April Chen Portfolio (23)

April Chen Portfolio Part 1 Architect 2023

April Chen Part 1 Architect BA (Hons) Architecture - First Class Honour

April Chen

Education:

RIBA Part 1 - First Class Honor

September 2020 - July 2023: University of the Arts London- Central Saint Martins- BA (Hons) Architecture

Foundation - Distinction

September 2019 - June 2020: University of the Arts London - Level 4 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design

Highschool

September 2017 - June 2019: A. Y. Jackson secondary school ( Toronto, Ontario, Canada) September 2016 - June 2017: Lishan Senior High School (Taipei, Taiwan)

Work Experiences: 2023

Artists in the City Co-Researcher

2021

Interior Design Assistant

2020

Assistant & Translator

Sep.

Jun.- Sep.

May.- Sep.

- a collaborative research project about artists in Fish Island funded by the GIA - interview the artists in Space Studio in Fish Island, analyse the data and show the research graphically - worked as a summer internship for Simplism Design based in Taipei, Taiwan - in charge of drawings, visualization, and site visits

2023

RIBA Mentoring Scheme Mentee

2019 - 2023

Events Organizer

2022

Summer Course of Fashion in Shih Chien University

Personal Details: Email: april.excelsior@gmail.com Phone number: +447747376568 5 Lion Court, 12 Shand Street, London SE1 2EP

- the mentee of Fathom Architect to understand the industry and process of the practice

Central Saint Martins

BA Architecture Course Leader email: o.brito@csm.arts.ac.uk

Skills:

Rhino, Revit, Autocad, SketchUp, Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign), Microsoft Office, Model making, Hand sketching, Graphic Design, Photography

Nationality & Visa: Taiwanese (R.O.C) Graduate Visa (psw) for 2 years

Language: Chinese Mandarin English Taiwanese

Lectures Attended: 2023

Oct. 19

- to fulfill personal passhion in working with hands and looking at clothing from a structural perspective - leaned the basic knowlege of fashion in pattern making, tailoring and styling

CSM BA Fashion Exhibition

2019

#CoronaDon’tDiscrimanate Campaign

2023

Oct. 17

2023

Material Matters 2023

2023

Building with Bamboo

Sep. 23

Volunteering as a Teacher

-London Fu Gong San (buddhist temple) Bodhi Garden teaching kindergarten children about buddhism and do art work with them

2018

Exhibition Organizer

2017

Student Ambassador

2017

Graduation Ceremony Host

-Organizing layout of Final Show in A. Y. Jackson Secondary School -Student ambassador in Flowinds (club) in Lishan Senior High School -Do presentation on the school system and environment to visitors in English and Chinese - Hosted the graduation ceremony of class 2016 in front of 1000 people

Circular Futures: Exploring Demountable Structures at The Hithe - Tour and discussion of the demountable structure - by the if_do and meanwhile space architecture

-organizing the plan of exhibition and working with students to design their own display -Event organization: instagram, time, location, contact other organizations -Covered by BBC Radio 4, up to 2-3 million people reached (in charged)

Artemis Technologies - Decarbonising the Maritime Transport Sector - Lecture hosted by the Engineering Club about the Artemis Technology

-in UAL (University of the Arts London) Taiwanese society event department to contact

2022

2019

Oscar Brito-Gonzalez

-Taipei Computer Association to assist the organization of hosting a series of competitions - in charge of translating the documents discussed in the meetings between Chinese and English

Other Experiences:

Jun.- Aug.

Reference:

Sep. 19

- Design Fair demonstrating the importance of materials and their ability to shape our lives - Lecture hosted by the Engineering Club about the bamboo structure by Dr. Jorg Stamm

Project 1:

FISH ISLAND BRIDGE

University Technical Thesis | Stage 3 | 2023 Artistic Space in Fish Island

Monier Works

Two More Years

Algha Works

Old Ford Works

Bridget Riley Studio (Space Studio)

Britannia Works (Space Studio)

Creative Closter

Peanut Factory

V22

The main idea of this proposal is to connect Fish Island and Hackney Wick through: artists, community and identity of creative. This proposal will be connecting the overground station in Hackney Wick with an existing creative civic space, Two More Years, in Fish Island through urban landscape inspired by the Parc de la Villette by OMA. There are several experiences in the larger master plan, the proposal, Fish Island Bridge, is acting as one of the experiences.

Within the landscape, by the canal will be proposed as a physical bridge as well as a creative building, which is the proposal itself, that contains community studios and artists residencies, which act like a bridge to connect the artists and residents in Fish Island and Hackney Wick.

Hackney Wick Overground Station

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Hackney Wick

Fish Island

T sc a th p

Parc de la Villette /OMA /Paris, France

1.

