Yasunaka Cho / Portfolio
EDUCATION & HONORS MASTER OF COMMUNITY PLANNING April 2013
BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE March 2011
EXPERIENCE
Presented research, Evaluation of the Baan Mankong Slum Upgrading Project in Thailand, in APA National Conference, and published it as an online article on The New Planner. Organized social and academic events for graduate students and provide useful ideas for informer newsletters as the 1st year representative of Planning Graduate Student Association. Organized Act for Japan, a charity volunteer for the victims of the Japanese Earthquake on campus, raised a thousand dollars within 5 days and donated to the Consulate-General of Japan. Recipient of Ladislas and Vilma Segoe Scholarships 2013
Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Collected and analyzed data to create thesis entitled The Formation of Yokohama Chinatown. Appointed presenter and leader for Hokkaido University on the S.O.Y. project, a summit for architecture students from five universities; created 1/1 scale artwork; led presentation.
PLANNING INTERN June–August 2012
Mahasarakham University, Mahasarakham, Thailand
PLANNING INTERN January-May 2012
CDC Association of Greater Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
ARCHITECT INTERN August 2010 DESIGN INTERN September 2009
SKILLS
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
Worked with students and faculty for two projects to design downtown Mahasarakham. Suggested to the local officers about the sustainable methodology to stimulate better city development by the result from field survey and analysis. Researched opportunities and grants to develop community gardens in neighborhoods. Supported community development corporations (CDCs) by advertising their works and writing applications for obtaining funding.
Docon Co., Ltd., Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido, Japan
Produced models of a mall and a 40-floor condominium under tight deadlines to meet high company standards; increased staff efficiency by performing tasks to save Senior Members’ time.
Riken Yamamoto & FIELDSHOP, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Won first prize in a global competition by collaborating with international team to design The Circle at Zurich Airport; design to be built in 2016. Created and proposed designs; advised staffs as to which designs best suited the architecture. Language: Japanese; English; Chinese Technically proficient in Microsoft Office; Adobe Creative Suite; ArcGIS10; Vectorworks; SketchUp; Rhinoceros; V-Ray; Grasshopper; and AutoCAD
Master始s Thesis / 2012-2013
The New Planner — Spring 2013
Thailand's Baan Mankong Program: A Participatory Approach to Slum Upgrading By Yasunaka Cho Slums are a growing problem throughout the world, particularly in developing nations where rural residents are increasingly migrating to cities. In face of this migration, the accepted best practice for housing interventions in developing countries is now participatory slum improvement, in which residents help to improve their own communities. These practices have mostly been adopted on a limited scale or are demonstration projects. The United Nations has listed the Baan Mankong program in Thailand as one of the few unique and sustainable examples of participatory slum upgrading programs.
The Urbanization of the World's Population
The United Nations has projected that 70 percent of the world's population will live in urban areas by 2050. This is a result of changing demographic, technological, and international relationships. The main reasons for urbanization are the rapid decline in death rates, the rise in birth rates, and rural-to-urban migration — a common trend in many countries as impoverished rural residents migrate to the larger towns and cities in search of a more prosperous life. Immigrants to the cities are driven by the desire for employment and the prospect of access to public facilities and services that are often unavailable in rural regions. However, many have poured into cities out of desperation and hope, rather than being drawn by actual jobs and opportunities. Urbanization has the potential to be positive by spurring economic development and creating easier access to health centers and educational facilities. Due to land prices, however, rural immigrants typically cannot afford to live in middle-class or even working-class neighborhoods. Many of them end up living in the slums.
THESIS
01
The total population living in slums and the percentage of the urban population living in slums, 1990-2010. Image courtesy United Nations Publications.
Thailand's Baan Mankong Program
The Baan Monkong program (BMP) is one of two slum upgrading programs under the Thai government's policy to provide one million housing units within five years between 2003 and 2007. The BMP set a goal of improving housing, in terms of living and tenure security, for 300,000 households in 2,000 poor communities in 200 Thai cities within the five-year period.
