WILFRED LEUNG
Masters of Architecture in Urban Design WORK VOLUME 2012-2014
CONTENT 01 /
02 /
COLLECTIVE FRAMES the countryside as a city
CITY FIELD the grid as an urban rural paradigm
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BEYOND INFRASTRUCTURE
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CONTEMPORARY HISTORY
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FOREIGN HOMELAND
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FAMILIARIZED ICON
06-15
opportunities from a rising sea
preservation that responds
topography as an urban script
framework discovered in exceptions
16-23
24-31
32-39
40-45
46-51
________________________________________
07 /
STADT PARK DONAU Professional Exhibition
Resume
52-57
Hong Kong: a manifestation of a dense and diverse urban concept. We see in this city the delicacy of tradition alongside soaring towers, messy streets bisecting strict city blocks. We arrive a place that celebrates differences. Here is a city as a cultural political construct that enables citizens to question, comment, and respond. Here is my source of inspiration. Here is my home.
2012 Hong Kong, China
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COLLECTIVE FRAMES
the countryside as a city
| 01
Zhengzhou, China | Critic: Christopher Lee | Fall 2014 with Alex Medina The Rural village as a return to our cultural origin has long been embedded in the Chinese mindset. Illustrations since the Ming Dynasty depicts a countryside where daily life is fully immersed into the landscape. We see an intricate relationship between dwelling and places of work. But the current model of rural urbanization in Zhongmu County severely disrupts the rural culture. Social cohesion is lost as entire social networks are restructured. Villagers are robbed of all that is rural. What we see in the new model today is an urbanization through the breaking down of traditional rural village structure. The project sees agricultural production as the foundation of social life in the countryside. From production to harvest, processing to consumption, agricultural activities in the village play a crucial role in bringing together individuals and families. The project seeks to frame these celebratory moments of communal life to reassert the cultural value of agriculture in the rural context. With a model of dispersion organized based on a common framework that focuses on the rural value of sharing, proximity to nature and self-sufficiency, a series of framed collective spaces are generated to accomodate a variety of shared experiences within the family, among neighbors, and beyond. These include a communal dining space where the seasons’ harvests are celebrated and shared; a harvest courtyard where villagers peel garlic and pick peanuts as a social activity, production grounds where tourists and villagers mix and interact. Introduction of agritourism allows this culture of sharing to extend beyond the boundaries of the village. What results is a project which stresses that the making of the rural is not restricted to the privileged few, but a communal act. It allows architecture and urban space to be first and foremost a social and political construct defined by its inhabitants. In so doing, it allows the rural to remake their economy, invent and reinvent its own identity according to the needs of the developing society.
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Domestic Courtyard Sharing in the family
Communal Dining Sharing in the neighborhood
Harvest Courtyard Sharing in the village
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CITY FIELD
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the grid as an urban rural paradigm
| 02
Barcelona, Spain | Critic: Joan Busquets | Spring 2014 Lined with heavy infrastructure and industrial activity, the two rivers that frame Barcelona are not just physical edges to the city, but also socioeconomic barriers. They hold areas with the lowest employment and education. The Llobregat is defined by heavy industrial and agricultural uses that separate pockets of urbanity. A 20min drive away from the city center, the proximity of the agricultural field proves significantly beneficial to the city’s metabolism. Yet, current situations of decay and negligence of the agricultural fields show an eventual urbanization of the fields. To preserve the significance of the agricultural culture during the urbanization process, a framework needs to be set to allow for the coexistence of the possibly conflicting entities. To do this, historic canal lines are traced in search for an agricultural grid. This sets a framework for the inevitable urbanization of the farmland bordering the city of Barcelona. Existing canal lines parcelize the land in a way that allows farmland, housing, industry to integrate. The large agricultural field is bisected into ten 30 acre zones, each holding key functions of distribution, research, and production. Lines of trees are planted to formalize the grid and to set measure in the vast horizon of the Primary riverEconomy delta. This way, the decaying agricultural field transforms from an edge that marks the end to the city to an urban condition that integrates landscape with domestication, work, and recreation. Farmer
Production
Research
Local Market
Services
Farmer
Processing
Primary Economy
Secondary Economy
Sulfur+Industrial/ Agricultural Pollutants
Local Market Salinity Degradation from Seawater Infiltration
Distribution Tertiary Economy
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1890
Access Over Highway Access Under Highway
1930
Prevailing Running Canals Prevailing Canals --> Roads
1970
Prevailing Running Canals Prevailing Canals --> Roads
Scale of Soil Content Desirability Good Arable Land
2010
Bad Soil Content
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Residential
Research
Production
Distribution
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Flood Zone
2020
Flood Zone
2050
Flood Zone
2080
BEYOND STRUCTURE
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opportunities from a rising sea
| 03
New York, USA | Critic: Carles Muro | Fall 2013 with Dan Toole Learning from the disaster left from recent storms, coastal infrastructures are facing increasing pressures from rising seas and storm surges. Mapping of rising sea level in the near future indicate a fragile infrastructural network in Manhattan. The project sees a need to preserve the iconic shape of the island. Through a close look at a hybridization of protective and connecting infrastructural elements, we aim to arrive at new infrastructures that prompt the rising sea to create new forms of urbanization.
