimic the principle of load distribution of the vertebrae and understand the architecture inside the human body.
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We chose hexagon as our primary shape. In nature, hexagon is one of the sturdiest shapes that contributes to the structure’s stability. For each individual piece, the shape follows a regular 2.0cm edged hexagon. Some of the hexagons have slots angled in specific angles to constitute our repetitive module in forming a perfect arch.
SLOTTING
ABUTMENT
As shown in the photo, the bridge was made up of modules in “H” shapes by interlocking the horizontal and vertical units. The vertical units in the “H” shapes are used to withstand the strong bending force that caused by the load.
The slotting of the abutment is slanted so as to allow the bridge to be placed between two tables.
ELEVATION
SIDE ELEVATION
PLAN
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1 | TRUSS SYSTEM
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2 | ARCH BRIDGE
The hexagon pieces joined together follows the same Using angled modules, we can join them together to form principles of a truss system, hence allows the bridge to an arch bridge. Arch bridges have great natural strength. The load of the arch is carried outward along the curve to the withstand both compression and tensile forces. supports at the two ends. The supporting components at both ends prevent the arch bridge from collapsing when it is under loading condition.
3 | JOINING OF PIECES The hexagonal pieces are joined together to 2 or more other pieces to ensure the structure is reinforced in order to carry more weight and increase its efficiency. The bridge is able to carry weight 12.3 times heavier than its own weight without collapsing.
CONCEPT Our objective for the dome is to create an aesthetically pleasing and efficient dome structure that encloses a square void of 400mm X 400mm. The snowflake is considered to be one of nature’s most beautiful shapes and it is balanced with 6 same branches that protrudes outwards. We hope to study its shape and apply its properties of balance and stability in our design of the dome.
INDIVIDUAL MODULES We again chose hexagon as our primary shape. Hexagon modules are very flexible in its usage to form different three dimensional shapes. For our dome, there is only one type of module with 6 openings. Each opening is located at the centre of each side of the hexagon. Such modules allows more modules to be fitted together to create a sturdy structure.
SLOTTING As shown in the photo, each piece of hexagon is joined to two or more pieces. This will help to reinforce the structure, making it stronger to bear load. Although this method will increase the weight of the structure, it is a necessary step to increase its efficiency.
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PLAN
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ELEVATION
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1 | ELEVATION OF DOME
2 | SHAPE OF DOME
3 | JOINING OF PIECES
The dome is a rounded vault with a narrow centre and a stable and wide base, it prevents the dome from collapsing when loaded. The shape and the joining of the pieces in such a manner to carry more than 18 times its own weight, making it a very efficient load bearing structure.
Following our inspiration, the dome looks like a snowflake from the top. When loaded at the middle point of the dome, the multiple arches are able to effectively distribute the weight of the load throughout the dome.
In our dome, each member is in high tension with each other. This allows the dome to withstand high amounts of compression forces as the horizontal modules serve as tensile members pulling the modules together. This prevents the dome from collapsing when the dome is under loading condition. 45
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TROPICAL PARADIGM
TIDES OF CHANGE “Are those involved aware that they have perhaps unwittingly legitimised the primacy of the cube and the surface plane as the language of form and space applied to the problem of tropical aesthetics notwithstanding the physics of tropical design?” Tay Kheng Soon As prospective architects educated and trained in the tropical region, how would you weave the threads of the language of form and space to define architecture that is deeply rooted in the climate, culture, and context of Singapore?
Aims
Quantitatively, we will test the envelope with an electronic fan and a spotlight, placing a flag in the middle and observing if the flag can sway in horizontal wind direction. The more sway of the flag and the less area under direct lighting, the better. The protection from rain will be assessed by looking the model from above; no holes are expected to be seen from that position on top of the central area. Qualitatively, we will experience the work by removing the base and putting our heads inside the envelope, to see if we can reveal a successful manifestation of the statement on tropicality in architecture. Please also consider the effect of lighting on the box. Deliverables
One model per team create an envelope that encloses a square void of 600 mm x 600 mm, or a circle of 600 mm diameter.
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CONCEPT This project is site specific to the Ancient Civilisation Museum, where we are tasked to create a pavilion that can provide shelter in the tropical climate. We chose to represent civilisations through their life cycle – from their creation to stability and their eventual down fall, which almost graphs as a tide that rises slowly and then falls. We also wanted to highlight the importance of ancient architecture hence we opted to explore wood joining methods employed by ancient civilisations to strengthen our concept.
CONSTRUCTION
PROGRESS
DESTRUCTION
DOUGONG The joining system in our pavilion was inspired by the ancient Chinese carpentry. A unique wooden interlocking system that does not use any nails that is created in ancient China, it is considered to be on of the most important elements in Chinese architecture. Such a joining methods fits our theme about representing the rise and fall of Asian civilisations through architecture. 48
9 AM
12 PM
4 PM
SHADOW ANALYSIS These images depict the casting of shadows onto the pavilion according to the movement of the sun. The shadow of the modular joints that make up the structure can be seen to be exaggerated to different proportions and increase the intensity to the viewer.
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1 | EXPERIENCE The repetition of joints can amplify the magnificence of the structure to viewers. They can also inspect the joints close up and learn about the ancient Chinese architecture method.
2 | FACADE The structure has an irregular form that depicts the unsettling and fluid nature of waves. Horizontal beams also depict the rise and progress of civilisation in our context.
4 3 | JOINING OF PIECES The entire structure is built by modules that are layer on top of each other as the pavilion peaks upwards. Such joints highlights the significance of dougong which fits our concept of ancient civilisations.
4 | VENTILATION The noticeably open nature of our pavilion and wide gaps between the joints supports natural ventilation, and the channeling of air and cools the sheltered area.
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