3. Proposal: Fish Island Bridge

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2.

4.

The entire proposal will be a creative landcape that act horizontally on the ground and vertically into the building, to enhance he creative identity of Fish Island and invite people to celebrate it and be a part of it.

Two More Years 1. Market 2. Little Forest 3. Proposal 4. Water (Canal) 5. Canal Playground

Level 7: Roof Top Garden

Level 5: Living Room +Kitchen +Storage & 3 Artist Residencies

Level 8: Solar Panels facing South

Level 6: 3 Artist Residencies

Level 3: Installation Studio Level 4: Ceramic Studio +Storage

Level 1: Painting Studio

Level 0: Cafe+Swap Shop

Level 2: Informal Auditorium / Meeting Room

Level 0~-1: Stairs Seating to Access Canal

Canal Playground (followed LLDC plan)

BUILDING PROPOSAL: CREATIVE LANDSCAPE

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1. Installation studio 2. Installation studio spread out on walkway 3.Double height space to overlook the painting studio on level below 4. Lightwell 5. Ceramic studio 6. Storage space for ceramic studio 7. Ceramic studio spread out on the walkway 8. Ramp 9. Building core

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level 4 ~ level 5 Installation Studio + Ceramic Studio

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A. Polycarbonate Facade B. 500mmx 500mm Steel I-Beam to span 15m C. Textile Fiber Concrete D. Steel Column E. CLT Floor F. 300mm x300mm Steel I-Beam to span 5m

1.Artists Residency 2.Ceramic Studio 3.Meeting Room 4.All Purpose Seating 5.Artists Residency & Shared Space 6.Installation Studio 7.Painting Studio 8.Cafe &Swap Shop

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North-South section

The building with ramps that connect all the programs acting like a carpet wrapping up all the programs into one building and to be a continuity of the landscape.

The program closer to the ground is the most public and gets more private in higher levels. From bottom to top is the seating space for all purpose gatherings, the café, a painting community studio, an indoor gathering meeting informal auditorium space, an installation community studio, a ceramic community studio with storage, artist residency with kitchen and share space. The artist who are in charge of the community studio can live here for a certain period of time and work with the community. and on the top of the building is rooftop garden and solar panel to provide energy to the building in a sustainable way.

4 Main Conceptual Strategy

1. HALF LEVEL:

encourage user to have interactions to different levels and have playful level experiences

2. LIGHTWELL: in

the centre of two buildings to provide natural light

3. RAMPS: connecting programs on different levelsv to merge with the urban landscape

4. FREE PLAN: on

ground floor for public with a STAIRS as seating to access the canal and the bridge

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1. plastic roof sealing membrane; 50mm polyurethane insulation 2. fixed anodised aluminium ventilation louvers; 3mm anodised aluminium sheeting 3. anodised aluminium cladding edge trim 4. powder-coated galvanised steel gutter 5. 80x80mm anodised aluminium SHS mullions ; 50x50mm anodised aluminium SHS cladding transoms; 80x80mm galvanised steel SHS mullion support brackets; 50x120mm anodised aluminium RHS posts 6. quadruple 10mm-layer polycarbonate hollow cellular slab cladding, last layer colour-coated, 500mm wide 7. stainless steel supports with holes for draining 8. timber support for pitching 9. DPM 10. 80mm insulation 11. vapour control layer 12. CLT 200mm structure 13. 30mm x 30mm steel I-beam 14. 50mm x 50mm steel I-beam 15. 30mm x 30mm hollow steel column

Poly Carbonate Facade

1:100 Model - Jesmonite AC100 casted base, wood, cardboard

North section

Project 2:

BUILDING FROM CLOTHING: TEXTILE FIBER CONCRETE University Technical Thesis | Stage 3 | 2023

The subject area being explored is: how to reuse the textile waste from fashion industry to act as fiber in concrete to strengthen the tension that concrete could take.

The technical areas of interest are: how does concrete construction work and what the load take in place in concrete. Where is the weakest part in concrete beam and how do people result it? If it is possible to make sustainable concrete by using textile waste as an advantage to improve concrete, if not improve, does it make concrete significantly weaker?

This subject area was chosen because: concrete is the most common chose material, beauty of concrete is in its plasticity. Concrete would take on the form of its mould with effectively no geometric limitations. Concrete is strong in terms of compression and the load it could take. It is easy and fast to be constructed therefore it was wildly used for housing after World War II in Europe due to the boosted population. Concrete is also a beautiful material that the surface were determined by the surface of its mould, for instance, it gives a brutalist atmosphere and was often used to achieve architects’ asthetic, such as Tadao Ando. The advantages of using concrete are its fusing the waste from another large polluted industry - fashion, try to test out if it would be possible to be more environmentally friendly.

