Richard Chou Portfolio 2019

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RICHARD CHOU


RICHARD CHOU

412.352.8929 | richardchou81@gmail.com | www.richardchou.com

EDUCATION Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design Columbia University, New York, NY | May 2019 • Teaching Associate - Digital Techniques | June 2019 - Sept 2019 • Graduate Teaching Assistant – Urban Design Studio | Jan 2019 - May 2019 • Student Ambassador – Urban Design Open House | Sept 2018 - May 2019 Bachelor of Architecture & Minor in Psychology Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA | May 2016 • Undergraduate Teaching Assistant – Generative Modeling | 2015 - 2016 • Class Representative – School of Architecture Advisory Council | 2015 - 2016 • President – Taiwanese Students Association | 2014 - 2015

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT • MIT Beyond Smart Cities – Course Certificate | MIT Media Lab | 2019 • LEED Certification – Green Associate | USGBC | 2018 • Architectural Experience Program (AXP) – 70% complete | NCARB | 2015 - Present

EXPERIENCE Computational Designer Kohn Pedersen Fox, New York, NY | Aug 2019 - Current • Create computational solutions to advance schematic design of a large-scale transportation hub, optimizing environmental and structural performance while balancing spatial experience. • Synthesize complex design solutions through analysis & visualization to create client-facing design reports. Digital Technologist Cannon Design, Baltimore, MD | Jul 2016 - Apr 2018 • As the office Digital Practice Leader performed Building Information Management (BIM), developed computational tools, and communicated between stakeholder, planner, and architect • Developed a parametric design tool that visualizes building program planning into 3D massing • Performed agent-based occupancy and circulation simulation for schematic designs Architect I Cannon Design, Baltimore, MD | Jul 2016 - Apr 2018 • Designated project BIM Manager for a healthcare facility over the course of three months • Detailed healthcare & academic projects through Design Development & Construction Development • Conducted research and design of various feasibility studies and project proposals

RECOGNITION • • • •

Neighborhood Design Center – Project of the Year | 2018 Mars City Design Competition – Finalist | 2016 EPIC Metals Design Competition – Second Place | 2014 NCMA Concrete Design Competition – Second Place | 2014

SKILLS COMPUTATION Grasshopper Processing Python/ SQL

ANALYTICS ArcGIS / QGIS Microsoft Excel Energy Modeling

DESIGN Adobe Creative Suite Autodesk Revit Rhino 6

LANGUAGE English (native) Chinese (native)


URBAN DESIGN

p. 5

COMPUTATION

p. 27

RESEARCH

p. 49



URBAN DESIGN


CREATING A BLUE-GREEN NETWORK FOR A HEALTHIER ECO-SMART PUNE THE MIDDLE-GROUND URBAN ECO-NETWORK Spring 19 - Urban Design Global Studio Richard Chou, Huang Qiu, Tina Peng

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

The Middle-ground Urban Ecology Network is a next-century model for balancing urban development with ecological and cultural assets in the city’s periphery. Today, Pune’s rapid urbanization of its agricultural periphery neglects important principles of sustainable growth, leading to increased pollution, water scarcity, and social divide. Current degradation and the proposed concretization of the Mula-Mutha river and its streams (nallahs) are leading to the loss of typological spectrum.

MIDDLE GROUND LOW GROUND NALA TOPO

We propose a focus on the “middle-ground” — the critical buffer zone between urban development on the high ground, and water on the low ground. It will become a blueURBAN DEVELOPMENT green network to provide effective stormwater management, productive wetlands as well as civic spaces that ensure the Right to MIDDLE GROUND the City for all Pune’s Citizens. URBANDEVELOPMENT DEVELOPMENT URBAN

LOW GROUND NALA

MIDDLE MIDDLEGROUND GROUND

LOW GROUND NALA TOPO

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TOPO

Typology diagram comparing current urbanizing pattern with proposed ecocentric urbanizing strategy


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The current development pattern reinforces the encroachment and exploitation of local livelihoods and ecology. Our project proposes to change the current pattern by creating water and ecology oriented development, and design for social equity. We Identified the ‘relative’ middle ground via surface water-flow analysis across the site topography, creating micro-watersheds that highlights the important wetlands within the region.

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URBAN DEVELOPMENTS URBAN DEVELOPMENTS OVERLAPPING MIDDLE GROUND MIDDLE GROUND OVERLAPPING

URBAN DEVELOPME MIDDLE GROUND

URBAN DEVELOPMENTS URBAN DEVELOPMENTS NEAR NEAR MIDDLEMIDDLE GROUND GROUND

URBAN DEVELOPME MIDDLE GROUND

URBAN DEVELOPMENTS FURTHERFURTHER URBAN DEVELOPMENTS

URBAN DEVELOPME

MIDDLE GROUND MIDDLE GROUND

MIDDLE GROUND LOW GROUND

LOW GROUND LOW GROUND

HIGH GROUND

HIGH GROUND HIGH GROUND

BLUE-GREEN NETWO NALA

BLUE-GREEN NETWORK BLUE-GREEN NETWORK

NALLAH NALA

MIDDLE GROUND

PMC BOUNDRY

LOW GROUND

The Middle-ground Urban Ecology Network is a next-century model for balancing urban development with ecological and cultural assets in the city’s periphery. Starting with the government supported protective zoning, the network will leverage new developments to co-develop the middle ground maintained by development policy, corporate contributions, and community stewardship. HIGH GROUND

BLUE-GREEN NETWORK NALA

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By being strategic with where urban density is placed, the Middle ground can become a place of collective green space and the critical buffer for urban resilience. The middle ground will be the blue-green network that provides effective stormwater management through three distinct typologies described here.

