XINTONG CHEN PROFILE
Architecture Student I am an undergraduate student from University of Melbourne, and doing Master of Energy Efficiency and Environmental Building Design in Lund University.
I am interested in architectures that could facilitate communication and interation between people, as well as focusing on their environmental impacts and user experience.
ARCHITECTURAL
Tetris Community
Redefining Australian communal housing by imagining the stand-alone houses as interlocking tetris pieces, putting them together to build a co-housing community.
Sheoak Cocoon
Rejuvenating the problematic industrial suburb Port Adelaide, by creating public and research space, for people to “adopt” a tree and replant it into their neighbourhood.
Dis | Connect
Exploring cultural heritage and architectural response to the local climate of Cambodia, Dis|connect create a meditation space for those who visit Cambdia.
MATERIAL
AA Visiting School | Cambodia
Exploring how concrete could be used in the monsoon drenched Takev Province, Cambodia.
Tetris Community
Affordability
Imagining every household as a tetris pieces, the land is densified by stacking the tetris piec es and expanding upwards to increase housing capacity within the same building footprint. A series of modular homes are designed bas ing on tetris module grid, to best accommo date residents with different needs, use space efficiently and reduce construction cost and waste.
Community
Like a playing a tetris puzzle, the community is formed by juxtaposing and interconnecting te tris homes. Communal space is created during this process – pocket lounge space between units to catch up, pop-up balcony to greet neighbours, and multiple services tetris on the ground floor to encourage residents share mo ments together.
Live sustainably
Each tetris home is an indispensable part of the community. To ensure a pleasant long-term stay, spatial adaptability is integrated into unit design to accommodate the change of house hold size and needs; as well as through various sustainable strategies to minimise environmen tal impact during their stay.
Northcote, Victoria, Australia master plan area: 14,000 sqm project site: 1,500 sqm
4m 8m 16m master plan design Tetris Community
“ Like a tetris, we form a part of the community life.”
18.5% three bedrooms loft one bedroom apartment one bedroom loft Residents Profile
77% Long Term Accomodation
4 x Two Bedrooms Loft (75m2
5 x Three Beds Loft (100m2)
4 x One Bedroom Apartment (50m )
30%
7 x One Bedroom Loft (50m2)
6 x Airbnb or shorterm rental (25m2)
apartment “prototypes”
two bedrooms loft 15% communal space commercial strip public vs private space
High Street (east) Interface
Tetris Community
1 3 5m 1:200 @ A3
Short Term Accomodation 23%
Northwest Facade
maximise openings for sunlight ac cess but protect the windows from western sun
day afternoon
West and East Facade
Reduced area of opennings com pared to north facade, and protect window from low angle sun with con trollable vertical shading.
Increase permeable surface area to reduce stormwater runoff
Tetris Community
South facade rainscreen facade to increase the thermal performance of south fa cade, and protect it from heat and cold Flea Market
1 A
GF 1 3 5m 1:200 @ A3 1:200 @ A3
Tetris Community
Sheoak Cocoon
Port Adelaide, Australia
“ In the cocoon, we invite neighbours to nourish the Australian native plantdrooping sheoak. ”
“Sheoak is a good food source for the native birds, and the raw materials for aboriginal cultural and medical pratice. ”
Sheoak Cocoon
Urban Heat Island
Trees in Proximity
Points offset height = reciprocal of the distance between tree to nearest urban heat island
Form generation process in Grasshopper
Artefacts workshop
Heat to germinate seeds research centre
Sheaok artefacts shop
Transplant
BBQ from sheaok wood
Circular Economy of the Cocoon
Seed Germination Room
Transplanting Sheaok onto the site
Rental Veggie Patch on site
Sheoak Cocoon
Krong Kaeb Province, Cambodia project site: 800 sqm
stripping back to the basics of what it truly means to be fully immersed in a retreat experience, the DIS/Connected hut allows for guests to disconnect from their everyday lives in the outside world and turn their attention towards connecting to other disregarded aspects of their lives. DIS
stripping back to the basics of what it truly means to be fully immersed in a retreat experience, the DIS/Connected hut allows for guests to disconnect from their every day lives in the outside world and turn their attention towards connecting to other disregarded aspects of their lives.