Pure Concrete cement : sand : textile 1 : 3.5 : 0

Concrete + Rebar cement : sand : textile 1 : 3.5 : 0

Concrete + Textile cement : sand : textile 1 : 2 : 1.5

Concrete +Textile +Rebar

cement : sand : textile 1 : 2 : 1.5

Prestressed Concrete +Textile cement : sand : textile 1 : 2 : 1.5

Failed with: 17 kg/m3

Start cracking with: 24 kg/m3

Failed with: 36 kg/m3

Start cracking with: 34 kg/m3 Still maintain until stopping at 40 kg/m3

Start cracking with: 45 kg/m3 Still maintain until stopping at 47 kg/m3

Project 3:

KAIRA LOORO 2022 CHILDEN’S HOUSE External Group Project | Competition | 2022

Our project realises the social significance of children within the context of social justice, but essentially within the culture of Senegal. In the youthful population of Senegal children are the core for the future of the country.

One of our key design approaches was to make the site a friendly place for the children who can easily fear medical treatments or procedures if needed. The building provides the children with a continuous loop of different playgrounds for diverse activities with an absence of rigid boundaries between inside and outside. Under the same roof, children can also travel around the whole building while being secured by the building envelope and monitored by the distributed staff members.

Curves appear frequently in the building; sometimes they approach the users in a friendly manner and sometimes they create a clear order to the complex organising the circulation. One enters the building funnelling through a mysterious gap. The complementary curved wall then clearly divides the building into two in a simple manner, quiet hospitality space and active recreational and administration/training spaces.

0

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9 1 SITE PLAN

DETAIL SECTION

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1 Rammed earth wall10 (300mm) 11 2 RC foundation SETAIL SECTION 3 Rock footing 1 Rammed earth wall (300mm) 4 Waterproof membrane 2 RC foundation 5 Compressed soil 3 Rock footing 6 Concrete foundation made 4 Waterproof membrane 5 Compressedsoil soil with site-collected Concrete foundation made 7 RC top6base with site-collected soil 8 Galvanised 7 RC corrugatedtop base 1 steel sheet 8 Galvanised corrugated steel sheet 9 Rosewod batten 9 Rosewod batten 10 Rosewood beam 10 Rosewood beam 11 Bamboo Vulgaris 11 Bamboo Vulgaris

ORO 2022

REN’S HOUSE

illage, Senegal

children within thin the culture egal children

2 3

0

5

10

1

WATER COLLECTION

GROUND FLOOR

ake the site a fear medical ing provides t playgrounds boundaries beof, children can eing secured by istributed staff

etimes they sometimes they g the circulah a mysterious arly divides the ospitality space ing spaces. of Senegain the same d a series of s enable the nt functions. in Africa, we lnutrition as topic of gender he space ‘equal the Children’s rounded edgto each and educate the nce of children equal society. within

tially within the culture of Senegal children ses. In case of ntry.

ISOMETRIC

WATER COLLECTION

5

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the kitchen er and sometimes they many potenrganising the circulaand the staff through a mysterious extensive hen clearly roof divides the water in tanksspace quiet hospitality ng village spaces. on/training w under adition of the Senegave within the same cing the central series of dt around the roofa form e curveswindows enable the oldable f different functions. sure to direct opmentwhen in Africa, we eaves

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2(n)m

8

GROUND FLOOR

ISOMETRIC

2

10

2m 7

4 56

KAIRA LOORO 2022 10

CHILDREN’S HOUSE 1

Baghere Village, Senegal

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SITE PLAN

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SECTION AA

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10

1 GROUND FLOOR

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KAIRA LOORO 2022

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SITE PLAN

CHILDREN’S HOUSE

SETAI SETA

1 1 Ram R 2 2 RC R 3 3 Roc R 4 4 Wa W 5 5 Com C 6 6 Con C with w 7 7 RC R 8 8 GaG stee st 9 9 Ros R 1010RoR 1111BaB

Baghere Village, Senegal

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SECTION AA

2242

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5

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10

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9

3

GROUND FLOOR

Our project realises the social significance of children within the context of social justice, but essentially within the culture of Senegal. In the youthful population of Senegal children are the core for the future of the country.

8

WATER COLLECTION

9 10 11 SETAIL SECTION

One of our key design approaches was to make the site a friendly place for the children who can easily fear medical treatments or procedures if needed. The building provides the children with a continuous loop of different playgrounds for diverse activities with an absence of rigid boundaries between inside and outside. Under the same roof, children can also travel around the whole building while being secured by the building envelope and monitored by the distributed staff members.

