Thien “Ping” Doan Architecture Portfolio
Iowa State University
Mobile
Design Studies 102 Project Type: Art Installation Duration: 4 Weeks Loction: College of Design Partners: Noah Tornabane, Alexa Maher
The mobile is a project from my second semester of being in the design core at Iowa State. The goal was to interperet a song, and create an installation from the feelings we felt from that song. My group’s song was “Kids” by One Republic. We identified a carefree childlike playfulness in the song. We physically interperted this as a visually appealing, lounging structure. We faced many design challenges while trying to bring our idea to physical form; structure, construction, netting, materials. We applied many skills we knew, and learned many new ones to bring our idea to life: Model making, wookworking, digital modeling (revit), weaving, etc. Our hammock weave manged to hold 2 people comforably (4 uncomfortably), and our structure was still light and movable. With the orange sail on top as the final piece, our project sucessfully created a playful lounging experience.
Concept
Structural solution
Fabrication & Construction
Making 4x4s out of 2x4s, and painting them
Fabrication & Construction
Bracing for added structural integrity
Hand woven hammock made of paracord
Pape Bird Tower Architecture 201
Project Type: Tower, Competition Duration: 3 Weeks Loction: Latvia Partners: Allison Morgan
The Pape Bird Observation Tower Competition was my second project in my first semester in the professsional architecture program. The competition was to design a new observation tower in Latvia to replace the old one that burned down. The clients holding the competition wanted the tower to be a cultural landmark, so a creative and visually appealing form was a necesity. My partner and my tower features a red steel core, that has stairs, railing, and platforms connected. The stairs are made of timber. The winding path of the stairs creates an interesting form that invites people to climb and explore. Our tower’s design allows for a 360 degree, uninterrupted view of the site, perfect for bird watching.
landing Viewing Platform
Structural Diagram
Landings and Platforms
Approach
Downtown Dwelling Architecture 201
Project Type: Dwelling Duration: 5 Weeks Loction: Downtown Ames Partners: None, Individual Project
My final project in my first semester, was to design a building that would replace an existing building in downtown Ames. My professor decided the theme for our specific studio would be to “disrupt downtown Ames�. I interpreted this by creating a modern looking building with an angular white facade. The intent was to introduce an element so different to the downtown Ames area, that it might encourage others to stray away form the traditional red brick facade of a historical downtown area. The building features a 2 story atrium open to the public to relax and socialize, while the remainging 3 stories are private residence spaces.
Floor Plans
Section
Presentation Board
Forces on Site: Collages Architecture 202
Project Type: Begining of a studio wide, semester-long, design-build project Duration: 2 Days Loction: Reiman Gardens Partners: None, Individual Project
In the second semester in the architecture program, we began a semester-long project where we would design an installation for a client, and build it ourselves as a class of 78. We began by identifying forces on the site, that would affect our design (wind, rain, sun, etc.). We then abstracted them into collages, and drawings. The forces I choose to represent in my collages were the seasons of Winter, Spring, and Summer. Winter is distorted, and creates a desire for warmer times. Spring starts to bring back green to the area, and Summer is a bright and happy time.
Winter
Spring
Summer
Forces: Drawing Architecture 202
Project Type: Drawing Duration: 2 Days Loction: N/A Partners: None, Individual Project
36”x24” Board
I expanded on my theme of seasons to how the sun will affect our site. I abstracted our site’s topography and its largest trees. The drawing represents how, as the sun moves around the Earth, and the earth tilts, it will affect the shading and color of our site. Winter is not inlcuded in this drawing`because it is not a season that will affect our installation for our client.
Ebb & Flow Architecture 202
Project Type: First Proposal to Reiman, Installation Duration: 4 Days Loction: Reiman Gardens Partners: Studio of 15
Ebb & Floww is our first proposal to our client. Ebb & Flow is an undulating form created by metal frames, and infilled with iridescent panels to create playful and colorful shadows. The form is informed by the forces we identified and the topography of the site. Our form integrates the sloping ditch in the middle of our site, to create a seating and relaxing space. We worked with our studio of 15 students to create this proposal. My role was to create the form and structure, based off of earlier iterations. I created the model in Rhino, and drawings and renders were then extracted from it. I took an active leadership role in this project, by leading and encouraging discussion.
Force-based Siting
South
North
East
West
Pod 1 Section
Pod 2 Section
Detailed Model
Pod 2 Section
Ebb & Flow 2.0 Architecture 202
Project Type: Installation Duration: 2 Days Loction: Reiman Gardens Partners: Jacob Gasper, Cycle King, Jaya Tolefree, Jay Borgman
After our proposal to our client, we identified the strong points of our design to be the undulating form, and the colorful infills and the weak points to be its costly materials and construction. To address the the cost issue, we created a systyem of modules to create a new form, that would still retain an undulating form, with playful colors. Our new form allows for adults and childen to climb on top of our structure, and sit or lay on the hammock/mesh infill, while also being able to climb below and enjoy the colorful hammock from underneath.
Proposed materials and connections
Long & Short Section
Singel Module
The module for this design is based off of regular lengthed poles connected at specific angles. When the poles are connected, it creates a rigid and angular shape, but when the net is infilled into the four quadrants of the module, this creates a facade-like envelope on the frame. This results in an angular module, yet appearing to be curved and waving.
Tangled Architecture 202
Project Type: Installation, Second proposal to Reiman Duration: 3 Days Loction: Reiman Gardens Partners: Group of 11
Tangled is our second proposal to our client. This iteration focused much more on a large form and the soft hammock infill. The design of tangled was heavily informed by many iterations of work from across all our studios, including siting, modularity, infill, framing, and structure. The design of tangled uses a modular timber frame, connected at various angles to create a form that integrates itself into the site’s topography and existing vegetation. The frames are infilled with a netting that allows for people to climb, sit, and get under like in previous iterations. This project group was meant to focus on the structure and form. Other groups worked on how to integrate netting and colorful panels into this design, which is why the net has white as a placeholder color.
Compressive vs Expansive Spaces
Materiality
Net connection
Expected Circulation
Connections
Footing
Possible Joints
Long Section
Short Section