SAN FRANCISCO, CA FALL 2021
MLA ACADEMIC PROJECT (INDIVIDUAL) LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE DESIGN INSTRUCTORS:
KARL KULLMAN
Golden Gate Park, the central park of the west coast, was designed and built during 1860s. It sits on the west side of San Francisco and faces directly to the pacific ocean. It witnessed the urban expansion over the centuries.
The park now serves as an oasis of busy urban life, but it was a true coastal desert before its birth.
In this project, I will focus on creating new experience that brings back the dune history in the west side of the Golden Gate Park and the Ocean Beach.
Unlike the sandy beach, park that is well-paved casual walking. The seatings for various combined sense of at the same time.
Hardscapes won’t move, but sand will. The power of nature will gradually change the dunes. A series of short walls, pavements will create different sand accumulations. It will helps human visualize how our landscape can change over the years.
Multifunctional Lawn
The lawn area can be used as a picnic space in the daytime, but can also be transferred into event space as well.
Bridge + Overlooking
Because the park topography was higher than the beach, the bridge take people from the park to the oceanfront with a very gentle slope. It also provides a 180 degree view of the pacific ocean.
Section A-A
Mount + Overlooking
The mount resembles the natural mount landscape in the bay area. The deck on the high point provides a great view of the park, bridge, and the ocean.
Museum
The museum will be dedicated to the education of the bay area cultural and natural history. The structure and the surrounding landscape will bring popularity to the west side of the park.
The park is designed with different elevations to create view points. The bridge structures also level with the park and move people across the highway smoothly.
SACRAMENTO, CA WINTER 2019
UNDERGRADUATE ACADEMIC PROJECT (INDIVIDUAL*) LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE DESIGN
INSTRUCTORS: KIMBERLY GARZA, ERIK PRINCE
Every piece of the landscape has its value and has been built for some reason. But the value could change over time.
The focus of this project is the Old Sacramento Waterfront. In the process of exploring its historical roles and analyzing its current values, I proposed a design that embodies its past values to fit our current world. I hope the design could let people rethink our relationships with similar infrastructures in our urban environment.
Ecological was the only role that the waterfront served during the prehistory era
*The project was a group project but later been completely redone by myself after graduation. All the concepts, designs, research, graphics, and texts of this project in this portfolio are produced by myself.
Social activities started to take place by the water as Native Americans settled down
The waterfront became a melting pot for new immigrants from different regions. Social
Activities and Structures ballooned
People significantly modified the waterfront landscape. The flood has been controlled but the waterfront’s Ecological value diminished
The waterfront now served mainly as the Structural support for the safety of the city and Social gathering spot for both locals and tourists.
1848: GOLD RUSH
ESTABLISHMENT SACRAMENTO
San Francisco Bay
Tidal effect from the Bay
Riparian Zone before Human Activities
Even the Old Sacramento Historic District is the top one tourist attraction in the city, most people visit here are not for the waterfront. As much as people love water, the lack of accessibility and view of the river made the waterfront much less attractive than the touristy shops nearby.
Because the waterfront deck is spatially higher than the inner streets surface, the river is not visible unless people stand right on the edge of the waterfront. However, the only program on the waterfront deck is 4 empty tents, which makes the waterfront even less appealing.
View Traffic Shade Openness Quietness
View Traffic Quietness
The waterfront is in a unique location to capture users due to its proximity to the river and the city.
Lacking its identity; Overwhelming hardscapes, and dramatic water level change.
Reclaiming the tents, adding programs, and extending deck to capture views.
Interactive programing that would help provide social and ecological retention to the site and define its own identity
“A BALANCED TRI-CIRCLE”
Maintain and reinforce the structural value, so the waterfront continues carrying the infrastructures and buildings for human use and can better prevent future flood risks.
Maximize the potential ecological value of the waterfront and turn it to a platform for stronger species interaction.
Enhance the social value of the waterfront to provide activity space for various social gatherings.