COMMUNITY GARDEN WELL M-H CONT. H-H CONT.

MARKET FARMLAND PLAYGROUND

HIGH-GROUND CONNECTION BIKE LANE

FARMHOUSE OPEN WELL PERMEABLE LANE POCKET PARK L-M CONT.

FARM LAND

CROP FIELD PRESERVATION ZONE

MIDDLE-GROUND CONNECTION

FILTRATION BRIDGE VEGETATION FILTRATION SYSTEM L-L CONT.

LOW GROUND CONNECTION 10

FARMLAND CROP FIELD/ WATER HOLDING


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MARKET/ EATERIES

TRANSPORTATION

PLAZA

WELL

AGRICULTURE

VEGETATION

FILTRATION

A comprehensive storm-water management system can protect settlements on the high ground, and replenish natural wetland and the low ground. At the same time, the middle ground can provide space for public amenities and urban agriculture, giving Pune a much needed healthy common ground that benefits the water system, ecology, and people from all walks of life ensuring the Right to the City for all Pune’s citizens.

Proposed here is a next century model that shifts from land-use based urbanism to water-based urbanism. With the urban ecology network in place, Pune can become the first “eco-smart” city of India. 12


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CREATING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ALONG THE UPPER HUDSON VALLEY

ALBANY-HUDSON GROWTH CORRIDOR Fall 18 - Urban Design Regional Studio Lorena Galvao, Richard Chou, Peijou Shih, Jinsook Lee

ALBANY Albany

Rensselaer RENSSELAER County

Albany ALBANY COUNTY

COUNTY

County

HUDSON Hudson

“How do we create a balance between healthy and productive growth and healthy and productive communities?�

Greene GREENE COUNTY

Columbia COLUMBIA County

County

The Albany-Hudson Growth Corridor concentrates the future and currently dispersed growth in the Upper Hudson Valley. Today, the Hudson Valley is losing farmland, forests and open space that support the regional food systems as well as its value as a rural and pastoral landscape. The growing and expanding population in the Albany metropolitan region threatens to worsen land use pattern cause by sprawl. Thus, the Upper Hudson Valley must adopt effective ways to protect its ecosystem while strengthening existing communities.

COUNTY

NEW CITY New YorkYORK City

With the Growth Corridor in place, the Upper Hudson Valley region will grow sustainably in the next few decades, concentrating new housing and social life along the corridors while preserving open space and farmland outside the Corridor. The Albany-Hudson Growth Corridor enables better connections to the Albany metropolitan region, focusing development, and maintaining the rural character of the region.

ALBANY

ALBANY

ALBANY

URBAN GROWTH CORRIDOR

URBAN GROWTH CORRIDOR

CONSERVATION LAND FARMLAND

LEGEND AMTRAK (PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION) Amtrak (Public Transportation)

Hospitals (Health Care Services) HOSPITALS (HEALTH CARE SERVICES) WALMART (MARKET AREA) Walmarts (Market Areas) CATCHMENT AREA Catchment Areas POST OFFICES Post Offices

HUDSON CATSKILL

AMENITIES Amenities SIGNIFICANT BIODIVERSITY Significant Biodiversity AreasAREA FLOOD ZONE 2100 (6FT LEVEL) Flood Zone byBY 2100 (6ft SeaSEA Level Rise)

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Farmlands Greenlands

HUDSON

CATSKILL

HUDSON

CATSKILL


ALBANY URBAN AREA

ALBANY Albany

FOOTPRINT: 22 sq mi POPULATION: 98,251

15.4 TONS CO2 /PERSON

ALBANY POPULATION: 98,251

RENSSELAER POPULATION: 9,264 RENSSELAER Rensselaer

CLINTON HEIGHTS

POPULATION: 16,473 EAST GREENBUSH East Greenbush

ALBANY METRO REGION FOOTPRINT: 242 sq mi POPULATION: 864,012

EAST SCHODACK East Schodack

NASSAU Nassau

NASSAU

POPULATION: 4,789

NORTH CHATHAM North Chatham

KINDERHOOK LAKE Kinderhook Lake NIVERVILLE Niverville

KINDERHOOK Kinderhook

VALATIE Valatie

KINDERHOOK LAKE NIVERVILLE

POPULATION: 1,662

VALATIE

POPULATION: 1,878

STUYVESANT FALLS POPULATION: 251

STUYVESANT Stuyvesant FallsFALLS

STOCKPORT Stockport

34.8 TONS CO2 /PERSON

COLUMBIA & RENSSELAER SUBURBAN AREA FOOTPRINT: 22 sq mi POPULATION: 98,251

STOTTVILLE Stottville

LORENZ PARK

BIG RETAIL Big BOX Box Retails

LORENZ PARK Lorenz Park COLUMBIA MEMORIAL HEALTH Columbia Memorial Hospital

POPULATION: 2,053

HUDSON

POPULATION: 6,239

HUDSON Hudson Catskill CATSKILL

CATSKILL

POPULATION: 5,141

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Mobile Services Institutions

