University TU Delft Bouwkunde, NL Msc. Architecture (Cum laude)
Kent School of Architecture, UK First Class Honours Bachelor Erasmus semester at ENSAPL in Lille, France
FH Aachen, DE Mechanical Engineering courses
CAD Technical Drawing, Mechanics, Material Science, Thermodynamics, Manufacturing Processes Diploma International School of Beijing, CN International Baccalaureate Diploma
Western Academy of Beijing IB Middle Years Program
Singapore Overseas Family School IB Primary & Middle Years Program
EXPERIENCE
08/2023 - now Zurich Architect, Penzel Valier AG, Switzerland
thomaszhang95@gmail
Large-scale project experience during the conceptual design stage BIM-based collaboration with consultants during construction stage Developed competition proposals in Switzerland and internationally
10/2022 - Leuven Project Collaborator, Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, Belgium 04/2023 Built a comprehensive design/build script in Grasshopper3D for Escher Fully designed the production workflow and building methodology Principal craftsman for realizing ‘Escher Andere wereld’ two artworks: Portrait and Day & Night
08 – 12/2021 Rotterdam Intern, Lüchinger Architects, The Netherlands
Penzel Valier Museum of History and the Future
International compeition in Turku, Finland.
The site of the future museum is unique in terms of its cultural history and cityscape. In the surroundings of the competition area, Turku Castle, River Aura, the Baltic Sea and the developing new Linnanniemi area offer a rewarding and at the same time demanding framework for a new building as part of a national cultural landscape.
At Penzel Valier I delivered a promising submission for an open international competition, namely the Museum of History and the Future. Iterative models, sketches and analytical planning led to a final proposal which focusses on a porous ground level for the public and generous firts floor for open plan exhibitions and enclosed rooms necessary for audio-visual experiences.
My key contributions to the competition included:
- Spatial planning of the museum’s programme
- Conceptual development to Finland’s archipelago nature and logfloating tradition
- Team-oriented collaboration in developing multiple iterative proposals
- Facade study through multiple Grasshopper variants
- Coordination with the Visualisation studio
- Execution of plans, sections, elevations
Rhino+ Grasshopper and Archicad were used for the submission.
Spatial Planning
The pivotal idea to the exhibition spaces was arranging them on one level. This enables an open-plan ground floor, creating a porous public space as an extension to the exterior streetscape. Despite the ground floor’s transparency, the rectangular cores provide the necessary compartmentalisation for the independent functions to operate, even after closing hours of the museum (for instance the restaurant or partner facilities). Stacked inside the cores between the ground floor and the exhibition floor are the necessary serving functions such as storage and technical rooms. This enables the technical equipment to service both the ground floor and exhibition floor while remaining hidden from the public eye. The outcome is an open yet clearly defined experience for the visitor, aligning to the efforts of accessibility and inclusion today.
Bolognese Images
Structure and sustainability
Structure and sustainability
Structure and sustainability
Keeping with Finland’s historical building tradition, the Museum’s structural building elements will be fully realized with local timber, serving as a significant carbon sink.
Façade
Keeping with Finland’s historical building tradition, the Museum’s structural building elements will be fully realized with local timber, serving as a significant carbon sink.
The collection of boxes serve as structural cores made of mass-engineered timber walls. These cores support the wafflegrid glulam elements that provide the overhanging floor and roof structures. The depth of the grid structure allows for column-free spaces and a cantilever system that distills the idea of floating spaces. Within the boxes is a sawtooth roof held up by a structural timber truss. Integrated on top of the angled members are strategically installed photovoltaic panels to power the building’s energy needs.
Keeping with Finland’s historical building tradition, the Museum’s structural building elements will be fully realized with local timber, serving as a significant carbon sink. The collection of boxes serve as structural cores made of mass-engineered timber walls. These cores support the wafflegrid glulam elements that provide the overhanging floor and roof structures. The depth of the grid structure allows for column-free spaces and a cantilever system that distills the idea of floating spaces. Within the boxes is a sawtooth roof held up by a structural timber truss. Integrated on top of the angled members are strategically installed photovoltaic panels to power the building’s energy needs.