The climbing net design is inspired by the role of Old Sac as an industrial and river transportation center. It is a dynamic reimagining of the harbor industry.
The new decking structure will be built on the existing supporting piers of the bank. It extends the pedestrian circulation closer to the water where the view has the least obstructions. A net structure will be added between the old and new decks, which provides interactive recreational space for users. It defines a new way for human-river interaction.
The organic shape riparian landscape will turn the undesirable constant change of water level to advantage by creating rich and fertile marshland along the waterfront.
Instead of pumping water up at the level bio-swale at the city side of the after being filtered by the planter. The decrease the impermeable surface
Low Water Level: 10 ft.
The current underground stormwater system pumps the water directly up to the river at the waterfront because the elevation of the city is lower than the river during flood season.
waterfront, I propose to pump up the water to ground the old Sacramento district and make it drain to the river
The installation of the stormwater median is estimated to by 20%.
High Water Level: 35 ft.
Stormwater Run-off Waterfront As Social Gathering Space Treated Stormwater Marshes As Wildlife Habitat Cultural Value of Sacramento Water As Natural ResourceMARTINEZ, CA FALL 2020 GRADUATE ACADEMIC PROJECT (INDIVIDUAL) LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE DESIGN INSTRUCTORS: KRISTINA HILL, DENI RUGGERI
Martinez is a small city in Contra Costa County, yet it is almost at the east edge of the bay area. Because of its location and topography, the city seems different from our common view of the bay. It does not have so many glorious characters that the bay area has but shares a lot of the bay area’s problems. In this project, a city scale upgrade was proposed to tackle the current issues that Martinez has.
Martinez, in 2050, will be a healthy city.
The city will provide its residents a healthy lifestyle. The old industrial site will be eliminated and replaced by new affordable housings. As the source of pollution disappeared, the life expectancy will significantly increase. Green space will be easily access by all. The fire risk will also decrease as the implementation of firebreaks.
Fire Break and Wind Farm on Hill + Urban Tree Corridor
Railway Lid + Waterfront Reconnection
Medium-High Density Housing on Old Refinery
The wind and solar will provide consistent sources of energy for local consumption. The daily excess energy will be stored in the flywheel power storage plant in the case of when wind/solar energy is not accessible or during a power outage. An estimate of 98,550 MWH Energy will be contributed to the state utility grid annually.
Kailua Bay on the east side of Oahu Island. Unlike Waikiki, this part of the town is more for the locals. Because of the unique landuse in this region, Kailua Bay is like the epitome of the Oahu island. In this project, I want to reveal the challenges that Hawaii is facing through the lens of Kailua Bay.
ALAMEDA COUNTY, CA SPRING 2018
DESIGN WORKSHOP PROJECT (GROUP) LANDSCAPE INSTALLATION DESIGN COLLABORATORS: BRISA ALVARADO, AMERITA SINGH, JESSICA FAHMY, BOWEN HUANG, SARA LOOTAH, ARIANA SHEVCHUK INSTRUCTORS: CLAIRE NAPAWAN, BRETT SNYDER
In the project, we worked as part of the UC Davis branch of Resilient By Design to create installations as a tool to educate the public about the sediments and fish habitats along the Alameda Creek.
In 9 weeks of the time frame, we started with site visits, sediment research, and booklet design in groups of two. Later, we, as a bigger group, came up with a final design to showcase our research after 2 weeks of brainstorming.
After built several mini prototypes, we decided to laser cut topo sections on plywood and glue them together with equal gaps in between. This enables us to achieve a sense of volume by using minimal materials.
We wanted our installation to have a sense of volume to show the topography, while cost and buildability were also things we have to consider.
*The copyrights of the photos belong to the class. The model making process was a group work.
Santa Clara County Silver Creek Campus (In Progress)
Rosewood Calistoga Hotel (In Progress)
Sustainable Wetland System
Bishop James Residence, Atherton
Energy Two: Universal Solar Charging Module
Pomeroy Residence, Ross Courage Residence, San Francisco Evens Residence, Tinburon