Partnership

Mix Used Building Development

Service Trucks begin at institutions carrying resources & professionals

Pavement

Health Care

Commuting through the urban growth corridor via Route 9

2 Family Houses

Building Height Regulation

Groceries

1 Family Houses

Moving along the greenway across the hamlets Affordable Housing

Building Height Regulation

Amazon

Park

Providing services at civic centers to the community

Public Spaces

Building Height Regulation Libraries Park

Affordable Housing

Public Spaces

Public Spaces

The Growth Corridor better connects the region, and provides better services through mobile programs, while creating civic spaces along the hamlets. It strengthens the Upper Hudson Valley counties by connecting to Albany metropolitan region. 16

0,5 Mile - 10 minute walkable distance Most Vibrant Diversity Most Concentrated Area New Buildings


COLUMBIAVILLE COLUMBIAVILLE

2020

HUDSON RIVER HUDSON RIVER

The Albany Hudson Greenway completes construction, connecting the hamlets and bringing mobile programs along the way.

STUYVESANT FALLS STUYVESANT FALLS

CONSERVATION LAND CONSERVATION FARMLAND FARM LAND

ROUTE 9 ROUTE 9

VALATIE VALATIE

CHAIN STORES

CHAIN STORES PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS

SECONDARY ROADS

SECONDARY ROADS

CONSERVATION FARMLAND

NEW CIVIC CENTER

NEW CIVIC CENTER

2050

New Civic Centers become hubs for the residents within these hamlets to host community activities. Mobile services will come periodically introducing a new urban/suburban lifestyle as residents can access all living amenities and services within walkable distance.

NIVERVILLE NIVERVILLE

KINDERHOOK LAKELAKE KINDERHOOK NEW CIVIC CENTER NEW CIVIC CENTER

GREENWAY GREENWAY CONSERVATION LAND CONSERVATION

NEW DEVELOPMENT

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

2100

Kinderhook Lake becomes a recreational destination within the region, stimulating development and urban growth along the greenway. The once disconnected hamlets transform into well-connected vibrant neighborhoods.

KINDERHOOK LAKE - GREENWAY EXPERIENTIAL VIEW

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RE-IMAGINING NYC WATERFRONT FOR RESILIENCE

RESILIENT NYC Summer 18 Urban Design Studio HsinYi Chao, Richard Chou, Mariam Hattab, Huang Qiu, Peijou Shih The New York City Metro area receives clean water from upstate reservoirs — some more than 125 miles from the City, while outputting 1.3 billion gallons of wastewater per day. During heavy rainfall, the city releases up to 27 billion gallons of pollutant directly into its water body through Combined Sewage Outflows (CSO). With climate change and aging infrastructure, New York City must invest in a sustainable infrastructure that extends beyond the waterfront. Resilient NYC is a comprehensive system along New York City’s waterfront and properties within the 100-year floodplain. This system combines flood protection, storm water management, and grey water purification, converting these areas to high-performing and multipurpose buffer zones. In addition, site conditions and programs are incorporated to create a cohesive design that includes human and ecological programs. Through the implementation of buffer zones in urban green spaces, the city will create a resilient and sustainable future for New York City.

POTABLE WATER

CLEAN WATER

LANDFILL

OMNI SYSTEM

BUFFER ZONE

WASTE

TOXIC USABLE WATER USABLE WATER

BLACK WATER

TREATED WATER NON-TOXIC

PURIFY

GREY WATER RECLAIM

PURIFY

RAIN WATER

ROOF TOP COLLECTION

STREET SPACE

NATURAL PURIFICATION SYSTEM

RUN OFF SURFACE FLOOD RESERVOIR

BREAK WATER

FLOOD WATER

RETENTION TANK

STORAGE

COMBINED SEWER INFLOW WWTP

N

Multi-system storm and flood water management system, utilizing existing infrastructure and integrated passive systems 18

WATERFRONT RECREATION COMMERCIAL

OPEN SPACE

CLEANED WATER WATER BODY


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Neighborhood Wastewaster Purification System Pervious Parking Lot

NYCHA

Residential & Commercial Area

Pervious Parking Lot

Pervious Road Network

Pervious Parking Lot

RESIDENTIAL STORM WATER MANAGEMENT Mix-use Housing Development Affordable Housing Development

Bay Street Commercial Corridor

Extended Riparian Zone

Pervious Parking

Maritime & Riparian Ecology Center

Converted Railroad Levee

Marine Ecology Zone (Billion Oyster Project) Breakwater

INDUSTRIAL LIVING RIPARIAN ZONE Residential & Small Business Zone

Bioswale Purification System

Thomas Jefferson Park

Isaac Newton Middle School For Math & Science Bioswale Purification System Ecological Science Teaching Center Elevated Highway Deployable Flood Barrier Extended Riparian Zone