a fragile infrastructure rendered by the rising sea
The project unfolds in two episodes: one located on Randall’s Island and one on the Manhattan shoreline. Two different strategies are tested on the two sites. The project on Randall’s Island proposes to join the land with the Bronx. This side takes on a softer, yet drastic, transformation to deal with the rising sea. Topographic manipulations are implemented to create frictional barriers to slow down the surge coming in from the northeast. These manipulations led to the creation of canals and an enlarged bay to facilitate the expanding shipping industry in Metro North Railway New York. 230,000 riders/day On the Manhattan edge, a more constructed solution is employed. A levee system is lined along the edge to protect the Harlem River Major Deegan Express Drive. The challenge is on how 125,000 riders/day to program the protective levee to merge it into the Manhattan urban fabric. 5 underprivileged FDR/Harlem River Drive zones are identified through 100,000 riders/day distances from schools and public transport. These became points of intervention to tie the levee to the city fabric. What these points show is not the extent of the entire project, but the beginning to how we can deal with the problems of the rising sea, and how we can turn the undesirable and inevitable into a positive experience for the city.
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Sections on Randall’s Island
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A Soft Edge
to alleviate storm surge with friction
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A Hard Edge
to preserve the iconic Manhattan Edge
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5 SITES
=
POP. DENSITY
+ PROXIMITY TO + SUBWAY STATIONS
PLAZA WITH PUBLIC AMENITIES
PROXIMITY TO SCHOOLS
NEW METRO
HRD
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PARK
EXISTING SCHOOL
HARLEM RIVER DRIVE
REVEAL COURTYARD
FINE GRAIN FINGER BUILDINGS
NEW SCHOOL FACILITIES
TIDAL PLAZA
WATETRFRONT AMPHITHEATER
HARLEM RIVER DRIVE
HARLEM RIVER DRIVE
OBSERVATION DECKS
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1900
1950
2012
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CONTEMPORARY HISTORY preservation that responds
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Hong Kong, China | Critic: Thomas Gardner | Spring 2013 Traditionally, we tend to view historic structures as individual relics of a bygone time. This thesis questions the potential in awarding historic structures the opportunity to respond to contemporary challenges without losing its historic depth. Sensitivity lies in how well the intervention reconnects the physical remnants of the past with the evolving social and cultural reality of the present, to connect man back to his history while grounding him in the contemporary. I chose a 14th century village in Hong Kong as a testing ground for the exploration. Diversity in cultures and scales pose an interesting challenge. In response to the high density of apartments around the village, the abandoned village becomes the breathing ground of the surrounding neighborhood. In consideration of density, instead of intensifying population density to suffocate the neighborhood even more, the alternative is a strive for emptiness. The project proposes a transformation of the village structures into exhibition space and communal park space for the family. The family is the cornerstone of the Chinese social network. Loyalty and mutual support give rise to a sense of belonging and harmony that is very much related to the unity and togetherness that characterizes the collectivist Chinese culture. Yet, the speed of development in cities today strips us of precious family time. Burdened with work, we have “no time” and the extreme density of the city offers “no place”. A reframed historic site, the program aims to provide a refuge amidst the chaos of city life for individuals and families to gather and share an intimate moment.