The façade’s central idea to its final form was the interplay between the organic curvature of the building and the loadbearing structure. The structural grid is trimmed along the curve, resulting in a stepped orthogonal outline of the façade through which the panels run along. Comprised of both solid timber sandwich panels and transparent glass, the stepped curvature allows for openings which articulates the logic of the shift in direction of the panels. This results in a façade which continuously reveals and conceals views both from inside and out as one moves.
The collection of boxes serve as structural cores made of mass-engineered timber walls. These cores support the wafflegrid glulam elements that provide the overhanging floor and roof structures.
Integrated within the façade are pivoting shutter panels, which allows for the flexible regulation of natural daylight within the exhibition spaces.
The depth of the grid structure allows for column-free spaces and a cantilever system that distills the idea of floating spaces.
The façade’s central idea to its final form was the interplay between the organic curvature of the building and the loadbearing structure. The structural grid is trimmed along the curve, resulting in a stepped orthogonal outline of the façade through which the panels run along. Comprised of both solid timber sandwich panels and transparent glass, the stepped curvature allows for openings which articulates the logic of the shift in direction of the panels. This results in a façade which continuously reveals and conceals views both from inside and out as one moves. Integrated within the façade are pivoting shutter panels, which allows for the flexible regulation of natural daylight within the exhibition spaces.
Within the boxes is a sawtooth roof held up by a structural timber truss. Integrated on top of the angled members are strategically installed photovoltaic panels to power the building’s energy needs.
The façade’s central idea to its final form was the interplay between the organic curvature of the building and the loadbearing structure. The structural grid is trimmed along the curve, resulting in a stepped orthogonal outline of the façade through which the panels run along. Comprised of both solid timber sandwich panels and transparent glass, the stepped curvature allows for openings which articulates the logic of the shift in direction of the panels. This results in a façade which continuously reveals and conceals views both from inside and out as one moves. Integrated within the façade are pivoting shutter panels, which allows for the flexible regulation of natural daylight within the exhibition spaces.
Façade concept
Façade detail
Façade geometry
Pivoting shutter panel Transparent glass
sandwich panel
bearing elements
Façade concept
detail
Façade geometry Pivoting shutter panel
glass
sandwich panel
Façade
bearing elements
Façade concept
Façade detail
Façade geometry
Pivoting shutter panel
Transparent glass Timber sandwich panel
Façade
Gijs Van Vaerenbergh
M.C Escher ‘Andere Wereld’
The Hague Kunsmuseum, The Netherlands
18 Feb - 18 Sept 2023
A double exhibition to celebrate Escher’s 125th Anniversary with scenography and works from Gijs Van Vaerenbergh
At Gijs Van Vaerenbergh I collaborated in designing and leading the production of two artworks for Escher’s double exhibition using Grasshopper to :
- automate the design iteration process
- generate highly customizable design variations
- automatically compile data such as total number of elements, length, amount of material etc.
- generate data live links to excel for generating organized cut lists and detailed identification parameters for production
- simulate a virtual build-up instruction process, organized in layers for a sequential production workflow
Aligned with Gijs Van Vaerenbergh’s design concept, I brought the ideas into reality from A to Z (initial design proposal to execution design to being fully involved in the production and delivery to the museum).
and Rhino were used for necessary execution drawings
by Johnny Umans
Autocad
Photo
M.C ESCHER PORTRAIT
I was given the responsibility to realize the portrait work from generating iterations in the design stage to cutting the wood pieces and assembling it to the finished product.
Digitial design tools and 3D build-up simulations helped to bridge the transition in the production and craftmanship nature of the work.