Bioswale Purification System

Breakwater

NEW TOWN CREEK RESILIENCE STRATEGIC PLAN

TRANSIT INFRASTRUCTURE AS TIDAL DEFENSE Industrial Business Zone

Retrofit Commercial Space Rain Water Collection Industrial Business Zone

Elevated Railroad Deployable Flood Barrier Preservation Zone (Brownfield Treatment) Breakwater

INDUSTRIAL LIVING RIPARIAN ZONE

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DESIGNING INCLUSIVE SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR STATEN ISLAND YIMBY

(YES IN MY BACK YARD) Summer 18 Urban Design Studio Richard Chou, Keju Liu, Alaa Marrawi YIMBY is a three-phase development of inclusive social infrastructure in North Shore through integrating social-support amenities into community spaces, creating vibrant and functional urban spaces. We propose inserting specialized public amenities along Bay street. Our design fulfill the community’s requests as well as achieving at least one of our three design principles – Relieve, Rehabilitate, & Re-engage – for the homeless families. Through partnership, the community will finally receive better public infrastructure while the city meets it goal to provide for the homeless. We believe that these new urban typologies will strengthen the neighborhood and create the beginning to an inclusive North Shore. MORE PEOPLE BECOME HOMELESS HERE

BRONX

MORE PEOPLE SHELTERED HERE

26 SHELTERS

210 CLUSTERS

80 SHELTERS

MANHATTEN 26 HOTELS

13 CLUSTERS 13 HOTELS 26 SHELTERS 40 HOTELS

39 SHELTERS

BROOKLYN

48 SHELTERS 48 SHELTERS

STATEN ISLAND 1 SHELTER

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Introduce light-weight urban intervention

Provide weather protection & Activate space with movable furniture

Introduce public programs and create multi-functional space

The pilot serves as extensions to these organizations, allowing them to bring their service outdoors as a way to reengage the public. Furthermore, we propose to introduce community lockers as urban interventions to help homeless families who do not have a mailing address and therefore creates a sense of ownership.

OUTDOOR LIBRARY (NYC LIBRARY) RECRUITMENT AND CURRENT EVENT

BIKE SHARE STATION (CITY BIKE)

COMMUNITY LOCKER (SKY LIGHT REC. CENTER)

SOCIAL SERVICE OUTREACH (CAMBA)

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RELIEVE OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

SUSTAINABLE LIVING YOUTH WORKSHOPS

REHABILITATE

COMPUTER LAB URBAN FARM AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM

RESOURCE CENTER

MARITIME PROGRAM

REENGAGE

GREEN SPACE

COMMUNITY KITCHEN

LIBRARY INDOOR RECREATION WATERFRONT ACTIVITY ART & MUSIC SPACE

YOUTH PROGRAM

FOOD ACCESS SOCIAL SERVICE LIVING FUNCTIONS PERSONAL CARE

LEARNING CENTER

SOCIAL SPACE TRAINING & EDUCATION DAYCARE AFFORDABLE HOUSING

WELLNESS ZONE

SECURITY & OWNERSHIP

We believe that inclusive design should restore the sense of Social equity as well as identity within the community. Through community outreach and research, we identified a list of programs that serve both the residents and homeless families. We consolidated these “needs” into 6 design interventions, which are included into our proposal.

TRANSITIONAL HOUSING (HOUSING NY) TRANSITIONAL HOUSING

COMPOSTING & RECYCLING CENTER

SERVICE OUTREACH (CAMBA)

COMMUNITY FARM OUTDOOR SOCIAL SPACE (SKY LIGHT REHABILITATION)

COMMUNITY LOCKER

FARMER’S MARKET (SI GREENMARKET)

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COMPUTATION


ENCOURAGING HIGHER QUALITY COMMUNITYBASED PUBLIC SPACE THE POPS INDEX Spring 19 - Urbanism and Algorithm Richard Chou, Ashley Louie, David Mauricio How can policy for privately owned public spaces in New York incentivize the creation of higher quality public spaces? While there are 354 Privately Owned Public Spaces built in New York, most are located focused in commercial centric neighborhood and do not truly meet the public’s need. At the same time, parts of the city remains in need of more accessible open spaces. The POPS Index aims to inform better POPS policy to incentivise the creation of better POPS that addresses the specific needs of its neighborhood and surrounding context. We are interested in exploring the public private partnership as more than just an incentive for tax breaks or FAR credits for developers. We want to make the case that allowing more public spaces is also beneficial to private developments. The key is to quantify the value of public spaces to encourage developers to invest in more public spaces.

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IF PERFORMATIVE SPATIAL QUALITIES OF PUBLIC SPACES CAN BE ASSESSED RELATIVE TO ITS NEIGHBORHOOD, THEN POPS POLICY CAN ENCOURAGE THE CREATION OF HIGHER QUALITY PUBLIC SPACES FOR SPECIFIC NEEDS OF A COMMUNAITY.