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Original Plan circa. 1360
During WWII circa. 1950
After WWII circa. 1964
Temp. Structures circa. 1989
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Communal Garden
ADMIN
RARE BOOKS COLLECTION HISTORY
OFFICES
STORAGE
MEETING ROOM
BORROW/RETURN
INFORMATION DESK
ART EXHIBIT
SCULPTURE GARDEN
EDUCATIONAL GARDEN
MUSEUM
MUSIC FOUNTAIN
SPECIAL COLLECTION
SCIENCE ASTRONOMY
MEETING CHAMBER
GARDENING
MULTI-LINGUAL BOOKS MAGAZINES LANGUAGES REFERENCE SECTION
PLANTING CHAMBER SEED STORAGE
TEA ROAST
FICTION
OOLONG GREEN TEA HARVESTING
FERMENTIZING DRYING
PARKSPACE
Intimate Courtyard
WORKROOM BIOGRAPHY
TEA PU-ERH PLANTBLACK TEA GARDEN
OXIDIZING
PERMANENT COLLECTION
STEPPED
CHILDREN’S COLLECTIONGARDENS
KIDS PLAYGROUND
SLOPE TERRAIN PARK HARVESTING
TEA STORAGE
VIDEO Exhibition Chamber
ADULT SECTION PHILOSOPHY RELIGION READING ROOM FOOD STORE
CINEMA
CDs|DVDs
TEAHOUSE
Individual Chamber
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Communal Garden the most open and commual
Intimate Courtyard the secluded, protected space
Exhibition Chamber the space of private contemplation
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Drawn Plan of Proposed Condition
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an entry into 607 acres of forgotten landscape
FOREIGN HOMELAND
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topography as an urban script
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Seoul, Korea | Critic: Hailim Suh | Spring 2012 The site in Yongsan is a troubled landscape. For an entire century, this piece of lance located at the heart of Seoul had been occupied by foreign military forces. Local inhabitants have been walled away from their homeland. Over the years, development within the military camp has rendered the land so different to the surrounding fabric that it is no longer concordant with the city.
1914 (1909-1945) Japanese Occupation
The project seeks to reintroduce the land back to its citizens, and to mediate the the sudden shock this once forbidden land emits to the city when the formidable walls of this military camp are torn down. The project rests in a segment of the site’s boundary right next to a busy street of family retails, but where the topography makes access difficult. Mediating this challenge of topography, to draw citizens up the hill and into the park, and to diversify the pedestrian experience of the street become the crux of this exploration.
1936 (1909-1945) Japanese Occupation
a century long foreign military occupation in the heart of Seoul
1949
Taking precedent from traditional Korean attitude towards the landscape, the intervention takes reference from the existing landscape. Valley and ridge lines of the existing topography set up a framework, marking a series of wall like structures that house small scaled shops. The focus of the project is in the spaces between these wall structures. A porous skin is adopted to blur the boundary between interior and exterior spaces. Pedestrians, in turn, experience the beauty of their landscape while browsing goods held in the stores. Following the trails marked by these wall structures, pedestrians are drawn from the street into the park. They follow these structures up the hill, the highest point of the site, and look over the entire park scape. In another instance, pedestrians follow these walls towards the Dragon Hill Hotel located at the heart of the park. In both cases, the intervention acts as a threshold bringing local citizens into the park, and closer to the history of their landscape.
Section
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a once prosperous textile capital...
63% now lay desolate.
Mill Buildings Vacant along I-95
FAMILIARIZED ICON
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framework discovered in exceptions
| 06
abandoned industrial building
private modified mill factory
old warehouse requiring renovation
to be demolished
transport/ freight company
US oil
residential sailing port
Fall River, MA, US | Critic: Wilbur Yoder | Fall 2011 Once the capital of textile industry, Fall River now runs decrepit. In the wake of the highway building boom in the US, the I-195 drastically transformed the livelihood of the flourishing city. The Quequechan River that granted the city its name is now buried and re-routed. The new infrastructure severs the city into north and south, destroying the city’s grain and identity. Historic mill buildings are demolished. The industrial hub that now runs along prime waterfront lay abandoned. The city’s great history lay barren, living only in the citizens’ memories. The project aims to resolve the division of the city, and to set a stage for the transition from a historic void to a new cultural hub. Instead of seeing the I-195 bridge as a problem to the urban context, the st ructure of the bridge is used as a catalyst to set up a framework to transform the waterfront. A series of bridge structures are introduced to spread across the site, indicating boundaries of parks, squares and spaces of communal activities. Following the rhythm of the column grid, the steel construction of these bridge structures echo the highway, which blurs the divide caused by the highway and generates a concordant whole. In which case, the intrusion of the I-195 bridge no longer becomes an obstruction to the city, but a juncture that ties the two sides together.
