FIONA WONG
CRITICAL ARCHITECTURAL DISCOURSE Investigative Questions per Project
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HOW CAN URBAN GRID MEET NATURE?
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HOW SHOULD FOREIGN ARCHITECTS DESIGN?
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CAN STRUCTURE SINUATE?
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HOW TO DENSIFY CITY FOR JUST AND HEALTHY LIVING?
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CAN FOLDABLE STRUCTURES SHELTER HIKERS IN HARSH CLIMATE?
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HOW TO RESTORE LAND BY BUILDING?
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PROFESSIONAL WORK
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How Can Urban
Grid Meet Nature? T
he studio asks to design and develop urban landmark to serve Austin’s 21st century social and cultural identity which embodies unique character of Austin downtown. The program is a convention center, and the site is located adjacent to and most prominently defined by both the urban grid of downtown Austin and the natural context of the Austin creek and river system.
University of Texas at Austin 2015 Fall Studio Instructor John Blood
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Site analysis
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Site observation sketch
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0 25 50 100
200 ft
Parti model - “pinch” gesture
The juxtaposition between the orthogonality of the urban grid and the untamed/organic nature of the site is the most prominent character of the site. The building emphasizes this character by “pinching” the land to reveal the softness of natural conditions and the orderliness of man-made structure.
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N
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0 5 10 20
40 ft
Digital / hand drawing hybrid Section
Digital / hand drawing hybrid Elevation
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The space between the building and landscape directs and focuses visitors’ view along the transverse of the site. The retaining walls are both infrastructural, lightdiffusing and guiding of the pedestrian paths.
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convention center space planning
primary column grid 25’ x 40’
place apertures to conceal grid
lateral bracings
CHS-column to I-beam connection
Structural bay mode
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2
How Should Foreign
Architects Design?
The studio asks to design a magnet
research campus associated with University of Alaska, Fairbanks at its research forest.
University of Texas at Austin 2015 Fall Studio Instructor Hope Hasbrouck
Having grown up in a completely different climate and culture of the project site, I was set to spend most of project duration understanding and researching through mapping this exotic site. This project uses maps, a lots of maps, which includes mapped locations of permafrost (frozen soilunbuildable), flood plains, tree species, terrain and Eco-regions. The thesis is to provide a sense of refuge from the harsh climate of Alaska and connect the occupants of architecture with the vastness of Tanana River plain through framing of views. The architecture acts as the windbreakers blocking the prevailing wind from North and Northeast, for Decembers and Januarys respectively.
Alaska Interior highland eco-region: project location
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Top Bottom Right
Permafrost at University* Composite map of site* Map of two sites * * The darker, the less buildable.
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Major Roads Highways University of Fairbanks campus and affliated research forest flood plain flood source N 0 1 2 miles
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0
40
80
160 ft
Site concept iterations model + massing
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Object: Selecting an appropriate site using the process of elimination
South slope for maximum daylight and heat
Along the ridge for view toward researched target
Along established trail for accessibility
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3
Can Architecture Sinuate? T
his short assignment asks students to create parametric design using Revit family, then fabricate a model of it.
University of Texas at Austin 2015 Fall Studio Instructor Kory Beig
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Fabricated plexi glass model
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4 T
How to Densify City for Just
and Healthy Living?
he studio asks for a proposal for development of the Saltillo T.O.D (Transit-Oriented Development) at the intersection of inevitability of growth and possibility of better planning of the east Austin. According to our site analysis, The Plaza Saltillo T.O.D., faces pressing problems such as loss of public space and psychological and physical barrier of Interstate-35.
Our synthesized solutions are creating series of connected pocket parks and developing usable space underneath the highway. Sustainability is a balance of ecological, equality and economic concerns. The master plan addresses the tensions between each of these three by providing housing for the low-income artist community, pocket parks for health, and by building densely.
University of Texas at Austin 2014 Spring Studio Instructor Dean Almy Partners on master plan Max Baird Kerry Frank McKenzie Edwards
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It is important that architecture activates the street through ground-level retail to support friendly walking experience. We achieved these objectives by setting back residences and moving parking underground.
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Residential Retail Parking
Hand-drawn sectional perspective that cuts through a proposed mixed use artists lofts; These affordable artists lofts are subsidized by ground-floor retail
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Elevated residence common area provides shade for the activated back alley.
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5
How Can Foldable Structures
Shelter Hikers in Harsh Climate?
D
ue to extreme arctic climates in Iceland, the arrangement of living spaces around the hearth has long been the psychological source of refuge. This shelter is a cluster of eggs; bedrooms and bathrooms gathered around the central rooms comprised of kitchen and living.
Bee Breeder’s Competition Partner Henry Wen
Its form is generated by balancing the need for minimal surface-area to volume ratio suited for an extremely cold climate – a sphere – and optimization of its floor area to volume ratio. The design focuses on minimizing construction speed and addressing transportation constraints, through an expandable motion structure that – through rotational movement of its components – can transform from a compact ball into an elliptical structural enclosure. The interior and exterior panels have been ensured to fit almost any transportation vehicle, as well as the capability for several people to install without requiring heavy construction machinery.