344 Manhattan 8 Brooklyn 2 Queens 0 Bronx 0 Staten Island

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Active Open Space - Bushwick Playground, Brooklyn

Passive Open Space - Paley Park, Manhattan

Methodology based on the Open Space Index proposed New York City Neighborhood Standards. We also expanded upon research with tool to assess neighborhood context and to visualize potential FAR bonus for including a Privately Owned Public Space

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City Hall, Manhattan

Long Island City, Queens

0.25

0.50

0.75

The assessment tool is also helpful for evaluating how well such spaces perform/ are maintained in comparison to publicly owned spaces, and how each typology can learn from the other. 32


Finally, the POPS Index decision map provides a distribution of relative ‘public open space need’ factor across the city’s parcels. By associating a scaled dynamic FAR bonus, we hope to create incentive for future development to create more POPS with the correct kind of public amenities in relation to its context.

Grasshopper dashboard that allows users to explore neighborhood open spaces and FAR bonus

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CREATING MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT THROUGH PARTICIPATORY DESIGN PLAYLAB.CITY Fall 18 - Datamining the City Richard Chou, Ashley Louie, David Mauricio In order for public engagement to be more meaningful to urban designers, participatory methods using agent-based simulations can allow stakeholders to intuitively play within design constraints. playLab.City provides a platform, situated between urban design participation and agent based simulation, where stakeholders have a greater opportunity to exercise their right to the city. As the experts who hold the power to change cities, urban designers are limited by their participatory methods to receive directed input from stakeholders. These processes are often limited to surveys, verbal conversations, and pins on a printed map, which can easily conclude in fantasy wish lists from stakeholders who do not fully understand the complex constraints that designers must consider . PlayLab.City aims to achieve greater design insight through participatory design and more informed conversation where stakeholders understand design constraints. The interface becomes both a learning tool for the user and helps designers receive more informed feedback.

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The playLab.City python canvas allows designers to receive more informed feedback from their engagement with stakeholders by serving as a tool for communication.


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Early phase user-testing. User-observation allowed us to better design the interface

Stakeholder decision tree used to encode agent behaviors for simulation. The agent’s behavior is largely simplified and are used to provide instant feedback instead of an accurate simulation of human behavior.

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COST

5

NECCESSITY

8

FREQUENCY

4

DAY/NIGHT

VIEW RESIDENT - HIGH INCOME

14 RESIDENT - LOW INCOME

15 VISITOR

30

CREATE ! COST

5 NECCESSITY

6 FREQUENCY

3

PUBLIC SEATING

BIKE SHARE

POP-UP ART

COMMUNITY CENTR

PLAZA

LIBRARY

RESTAURANT

TRASH

RESET

Functional prototype from Processing.py. Agents respond to user-placed programs on canvas

PUBLIC SEATING Cost: 0.0 Neccessity: 7.0 Frequency: 8.0 COMMUNITY CENTER Cost: 0.0 Neccessity: 8.0 Frequency: 6.0

ANALYTICAL PROCESS

PARTICIPATORY PROCESS

RESTAURANT Cost: 10.0 Neccessity: 2.0 Frequency: 4.0

Default program with distinct attributes as well as program creation sliders on the sidebar allow users to create customized programs to allow users to engage in the conversation about the nature of these programs, as well as its impacts.

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NAOMI AND PERCIVAL GOODMAN APPLICATION

PLAYLAB.CITY Communication Platform for Participatory Design Richard Chou, Ashley Louie 1. PROJECT DESCRIPTION In order to give communities greater agency in planning, our goal is to create a participatory design tool and workshop method that enhances communication, aligns stakeholder goals, and spatially visualizes a collective strategy. The Percival and Naomi Goodman Fellowship provides an opportunity for us to further develop playLab.City, an interactive platform situated between urban design participation and communitydriven mapping. Initially explored and prototyped in Fall 2018, through Violet Whitney’s Datamining the City course, playLab.City provides an approachable tool that allows stakeholders to intuitively learn about planning constraints like rules of a game, while also playing with design to assert agency in proposing changes for their neighborhoods. Designers are in need of improving upon inclusive communication methods for collaborative planning, and the ability to quantify spatial input from stakeholders through participatory mapping can provide documentation of community-driven values in a dataset. Similar to how NYC 311 serves as a platform for residents to place a complaint to advocate for service requests, playLab.city has the potential for community members to input proposals for design improvements. We plan to develop a workshop methodology alongside playLab.City to primarily enhance communication between participants, while gathering data to support their collective vision through a series of phases (see Schematic Budget for the breakdown of schedule and phase milestones): Concept Design We envision playLab.City to be a collaborative resource to both designers and community members, so the first phase involves reaching out to potential partners and contextualizing the workshop process within participatory design methodology that actively involves stakeholders to ensure the results meet their needs. By learning from existing engagement methods as case studies and researching communication with human-

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computer interaction, we can share the benefits and resources of participatory design inclusion. Through our advising faculty’s working relationships and recommendations, we have identified potential project partners: ▪▪ Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) ▪▪ Community Voices Heard (CVH) ▪▪ New York City Community Boards ▪▪ Sidewalk Labs - Master Planning ▪▪ Real Estate Investment Corporation (REIC) ▪▪ Participatory Budgeting in New York City (PBNYC) Schematic Design After identifying the priorities of our partnering groups, we will write step-by-step methodology handouts for the workshops and build upon our existing code to develop playLab.City as a minimum viable product that allows users to drag one programmatic object onto a spatial sketch canvas. This simplified version of the simulation will allow us to center the workshop conversations on how to enhance playLab.City as a means to assist communication between people. Our goal is to use the digital visual platform as a way to educate laypeople on specific design constraints and to reach a collective understanding through simulating shared fictional scenarios. Design Development In the third phase, we will incorporate the workshop feedback in revising the methodology handouts and further developing playLab.City to address more variables. With additional detail and refinement to the platform, we will conduct another round of workshops with the same partnering design teams and community groups for a feedback loop. As we continue to document how people communicate with each other and with the simulated interface, playLab.City will also collect spatial data on the visualized sketches created, similar to survey responses. The ability to codify workshop design proposals as data allows us to aggregate the individual responses as a democratic voice that reveals patterns of group consensus and quantifies collective values.