Through this experience I expanded my personal interest in developing a strong relationship between the role of the designer and the craftsman.
Master slider generating build up sequence (left)
Alongside the Escher portrait, I worked on realizing Gijs Van Vaerenbergh’s initial artwork design proposal. After 39 design iterations , the discs were mapped in XYZ space and sorted accordingly into sequential panels for lasercutting. The connection design was made in Grasshopper which expedited the iterative design process allowing to reach the production phase within 2 minutes.
Similiarly to the portrait, a live view of the build-up assembly was programmed for the numbered discs. The practical assembly of the artwork was a spatial puzzle which proved to be only possible with the the parametric workflow.
In total there are 1879 connected discs in the frame.
Photo by Johnny Umans
Hinterlandam
Empowering through the infrastructural
Hydraulic citizenship and the inhabitants surrounding the Polyfyto reservoir
Water is the backbone, the structure of what contributes to thriving civilizations, cultures and thriving ecosystems. ‘Wild’ rivers that flow without anthropogenic interference have practically become extinct throughout Europe. Greece is no exception where many of its rivers have faced, continuous control, dismemberment and diversion in favour of urban -led influences many from farreaching territories.
Dams and reservoirs are the object of study implemented in the northern Greek ‘hinterland’ to leverage the natural landscape in funnelling water resources. The land used has suffered from a ‘double exposure’ between the locals and the top-down planning authorities ultimately marginalizing the immediate citizens of said area. One man’s imagined community is another man’s political prison (Arjun Appadurai).
My masters thesis project has become a synthesis of multiple disciplines, ranging from anthropology to environmental chemistry. Mapping, modelling and drawing tools for research later manifested itself into a design and intervention for the built environment. The distilled version of my position as an architect came to be: If you can’t beat them, join them. This results in a project that inserts itself as another dam project, however one which is built and managed by the residents around the main reservoir as an endeavour for empowerment regarding their hydraulic citizenship.
Final year thesis
BORDERS
TERRITORIES
‘In this late phase, an aesthetic institution was generalized which permits landscaping the world at small expense: the belvedere. It creates a fixed relation between a given point of land and all those other points which can be seen from it. The belvedere transforms the landscape into a shape, freezes it into a cliché, socializes it in banality...’ - Andre Corboz, The Land as Palimpsest
The Polyphyto reservoir holds 2,244,000,000 m3 of water and faced the biggest transformation of their own land. The reservoir covers a huge area that was once inhabited through farmland, villages, schools and churches. Today the inhabitants have come to accept the reality, some have been forcefully resettled. The urban extensions and dynamics influence this territory which is still inconclusively a benefit or a cost to the local inhabitants. The red crosses currently map the points where the land/water barriers are being traversed through. The accompanying drawings further map these instances and types of interfaces.
top/right.
The town of Neraida was one of the notable settlements that was forcefully driven away from their initial settlement close to the river. A map shows the demarcation of the land to the adjacent towns. At this scale the different communities surrounding this plot of land had set agreements and acknowledgements of the territory. Neraida was a recent refugee village but had integrated and mediated itself with their neighbouring communities into finding land which they could build and farm on. These practices of appropriating land to that scale were not used by the planners of the reservoir, the land which is now fully erased and submerged.
Proposed for the design will be a set of spaces that preserve and exhibit the lost culture and lands of the submerged territories.
Servia
Avles
Neraida
Imera
Roditis Messiani Vathylakkos
Stavroti
Sparto
Goules
Rymnio
Aiani Petrana
Kozani
Platanorrevma
Velventos
Velvendos
Roditis
Proposed Intervention
A simple yet delicate line on the landscape that experiences the annual water level cycle is proposed, on a scale which necessitates the construction into three intermittent phases. Yet the ‘line’ is curved where each building phase hints towards a structure wanting to become full circle, only to disappear into the body of water, which the local residents do not have a say in regulating.