DIS
a retreat in a secluded location can allow an individual to detach themselves from their usual routine, far away from the urban environment. the humble materiality, that is locally sourced, allows the inhabitant to loose themselves in this reposeful atmo sphere.
a retreat in a secluded location can allow an individual to detach themselves from their usual routine, far away from the urban environment. the humble materiality, that is locally sourced, allows the inhabitant to loose themselves in this reposeful atmosphere. / this expresses the duality of spaces in the hut, through a fully or partially removable enclosure; to either open up or close off each space that the guests occupy inside the DIS/Connected hut. it is entirely up to them whether they would want to disconnect in a private space where they can fully focus on themselves during meditation or would like to strengthen their connection with the other guests in an open space in the hut.
/ this expresses the duality of spaces in the hut, through a fully or partially removable enclosure; to either open up or close off each space that the guests occupy inside the DIS/Connected hut. it is entirely up to them whether they would want to disconnect in a private space where they can fully focus on themselves during meditation or would like to strengthen their connection with the other guests in an open space in the hut.
Connect
Connect
guests are presented with the opportunity to get a sense of the local Khmer communi ty and their culture through this fundamentally vernacular structure and also its natural surroundings, with an envelope that can be adapted to the user’s need for a connec tion to nature. through a disconnection from a highly-populated built environment and a connection to the expanse landscape, occupants of the hut would be aware of their own nature and thus, heighthen their sense of mindf
taking after its name, literally, the form of this hut explores the way in which function ally-detached components of the traditional rectangular Khmer residence can then be attached together to create an experience that disrupts yet bridges a different way of living.
guests are presented with the opportunity to get a sense of the local Khmer community and their culture through this fundamentally vernacular structure and also its natural surroundings, with an envelope that can be adapted to the user’s need for a connection to nature. through a disconnection from a highly-populated built environment and a connection to the expanse landscape, occupants of the hut would be aware of their own nature and thus, heighthen their sense of mindfulness. taking after its name, literally, the form of this hut explores the way in which functionally-detached components of the traditional rectangular Khmer residence can then be attached together to create an experience that disrupts yet bridges a different way of living.
the basic form of a traditional Khmer house
form divided into smaller parts based on necessary functions
form divided into smaller parts based on necessary func tions
parts are disconnected from each other only to then be...
...re-connected to create a disjointed path through the hut the basic form of a traditional Khmer house
parts are discon nected from each other only to then be...
...re-connected to create a disjointed path through the hut
dis / connect hut
DIS
the
/ Connected hut
dis | Connect Hut
1 the roof design preserves the historical identity of Khmer architecture with the added decoration to its traditional form.
isometric
1:100
4 the envelope consists of different types of shading devices that also allows the hut to have a dual role of being connected and disconnected when needed.
2 an unconventional floor plan configuration for a Cambodian home. however, the typical Khmer house layout is used as the foundation with each function divided by the different floor levels. 3 the structural elements allow for the entire hut to be raised above ground for environmental and traditional reasons.
• cross ventilation throughout the hut promotes air circulation
• stack ventilation created by the roof form
masterplan of modules
• suitable shading strategies for each elevation
N adjustable vertical louvres for low-angle morning and afternoon sun S eaves to prevent excess heating
the landscape design had been extracted from the local housing arrangment based on their unique lifestyle. however, a sense of privacy is created through the incorporation of surrounding plantation that divides each hut, while still allowing for some form of connection. Local plants such as Romdoul, Champey and Sarika flowers are planted throughout to enliven the scenery.
ventilation diagram
sectional perspective A-A scale 1:50
N B A A
1:50
B
1:50
Materiality
cross
E 1 2 3 4 4 4 4 exploded
scale
north elevation scale
east elevation scale
1. Wooden Column 2. Wooden Main raffer Wooden Ridgepole 4. Roof Batten structural elements 5. Cross joist 6. Floor joist 7. Wooden board 8. Column footing 2000 2600 6600 1000 1000 6 5
sectional perspective B-B scale 1:50 floor plan scale 1:50 dis | Connect Hut