Final Documentation In addition to sharing the project documentation with our partners, our goal is to share the participatory design research to reach a larger audience. We intend to publish the workshop methodology and processing platform and include instruction on how to use these tools as a resource for wider engagement through participatory design. As a platform which encourages groups to reach a collective design direction, playLab. City has the potential for individuals to exercise design agency with programmatic input as geospatial data that can inform design and planning. 2. PROJECT RATIONALE Current Participatory Design Method Current participatory methods are often limited to exercises that involve post-it notes and dot stickers on a printed map. These kinds of inputs are often wishlists that do not adequately address design constraints and end up having little impact on design. We build upon Percival Goodman’s mission to improve community planning by challenging participatory design to evolve towards a generative group thinking exercise that incorporates technology as a tool to help create more meaningful input. Our stakeholder workshops will help develop playLab.City’s user-experience and a method to translate community input into design data. The digital nature of playLab.City allows it to reach a larger audience beyond the meeting room, where it could inspire grassroots movements from community groups. Demystifying the Planning Process & Empowering Design Agency To the average citizen, “planning is confusing and difficult,” and urban designers often compound the complexity by presenting the public with maps and drawings that require technical knowledge. There is a need for people “to become informed about the plan that is indeed existent and operating in our lives” by using community outreach to educate the public.

Organizations, such as the Center of Urban Pedagogy, have demonstrated the effectiveness of using visual communications to explain complex urban policies. We envision playLab.City as a communication platform that bridges the knowledge and ideas between designers and stakeholders and our goal is to equip communities with the understanding of local policies and design constraints and encourage stewardship of their own neighborhood design. 3. EXPECTED BENEFITS The results of playLab.City is not a design-by-consensus tool, in that we do not expect designers to incorporate the community’s design sketches verbatim. Instead, playLab.City’s mission is anchored in creating a shared future scenario of the city. For designers, the importance of participatory design is not simply what program and where the public would like to see specifically, but rather the reasons behind these opinions. We believe that through participatory mapping, we restore “the role and power of citizens in the decision-making processes of their cities”. We hope that this tool will better facilitate conversation as well as empower community organizations. While policy-makers rely on data for decisions, constituents don’t always have access or control over such data. Part of the grant will be directed to host an open-source database, where playLab.City’s source code and collected data will be made available to the public. It is our hope that the work will become a resource for both designer and community and advance the discourse of participatory design practice in urban design.

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EXPLORING MANHATTAN LAND USE VIA DATA VISUALIZATION NYC BUILDING CLASS SANKEY DIAGRAM Summer 18 - Digital Techniques Richard Chou This data visualization exercise explores the NYC PLUTO dataset. Land parcels are tabulated into containers based on land use type showing the distribution of residential and commercial properties in lower to mid Manhattan. Each property is then linked to its address, presenting the information geospatially. A custom visualization work flow is created for this exercise using GIS, Grasshopper, and Illustrator, which was later developed into a step-by-step tutorial as part of the final project of the class. LAND USE ANALYSIS IN LOWER MANHATTAN

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41


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DESIGNING FOR USER EXPERIENCE THROUGH AGENT-BASED SIMULATION CIRCULATION & OCCUPANCY ANALYSIS CannonDesign Digital Practice Richard Chou, Steven Stafford CannonDesign was hired to create the design for the expansion and renovation of the Virginia Tech War Memorial Hall and evolve the facility into a multipurpose student wellness center. One major goal of the design team is to fit the four major departments that will reside in the building, and most importantly create prominent circulation spaces that alleviate the traffic that plagues the facility and to An agent-based circulation simulation analyzed the spatial performance of the expansion design. Agents are defined based on building occupancy data and students ID card logs. Though analysis, the team is able to evaluate circulation space decisions based on the compiled traffic heat map.

Building occupancy heat map compiled from building class schedule & hourly fitness center ID card swipe counts

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Agent-based simulation combines student occupancy schedule (previous) with traffic pattern provided by the University to simulate traffic across multiple days and identify possible congestion zones. GROSS SQUARE FOOTAGE Name

MECHANICAL ROOM 744 SF

LEVEL 02 1972 70165 SF

LEVEL 00 LEVEL 00

3517 SF

LEVEL 01 LEVEL 01

102657 SF

LEVEL 02 LEVEL 02

9802 SF

LEVEL 02 1972 LEVEL 02 1972

70165 SF

LEVEL 03 LEVEL 03

7867 SF

LEVEL 03 1972 MECHANICAL ROOM LEVEL 03 1972

744 SF 37414 SF

LEVEL 04 LEVEL 04

9149 SF

LEVEL 05 LEVEL 05 MECHANICAL PENTHOUSE LEVEL 06 LEVEL 06 Grand total

UP

Area

ST SERV

3310 SF 4225 SF

1315 SF 250164 SF

19 Bl

3

LEVEL 02 GROSS AREA 1/32" = 1'-0"

The analysis informed the redesign of the atrium, opting for a larger confluence space. The relocation of the facility’s vertical circulation and control desk also created a more natural walking path.