The design approach has taken the aim to improve the local residents relationship to the land through actively building up their water infrastructure. The water catchment area in the Aliakmon valley contributes up to 10% of the reservoir intake. If that water instead, gets controlled and used by the local residents, their dependence on the large reservoir (which is owned by the PPC electric company) allows them to be more resilient in deciding their own future.
Inevitably the local residents have thus inserted themselves into the hydraulic network, together with Thessaloniki and the PPC, where a water management council is needed.
PHASE 1
Building steel dam/meeting space
The first intervention aims to hold back and control the streams that otherwise flow directly into the Polyphyto reservoir. Through this infrastructural object, an open platform is proposed for future water management meetings to take place where the public is invited to listen in.
Extending stair-like pier for boats
An interface between land and water will be built which transitions out from the dam, in the form of a stairway. This object acts as a measurement device for the water level as well as strengthens the locals relationship to their water resource which currently is blocked by a muddy tide zone.
PHASE 2 PHASE 3
Building ‘submerged territories’ archive
As a final crescendo, a building emerges from the other end of the dam in its final sweep. This two-level steel object will house a tourist-driven exhibit on the ‘submerged territories’ as well as how this land is situated within the hydraulic water network of Thessaloniki.
Aliakmon
The concrete foundation/steel dam framework typology became clear for its fast erection times, light foundation work for the alluvial ground condition and demountable nature for this community-led project.
The steel sourced from the soon-to-be phased out lignite quarry on the other side of the valley would find its new use in filling the landscape rather than excavating it.
Similar to a riverline, the circulation of the building is intentionally linear. The length of the building is aligned to the temporal sequence of the exhibit spaces. The straight wall segments separating the exhibit spaces from the corridor are references to edges of a water turbine. The building’s envelope opens towards the inside of the circular observation zone, focussing views onto the transitional ground and water level.
After reaching the end of the structure, the visitor is guided down to an exterior space below. The steel panel facade on the outside of the curve continually blocks off views to the outside of the circle, redirecting the visitor to the observable zone. During different times of the year the water level becomes a temporal performer as well as a shape-shifter of the landscape and the building itself.
Holistically, the building attempts to situate itself as an extension of the infrastructural that the dam itself represents. Whereas the dam uncompromisingly stands as a piece infrastructure that prioritizes water first and people second, the building tries to become a mediator in-between the infrastructural and the domesticity of buildings for people. The dam’s steel panels here are reinterpreted as the outer shell facade for the building used as a gutter and solar shading.
The arrival to the building starts with a ramp that brings the visitor into the landscape, while falling into the ‘orbit’ of the curve and its sequential walkthrough. Towards the end of the ramp, a small courtyard presents itself with a small opening to re-situate oneself within the landscape/reservoir. On the other end is a large window which exhibits the actual ongoings of the dam’s control room, a space that is generally kept behind closed doors.
Within the interior spaces of the exhibition/archive, two atmospheric qualities play out when walking through. The continuously subtle curve of the building gets contrasted through a straight wall of a line, where one finds themselves in a constant compressing and decompressing of space along a linear line. The wider corridor hints towards an opening of another exhibition space that guides one in. Along with a total contrast and fragmentation of views, the visitor is first met with views towards the ‘ground’ through a low lying arcade of windows. Within the exhibition spaces, the sky becomes the source of light, as light filters against the dam vaulted steel panels.
The rising reservoir level enables the conditions for the audience to spectate by boat, the annual water management council
The archive building and pier are two different types of visual markers to the changing hydraulic landscape
Research Thesis
How has the adoption of Mass-Engineered Timber developed in the context of Singapore?
Abstract
The mass timber building revolution in Europe observed over the last twenty years has made the building material a sustainable alternative to steel and concrete. The newfound structural abilities of mass timber have made it feasible for use in an array of building typologies, making it attractive to taller and bigger projects. Introducing mass-timber to the context of Singapore comes with different opportunities and challenges. Singapore has joined this trend and recently started building several projects with the material.