THESIS
02
A traditional slum in Thailand. Photo Yasunaka Cho.
The BMP channels government funds, in the form of infrastructure subsidies and soft housing loans, directly to poor communities. The main difference from conventional programs of delivering housing units to individual poor families is that the BMP encourages existing slum communities to form co-ops to improve their housing in a collective way. This method is designed to discourage speculators from buying off individual housing units from the poor and selling them to higher-income groups.
THESIS
03
Each community can choose one of five types of upgrading: 1. On-Site Upgrading, which is a way of improving the physical environment and basic services in an existing community while preserving its location, character, and social structures. Usually upgrading means that houses, lanes, roads, and open spaces are improved without changing layout or plot size. 2. On-Site Reblocking, which improves infrastructure and physical conditions in existing communities by making adjustments to the layout of houses and roads to install sewers, drains, walkways, and roads. 3. On-Site Reconstruction, which involves total demolition of an existing community so that it can be rebuilt on the same land, allowing people to continue living in the same place and to remain close to their places of work and vital support systems. 4. Land Sharing, which divides land into two portions; the community is given, sold, or leased one portion for reconstruction of housing, and the rest of the land is returned to the land owner to develop. 5. Relocation, in which an existing community is relocated to a more secure place, which may be far from the community's original location.
The Baan Mankong program mechanism. Image courtesy Somsook Boonyabancha. THESIS
04
The Community Organizations Development Institute (CODI) plays the main role as facilitator of the BMP by coordinating activities among organizations, providing financial support both to communities and to individual residents, and offering technical assistance.
Quantified Goals
From January 2003 to March 2008, 512 BMP projects involving 1,010 communities were approved. These communities were located in 226 cities in 76 different provinces and affected 53,976 families. The program, which had upgraded 1,546 communities and 90,813 households by January 2011, is still progressing toward its initial target. CODI initially expected to upgrade 150 housing units by 2003, 1,500 units by 2004, and 300,000 units by the end of 2007. By January 2011, however, the BMP had achieved only about a third of that goal, or 90,813 housing units. There were significant differences in speed of implementation each year. Additionally, although the project is still in progress, its speed of implementation has slowed down since 2008. The primary reason for the failure to achieve the ambitious quantified goals is the BMP's financial system. The finances of the Thai government, which has a large influence over the program, were strongly affected by the global economy, including the world financial crisis in 2008. An unstable political situation was also an important factor; Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai prime minister from 2001 to 2006, emphasized support for the poor, while Yingluck Shinawatra, the current prime minister, does not. The BMP's financial model was no longer sustainable after 2008, when the program was supposed to have achieved its initial goals. The reason: The financial model, theoretically, takes 15 years to collect all loans from the recipients. CODI had a budget to implement the program for the first five years from 2003 to 2007. After that point, without an injection of government funds, the organization was forced to slow down the program, as it could not collect all the loans within five years. Therefore, the BMP could not allocate the same amount of money to other communities to implement the projects.
THESIS
05
Quality of the Improvements: The Klong Toey Block 7-12 Community
The newly built living environment created through the BMP showed notable improvements. One example is the Klong Toey Block 7-12 community in Bangkok. The community was chosen as a pilot project of the BMP, which applied relocation as its upgrading approach.
Locations of the original and new Klong Toey Block 7-12 community. Image Yasunaka Cho.