TTI E

1253 p 856-84

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C


OPTIMIZING PATIENT COMFORT THROUGH DAYLIGHTING ANALYSIS DAYLIGHT ANALYSIS & MATERIAL ESTIMATION CannonDesign Digital Practice Richard Chou, James Marsh, Adam Louie Patient wellness is always a primary focus in healthcare architecture. For the design of the Shepard Pratt Behavioral Health, the team is challenged by the client’s request for a terracotta facade and the designer’s desire to maximize daylight exposure into the building. The need to manage the cost of these facade materials added yet another layer to the envelope design challenge. The project combines multiple interoperability work-flows, starting from daylight analysis and generative facade design via Grasshopper, to Revit material scheduling, and to Excel cost estimation. This demonstrates the need for fluidity across digital platforms for designers to carry design idea across project phases.

Live Cost Estimator of facade material based on data extracted from Revit wall-schedule from the architecture model

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50%+

0%

DAYLIGHT ANALYSIS BALTIMORE MD 1 MAY 1:00 - 31 AUG 24:00

Series of daylighting analysis informed the placement of patient room windows and facade material. The geometry of the interior courtyard is derived from running the optimizing process via Grasshopper

Image showing different wall types differentiated by color. As wall surface area is automatically updated in the cost-estimator, good modeling practice becomes crucial to the accuracy of this work flow. 47



RESEARCH


DRAWING RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH BIVARIATE CHOROPLETH MAPPING THE POWER OF OUTAGE Spring 19 - Conflict Urbanism Richard Chou, Lorena Galvao On September 17 of 2017, hurricane Maria struck the island of Puerto Rico, leaving everyone - rich and poor, and everywhere, urban and rural - on the island without electricity. Two months later, a vast part of the island was still left in the dark. Regardless of income, everyone suffered from system failure equally. Priority to restore power was given to urban centers, despite the fact that smaller rural villages were closer geographically to power plants. In total, it took up to 11 months for the island to fully recover its energy infrastructure. Those who could leave took refuge away from the island. About 6% of the population fled the island in face of Hurricane Maria. However, those who stayed experienced the impact of extended periods of outage. Our call for action builds on a two-fold strategy, 1) government implement guidelines and subsidies and allocate FEMA funds to regulate and lower the price of micro-grid solar systems in Puerto Rico, 2) for communities and government to act together to build solar grids in public and civic facilities, such as hospitals, care centers, and schools to turn them into beacons of energy distribution, amplifying the reach of solar for those that live in areas with low solar capacity. This strategy builds on the existing work of several local organizations such as Casa Pueblo and Verdifica which been installing community microgrids in key public infrastructures, so citizens can have access to power when in need.

50

+

=

The project evaluates the feasibility of household solar micro-grid systems using a bivariate visualization of ‘household income’ and ‘solar access’


Isabela SAN JUAN

Dorado

Arecibo Aguadilla Pueblo

Manatí Carolina

Bayamó Rincon

San Sebastián

Utuado

CAGUAS

MAYAGÜEZ Humacao Cayey Cabo Rojo Juana Diaz Yauco

Boquerón

PONCE Guayama

Salinas

Puerto Rico night light before Hurricane Maria (07/2017)

Isabela SAN JUAN

Dorado

Arecibo Aguadilla Pueblo

Manatí Carolina

Bayamó Rincon

San Sebastián

Utuado

CAGUAS

MAYAGÜEZ Humacao Cayey Cabo Rojo Juana Diaz Yauco

Boquerón

PONCE Guayama

Salinas

Puerto Rico night light after Hurricane Maria (11/2017)

Isabela Dorado

Arecibo Aguadilla Pueblo

SAN JUAN

Manatí Carolina

Bayamó Rincon

San Sebastián

Utuado

CAGUAS

MAYAGÜEZ Humacao Cayey Cabo Rojo Juana Diaz Boquerón

Yauco

PONCE Salinas

Guayama

Predicted night light after future hurricanes

The investment in solar energy will change the patterns of a power outage and its recovery. In future hurricanes, the outage will no longer affect everyone and has the potential to further accentuate spatial inequality between those who can and cannot afford a micro-grid system.

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Using a method of Bivariate Choropleth maps, we study the relationship between Median Household Income (in the past 12 months) and the Solar Potential measured by the Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) data to determine who will, most likely, have access to electricity in face of future storms

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While income level plays a role in determining who can afford a solar micro-grid, solar capacity (DNI - Direct Normal Irradiance) is also key to determine who can have access to it. Even though Puerto Rico has vast sun incidence in its coastline, a large part of its central territory and mountains do not receive the minimum DNI a household need to justify a micro-grid.