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Physical model test
Calculation Principle Unlike other motion structures forming a closed volume, Dreki Eggs is an ellipsoid rather than a sphere. As a consequence, the frame is asymmetrical; each of the vertices on a given polyhedron will have different distances from the centrepoint, different angles between each vertice to the centrepoint, and thus irregularly sized components. To ensure the structural frame to be reversibly expandable whilst enclosing an elliptical shape, a physical model was built in order to solve the issue of an asymmetrical expandable structure comprised of closed elements. Each angle was categorised and calculated to ensure stable expansion and contraction relative to its neighboring legs.
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Form Generation and Optimization This ellipsoidal form is generated by balancing the need for minimal surface-area to volume ratio suited for an extremely cold climate – a sphere – and optimization of its floor area to volume ratio.
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6
How to Restore
Land by Building? T
he studio is tasked to design and build a kayak shelter/outdoor education center for our stakeholder Artist Boat. “The Frame� is an environmentally restorative kayak storage facility. A non-profit organization, the Artist Boat, uses our project as a launching point and kayak storage facility to take middle school-ers out on the ocean and educate them about their surrounding ecology. In addition the functional requirement, the design provides the middle school-ers with an elevated viewing platform that invokes their desire to steward the earth through the breathtaking view.
University of Texas at Austin 2017 Spring Studio Instructor Coleman Coker
kayak storage and moving diagram
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Renderings for stakeholder presentation
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Collaboration with stakeholders
Facade prototype
A metal screen wrapping around the building uses varying porosity of re-bar and panels to direct the view on the viewing platform and restore the iron content of the damaged prairie (through rusting). This project is restorative to the environment both through educational value and material choice.
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Structural Frame Detail Revit Drawings
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Professional
Work
W
ork done at: Matt Fajkus Architecture www.mfarchitecture.com
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Revit interior elevations, floor plans and RCP for a two story residential housing. Work done at Matt Fajkus Architecture
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8 Co-Founders: Henry Wen Jan Hamilton
Entrepreneurship K
ito Studios, a 3-people team, design and sell modern decorative lamps celebrating Australia’s unique wildlife. We believe that the natural beauty of animals can add a friendly character to any space. Our lights have personality; a refreshing contrast to the trending minimalist style. The lamp is 3-D printed with resin.
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EDUCATION
AWARDS & HONORS
B.ARCH | The University of Texas at Austin
AIA Dallas Women In Architecture Exhibition Finalist
Architectural Association of London
Design Excellence Award, Class of 2018 / For excellence in Sound-Building Studio
2013-Present Candidate for graduation in 2018
Summer Courses 2014.6 - 2014.7
St. Stephen’s Episcopal School , Austin, TX/ Archbishop M.C. O’Neill High School, CANADA / Sanxin Bilingual Middle School, CHINA 2008 - 2013
2016
2016
UT Student Scholarship Award/ For Excellence in Academic Performance 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Design Excellence Award + Project published in Issue 010 /
LANGUAGES Cantonese (Native) Mandarin (Native) English (Fluent)
CONTACT yeesang.wong@utexas.edu 512-919-6048
Project title: “Concurrent Performances” 2014
Scholastic Art Competition, Silver Key in Architecture /
Project title: “Austin Downtown Hostel” 2013
Hand Drawing Published on Southern Teacher Agency Magazine and Calendar / Drawing: “ST. STEPHEN’S CHAPEL” 2013
EXPERIENCE Kito Studios / Co-Founder
Decorative lamp designs, 3D printed, marketing and design Jun. 2017 - present
UT Summer Academy / Teaching Assistant Jun. 2016 - Aug. 2016
MF Architecture / Intern Architect
Jan. 2015 - 2017 Summers Created architectural permit sets, worked on CD drawings, assisted client meetings, documented firm’s critical projects, created renderings for ongoing projects and crafted physical models.
ALT-254, Hong Kong / Intern Architect
Translated at construction meetings between the architect and the contractors, and helped in concept design for a residential project in Indonesia.
Bercy Chen Studio / Intern Architect
Jun. 2014 - Aug. 2014 Illustrated and built models for visualization of architecture project concepts. Worked on large-scale projects including the Taiwan SKCF resort master planning, and residential projects in Austin at nationally award-winning firm.
Global Architectural Brigade, Torti Abajo, Panama
Dec. 2013 Studied financial resources, geography and the economics of the Torti Abajo community in east Panama. Then, in a week, design-built an educational greenhouse space where the locals learned basic agriculture that enhance their trade.
Longwater College, Zhanshan, China / English Teacher
Jun. 2013 - Aug. 2013 Worked with the school principal on transforming the traditional lecture style in teaching to seminar style where the students are encouraged to think critically. Designed and taught a four-week intensive English course
Yeesangwong.com