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A
B
C
D
E
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A B C D E
Master Plan
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Study Models of Bridge Structure
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STADT PARK DONAU
the countryside as a city
| 07
Ingolstadt, Germany | OFICINAA | Summer 2014 with Silvia Benedito, Axel Hausler, Joe Liao Ingolstadt is currently identified as the audi kingdom. It is also one of the stations along the Danube cycling path. This brings huge economic opportunities from tourism. The project is an exhibit to promote the transformation of the Danube cycling path within the city into a park for both tourists and citizens. The exhibition is laid out as a sequence of rooms: 1) an exterior garden exhibiting furniture selections for the park space; 2) a model of historic development of the city; 3) a series of models exhibiting station designs along the park; 4) an experiential video interaction of moments within the park; 5) a photo gallery of park activites; 6) a series of furnitue models; 7) a jewelry souvenirs station. Together these rooms build an experience of what it can be like for the Donau Park. Working together with my partner, we took care of the comprehensive design of the exhibition space, including the contracting of the built space, ordering of the exhibit furniture, the designing and contracting of our own furniture series, the making of the station models and furniture models, interactive video projections, and the branding and promotion materials of the exhibit. As a result, the project ranged in many different scales, from the scale of jewelry souvenirs to furniture, to architectural design of key stations, to the urban design of the park.
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WILFRED LEUNG wleung90@gmail.com +1 401 368 5092 +852 6740 2822
EDUCATION Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Cambridge, MA | Master of Architecture in Urban Design 2015
Rhode Island School of Design
Technische Universitat M端nchen
Providence, RI |
Bachelor of Fine Arts 2012 Bachelor of Architecture 2013
Munich, Germany | Exchange Mobility Program 2011
SKILLS Construction + Digital Fabrication
Advanced Woodworking + Casting with concrete, plaster, glass, lost-wax, resin Laser Cutting, CNC Routing (Cam 7 & Techno Isel), 3D Printing (ZCorp +Makerbot)
Software
AutoCad, Adobe Creative Suite CS6, Google Sketchup, Rhinoceros 5.0, Grasshopper, T-Splines, VRay, Revit, Unity 3D
Languages
Native English, Cantonese, Chinese Mandarin; Conversant French
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
OFICINAA Ingolstadt, Germany | Project Designer 2014 STADT PARC DONAU EXHIBITION | Exhibition design, contractor contacting, construction detail Charles Rose Architects Somerville, MA | Design Intern 2014 ZANDER-WEISS RESIDENCE | residential kitchen detail, living room detail ATHENA HEALTH DESIGN RESEARCH CENTER | Interior Elevations
Dileonardo International Ltd
Warwick, RI/ Hong Kong | Design Intern 2012
KING ABDULLAH WAQF HOTEL | Conceptual/ Schematic Design NANFUNG XISHANDU RESORT+CLUBHOUSE | Schematic Design KEMPINSKI HOTEL | Clubhouse Restaurant Plan
XWG Archi-Studio
Philip Liao and Partners Ltd
Beijing, China | Design Intern 2011 KAIDI CONVENTION CENTER | renderings and digital presentations ANYANG UNIVERSITY MUSEUM | initial conceptualization and renderings Hong Kong, China | Design Intern 2010 4 COOPER ROAD RESIDENCE | renovation of residential entry HOPEWELL TOWER COMMERCIAL ENTRY | renovation of entry block facade NANFUNG RESORT | master plan of 2 resorts
RELEVANT EXPERIENCE
Elements of Urban Design Harvard GSD | Teaching Assistant for Felipe Correa, Carles Muro 2014 New Urban Farmers Pawtucket, RI | Designer and Construction Management 2011 Kevin Fung Artist Studio Hong Kong | Woodworking Studio Assistant for Sotheby Fall Auction 2009 Architecture Model Shop RISD | Shop Monitor/ Laser Cutter Monitor 2011-2013 Architecture Computer Lab RISD | CAD Lab Monitor 2011-2013