Klong Toey slum, one of the oldest and largest slums in Thailand, was originally located on land belonging to the Port Authority of Thailand (PAT). The original community had substandard living conditions and experienced problems with access to water, access to sanitation, building structures, and overcrowding. Water was supplied by public stand post, some private taps, and municipal water trucks. There were no sufficient drainage or water control systems in the area. Almost every house had a toilet, but water treatment before disposal was either poor or nonexistent. Walkways were mostly built of wood, and the wooden-bearing structures, consisting of poles and girders, suffered from subsidence and rotting. Most houses had connections to electricity, but some were illegal. THESIS
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The new community has been relocated about a mile from its original community. Housing units in the community now have access to water and sanitation, and structures were built with sufficient materials to be durable. Problems of location and land tenure remain, however. While the site of the new community is not hazardous based on United Nations slum indicators, it is not ideal; only a small path separates it from a slum neighborhood. In addition, although residents have tenure on the land, they will have to move out after the leases are over. The opinions of residents are useful in considering both housing preferences and the financial situation created by the program. According to a CODI survey, many Klong Toey residents show affection toward the new houses. Despite the high popularity of their housing, however, more than 35 percent of the residents complained about the small size of the land. Therefore, there is room for improvement through more flexible approaches to land distribution based on resident needs. Another problem has been the BMP's loan system. Since many residents take loans from CODI and other financial institutions, they have to return their loans periodically. Approximately 35 percent of them have problems with repaying their loans. The BMP's system is suitable for low-income residents who need a small amount of financial support to build their houses, but it does not work as well for the lowest-income residents.
THESIS
The entrance to the new Klong Toey Block 7-12 community. Photo Yasunaka Cho.
In the new Klong Toey Block 7-12 community, each house has different design — an outcome of the Baan Mankong program. Photo Yasunaka Cho. 07
Successes to Learn From
The main successes of the BMP are its participatory approach, its speed in implementing projects, and the significant physical improvements it has created. Unlike conventional top-down slum upgrading projects, the BMP encourages citizens to participate in its processes. This method empowers community members to discuss, make decisions about, and design their own housing units and infrastructure. Since they are involved in the process, they care about where they live. Other nations can learn lessons from the success of the BMP's well-developed participatory approach. Resources
Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR). 2007. "Housing by people in Asia." Bangkok. Boonyabancha, S. 2005. "Baan Mankong: going to scale with ''slum'' and squatter upgrading in Thailand." Environment and Urbanization, 17(1), 21-46. Available at http://eau.sagepub.com/content/17/1/21.full.pdf html.
Community Organizations Development Insitute (CODI). n.d. Results: Statistics January 2011. Retrieved from www.codi.or.th/housing/results.html. ________. 2004. CODI update. Bangkok. ________. 2012. Approve Report Baanmankong Project. Bangkok: Excel spreadsheet at CODI. July. Kaplan, D., J. Wheeler, and S. Holloway. 2008. Urban Geography. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley and Sons Inc. Knox, P.L., and L.M. McCarthy. 2005. Urbanization, an introduction to urban geography. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall. United Nations. 2010. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2010. June 15. Available at www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/MDG%20Report%202010%20En%20r15%20-low%20res%2020100615%20-.pdf. UN-HABITAT. 2003. The Challenge of Slums - Global Report on Human Settlements 2003. Available at www.unhabitat.org/pmss/listItemDetails.aspx?publicationID=1156
THESIS
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DJ始s Sports Cafe / August, 2013
DJʼs Sports Cafe TYPE: COMMERCIAL LOCATION: CINCINNATI, OH STATUS: IN PROGRESS
The sport’s cafe has been a gathering place for the Madisonville Business B District, for more than a decade. The surroundings in the neighborhood and the crime rate, as well as the building being very ancient. The owner of the cafe asks a local NGO, Madisonville Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (MCURC) to design its new façade and interior for revitalizing its surrounding community as well as the cafe.
Business B District
As an intern of MCURC, I charged the design process of the DJ’s Sports Cafe based on the owner’s idea and preferences. The design ranges from choosing color combination of the façade to arranging furniture. This project is now waiting for funds from the city for painting façade and introducing outside lights; meanwhile the owner has started renovation from inside of the cafe.
BAR
KITCHEN
ENTRANCE
PATIO
RESTAURANT
Proposed New Plan
Main Changes 1. light 2. awning 3. partation 4. floor color 5. wall color
Tower A / July, 2013
Tower A TYPE: COMMERCIAL LOCATION: CINCINNATI, OH STATUS: IDEA
Cincinnati is currently ongoing redevelopment process after a racial riot and financial crisis. Downtown Cincinnati is occupied mainly by financial and insurance buildings built before the 1980s, which creates the image of an old Cincinnati. To foster current redevelop movement, Tower A introduces both new functional and symbolic features to this city.