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LA PERLA

Num. Household: 330 Med. Household Income: 8.6 K Solar Potential: 5.7 kwh/day/m2

HARBOR FRONT

Num. Household: 261 Med. Household Income: 87.5 K Solar Potential: 5.5 kwh/day/m2

3 KM

OLD SAN JUAN

La Perla has limited access while the Harborfront neighborhood has access to solar due to claimed income levels

OBRERO

Num. Household: 319 Med. Household Income: 17.9 K Solar Potential: 5.9 kwh/day/m2

MARTIN PENA

Num. Household: 365 Med. Household Income: 11.0 K Solar Potential: 5.3 kwh/day/m2

MILLA DE ORO

Num. Household: 617 Med. Household Income: 60.2 K Solar Potential: 5.3 kwh/day/m2 3 KM

CANO MARTIN PENA

Milla de Oro, affluent business district of San Juan does not have enough sun capacity (DNI) to install a solar system, while CaĂąo Martin PeĂąa with considerable less income levels have limited access to a micro-grid.

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While many see solar as the future of Puerto Rico, over 64% of households cannot afford these micro-grids, while 34% will have limited access needing to invest around ⅓ of their household income into solar. A very few 1.6% of the island will configure the new landscape of those who will likely have access to immediate electricity in face future power outages. With this latent scenario in which solar energy micro-grids are claimed to be the future of Puerto Rico, it is important to develop a well round implementation plan, that build on both government policies and community organization. If only dependent on current policies and international private companies, solar will not be the answer to Puerto Rico’s energy crises, but it will, in fact, further spacial and social inequality. it is imperative that both government and communities build on strategies to implement Solar energy in a distributed and equitable way ensuring that the energy landscape end spacial inequality.

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DRAWING RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH BIVARIATE CHOROPLETH MAPPING ECOMETRICS Fall 18 - Graphics Information Systems Richard Chou, HsinYi Chao, Angela Cristomono

We used the Hudson Valley Region as a case study to test these methods. Through GIS, we developed a methodology to display the EF and BC in a single map by combining two sets of color ramps. Data classification and graphic representation of classified data played a big role in the development of the methodology. The resulting bivariate map enabled us to draw more meaningful evaluations at a regional scale, to compare the ecometrics of Hudson Valley sub counties against New York City.

56

D

EN

C BR

EA K

EV

ENVIRONMENTAL DEBTOR

HIGH

ENVIRONMENTAL CREDITOR

BIO-CAPACITY LOW

Ecometrics perform quantitative analysis to evaluate whether certain activities or features contribute to a more sustainable system of production and consumption. In the context of ongoing climate change and discourse on sustainable development, these metrics are in common use as tools to build policy and advocacy. Our project tests the robustness of two common Ecometrics - Ecological Footprint (EF) and Biocapacity (BC) as regional planning and design tools to critique their applications and limits.

B A 1

2

LOW ECO-FOOTPRINT

3

4

HIGH


BIOCAPACITY (gha) PER CAPITA ECO FOOTPRINT PER CAPITA

TOTAL POPULATION BY SUB COUNTY

TOTAL ECO FOOTPRINT

CENSUS 2010 POPULATION BY BLOCK

ECO-FOOTPRINT (gha) PER CAPITA

INTERSECTED BOUNDARIES

HUDSON VALLEY SUB COUNTY BOUNDARIES

CARBON FOOTPRINT PER CAPITA BY ZIP CODE

Through geo-processing we obtained the Biocapcity and EcoFootprint per capita by sub counties within the Hudson Valley. The two values were classified into univariate cholrepeth then processed through the developed method to create the 4x4 bivariate matrix.

57


IN ORDER TO SERIOUSLY REDUCE OUR IMPACT ON THE PLANET, WE HAVE TO CONSIDER WHERE WE LIVE AND HOW WE MOVE.

NATURAL NY STATE EF: 15.20 BC: 3.50

EF: 108.5 BC: 44.7

HUDSON VALLEY EF: 18.70 BC: 0.68

AGRICULTURAL EF: 2.50 BC: 20.5

NYC EF: 14.01 BC: 0.01

SUBURBAN EF: 1.50 BC: 37.6

Urban Area / Open S

Urban Area / Low In

Urban Area / Mediu

Urban Area / High In

URBAN

Agricultural Distric

Biocapcity(gha)/Person

BIO-CAPACITY (gha)/ PERSON

108.5

EF: 0.32 BC: 18.8Pasture / Hay

2.75 1.03

Crop Land / Soy Bea

0.32

Crop Land / Corns Crop Land / Alfalfa Crop Land / Oats

0.00

13.34 18.8 22.42

44.76

ECO-FOOTPRINT (gha)/ PERSON

58

The following map shows the relative performance of EcoFootprint and Biocapacity per capita by sub county within the Hudson Valley, displayed in a bivariance choropleth map.


ASHOKAN RESEVOIR CATSKILLS, NY POPULATION: 0

FARMLANDS WARWICK, NY POLULATION: 32,065

MT. KISCO BEDFORD, NY POPULATION: 10,877

MANHATTAN NEW YORK, NY POPULATION: 1,665,000

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