A critical study into how the adoption of mass-timber has developed and found a footing in Singapore will be investigated, aiming to uncover why Singapore is interested in adopting mass timber. Publications, news articles, reports images and interviews were used to analyse the narratives that followed the development of building with mass timber. Key projects will be chronologically studied to highlight in which direction it has materialized.
Introducing a new building material for the twenty-first Century involves a multitude of factors and implications that need to be evaluated to demonstrate its viability goes further than its ability to build with. The productivity-linked advantages of mass timber were the main aspect that convinced the building industry to adopt the material. The biggest barriers faced in Singapore is the lack of building experience and that mass timber comes at a premium, meaning that the material needs to find value in areas such as sustainability and design to sustain its future presence in the built environment.
PALACE OF JUSTICE
SUSTAINABLE CONVERSION OF THE NETHERLAND’S
1. Re-purposing Existing Facade strategy
As the facade grid was built up using pre-cast concrete elements that are not part of the structure, they enabled the ease and flexibility to be disassembled
2. Reuse to create facade planters
Rotating the inner cavity of the
and flowers to grow out of the
to the concrete dominant building
3. Recycle the existing glass windows
The
Twenty-nine Markers
A remote artist/residence on the island of Terschelling
Reference drawing: Bodemkaart van Nederland: Terschelling, https://edepot.wur.nl/117837
In efforts to re-contextualize the natural landscape of the Boschplaat through references and markers, the dune and the dike allows the explorer to navigate through the landscape as they emerge and fade when passing by.
The proposed retreat builds on these landmarks, bringing directionality as will as dimensionality to the building. The characteristics taken from these landmarks are poetically expressed in each building, principally playing out through the structural timber frame that strings them together into a sequence. The intervention as a whole aims to address the efforts that have transformed the island and how our interference with nature has incrementally formed and shaped Terschelling to become what it is today.
The rhythmic sequence of the frames symbolize the twentynine beach poles that measure the island’s coastline.
Thank you: Mieke Vink
Striving to understand the natural landscape of the Boschplaat through references and markers, the dunes and the dike provide a visual reference to navigate around the island. The dunes and the dike almost intersect creating an ‘opening’. The arrival of the shelter begins in-between the space where these two elements interact announcing the reciprocity between the shelter and the two man-made forms in the landscape. The beginning of the path captures the horizontality of the shelter and as one walks closer and closer.
Mirroring the linearity of the landscape, the dunes, and the dike, the shelter has been designed as a sequence of rooms and spaces. Based on the repetition of a wooden structural framework that play out the life of artists/ researchers in residence, the two structures are differentially articulated based on the frame’s interaction with the roof. The rhythm of the frames represent the twenty-nine beach poles that rationalize the understanding of the island by man.
Within the frame resides the form of a gable-front house signifying its domesticity. The smaller building expresses more this containment of domesticity while the larger building’s roof only alludes to this containment. These two parallel to the degree of intervention by man that is felt at the human scale on site. The dike which still looks ‘man-made’ being represented by the smaller building and the ‘natural looking’ dunes being represented by the larger building.
The characteristics taken from these landmarks are poetically expressed in each building which plays out through a structural frame that ties them together, representing our claim and intervention towards Nature that has formed and shaped Terschelling to become what it is today.
closed hallway and skylight roof openings individual alcove workspaces
The chimney becomes the focal point of the communal living space while providing comfort through heat during stormy and cold days. In contrast to the other building, the higher ceiling envelope and large windows allow a different sense of shelter to unfold, where the act of blocking out the outside through the soft curtains provides this relief.
‘curtain’ façade
digital STEREOTOMY
Finding ornamentation through its seams and connections
How can a stone building provide a new-built facade that draws on the traditional heritage while reinterpreting it to express the cutting edge construction techniques we have developed today?