This tower is composed by offices, studios, and retail stores, which will be rented to local companies in order to facilitate local business to Cincinnati locals. Secondly, the tower is symbolic and declares that Cincinnati is heading to the new era after its long downfall.The tower will energize local economics and attract young professionals to this city as well.
Diagram
1. Mixed-Used Tower
2. Volume Study
3. Symbolize
4. Green Space
Box Housing Project / March, 2011
01
THEME
Background
After a series of wars in the 20th century, people might have seen a hope towards peace in the new era. However, we have achieve peace in the 21th century. culties of understanding other groups
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and languages. How can architecture be a device to change this condition?
Proposal This proposal is a cooperative housing project in the Yokohama Chinatown. Even though Japanese and Chinese occupy the same neighborhood, there is not a strong sense of community. A path the building and connects each room. By walking through the path, people can feel its community, and understand each other better. to the way people view reality, architecture has the potential to change society. DIPLOMA PROJECT
01
02
SITE
The target site is in Yokohama, Japan, where the port plays a key role to connect Japanese and Chinese through trade for more than 150 years. The Yokohama Chinatown, the largest Chinatown in Japan, is one of the most popular sightseeing places. Because of its unique history, the urban tissue of the area is special in terms of its buildings, infrastructure, and density.
buildings
streets
infrastructure
base map
DIPLOMA PROJECT
02
03
CONCEPT
02. Large Windows
01. Underground Path
03. Aerial Path
04 ARCHITECTURE c' c' SHOP
SHOP
b
SHOP
b
SHOP
b'
b'
SHOP COMMON PLACE
PLAYROOM
a
PLAYROOM PLAYROOM
COMMON PLACE
a a'
a'
SHOP RESTAURANT INSTRUMENT STORE
c
SHOP
c
B1F Plan 1:600 DIPLOMA PROJECT
N 0m
15m
30m
60m
90m
Site Plan & 1F Plan 1:600 03
c'
7,500
c'
HOUSE
FREE SPACE
HOUSE
FLOWER SHOP
HOUSE
INTERIOR SHOP
SHOP HOUSE
HOUSE
a
a' HOUSE
HOUSE
SHOP
SHOP
FREE SPACE
a
a' MUSIC STUDIO HOUSE
4,800
COOKING SCHOOL
3,600
HOUSE
b
FLOWER SHOP
6,300
HOUSE
b' 39,000
HOUSE
6,200
b'
b
RESIDENTIAL
FASHION SCHOOL
HOUSE
c 6,100
c
11,300
6,900
5,100
2F Plan 1:600
34,200
3F Plan 1:600
c'
STOREHOUSE
STOREHOUSE
CAFE
RESTAURANT
c'
OPEN CAFE
b
b'
b
b'
HOUSE SHOP
SHOP
OBSERVATION DECK
c
c
4F Plan 1:600
5F Plan 1:600 N 0m
DIPLOMA PROJECT
15m
30m
60m
90m
04
OBSERVATION DECK
HOUSE
SHOP
HOUSE
SHOP
HOUSE
HOUSE
HOUSE
SHOP
SHOP
SHOP
SHOP
SHOP
b-b’ Section 1:600
OBSERVATION DECK
RESTAURANT
HOUSE
COOKING SCHOOL
RESTAURANT
MUSIC STUDIO
HOUSE
HOUSE
SHOP
HOUSE
HOUSE
HOUSE
COOKING SCHOOL
COMMON PLACE
COMMON PLACE
RESTAURANT
SHOP
INSTRUMENT STORE
SHOP
HOUSE
a-a’ Section 1:600
c-c’ Section 1:600
0m
DIPLOMA PROJECT
15m
30m
60m
90m
05