Curves appear frequently in the building; sometimes they approach the users in a friendly manner and sometimes they

1 2 3 4 5 6

1

ISOMETRIC

33

99 create a clear order to the complex organising the circula-

tion. One enters the building funnelling through a mysterious gap. The complementary curved wall then clearly divides the building into two in a simple manner, quiet hospitality space 8 and active recreational and administration/training spaces.

Mainly inspired by the unique living tradition of Senegalese families that several generations live within9 the same

Rammed earth wall (300mm) RC foundation Rock footing Waterproof membrane Compressed soil Concrete foundation made with site-collected soil 7 RC top base 8 Galvanised corrugated steel sheet 9 Rosewod batten 10 Rosewood beam 11 Bamboo Vulgaris

2(n)m

10

55

4 Our project realises the social significance of children within the context of social justice, but essentially within the culture of Senegal. In the youthful population of Senegal children are the core for the future of the country.

One of our key design approaches was to make the site a friendly place for the children who can easily fear medical

WATER COLLECTION

2 3

4

Project 4:

SHADWELL CANOPY University Project | Stage 2 | 2022

Natural Light

Cloud

SITE

Shdadwell DLR

Overground

Field

Cave Busy Area Quiet Area

This proposal discuss the users experience, their emotions and feelings whithin the space.

The site is in Shadwell, London, a place full with middle east immigrates and history. There are markets culture, local shops, and many cultural value but also creates uncomforness to the outsiders. The project is aiming to create a comfortable space for EVERYONE. The Shadwell Canopy is creating a space having busy and quiet spaces by using columns to connect them vertically. The ground expends the existing busyness. The above ground and underground are designed to create quiteness to balance with the tension. Therefore the site will be market and open space for everyone on the ground floor, library overground and meditation rooms underground. The programs are connected with the 600mm x 600mm steel columns and layered on top of each other to create a leaping emotional experience.

1. Ground Floor Typography 2. Lightwell 3. Library 4. Void allow natural light to go into the underground 5. Underground Meditation Room

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1. ground floor market

Section AB

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B

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2. market view from the street

Ground Floor Plan

Balcony

Shelf E

Toilets Building core void

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Stairs&seating

Activity / Social Casual reading First Floor Plan

4. lightwell seating in the library from second floor

3 underground meditation room

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Shelf Building core

Meeting Room

Stairs&seating void

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Reading area Second Floor Plan

Quiet reading room

Project 5:

THE ANGLED HOUSE University Project | Stage 1 | 2021

Internal Courtyard & Entrance Cafe & Shared Space

Cafe Owner’s home Wheelchair User’s home

Shared Roof Garden

Elderly 1’s home

Lightwell

Elderly 3’s home Elderly 2’s home

This project was given a specific site and to design a residential housing for five users: a cafe owner, a wheel chair user and three elderlies.

The design is cofusing on creating provicy but also encourage interaction to happen between the users, such as interacting through windows and shared space, having timber glazed to provide half privacy open windows.

The angled house focus on sustanability in material and passive energy source within the architecture itself.

The material is CLT and Glulam columns. The proposal allow to use natural ventilation and natural lighting by opening up the courtyard to allow natural sunlight to come into the building in each season.

Glass roof to maximize sunlight into the courtyard

Lift Staircase

Site 3

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Summer Solstice

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Spring/Fall Solstice Winter Solstice

Solar Analysis

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Average noise level (dB) 75.0+ 70.0-74.9 65.0-69.9 60.0-64.9 55.0-59.9

Noise Survey

Ground Floor Plan

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1. Cafe owner’s flat.

2. Cafe owner’s cafe and shared space for the users, it is also a space for the public space for the local community.

3. Exterior seating area of the cafe.

4. Internal courtyard with seatings.

5. Wheelchair user’s flat. All the dimensions are designed to be wider, the space is allowing wheelchair user to access more easily.

6. Shared garden in the entrance.

7. A path to allow the residents living in building beside to go through.

8. Big open window to maximize sunlight and timber stud structure to provide provacy.

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5 stories 4 stories

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3 stories

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2 stories Greenery

Building Heights First Floor Plan The site is located in Camden, London. Right beside the underground station Mornington Crescent, with three bus stops and main roads surrounded. There is a park right across the site to allow leisure activites for the users to the community. On Eversholt street, there are many restaurants, hair dressers, cafe. On the other side of Eversholt street, there is a Camden Library, which allow the users to access easily.

Existing Context

Second Floor Plan

1. Elderly 1’s flat.

2. Elderly 1’s balcony to interact with the neighbors.

3. Elderly 2’s flat.

4. Elderly 2’s balcony to interact with the neighbors.

5. Big open window to maximize sunlight and timber stud structure to provide provacy.

6. Elderly 3’s flat.

7. Elderly 3’s balcony to interact with the neighbors.

8. Shared green roof.

9. Passageway from the lift to the flat.

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(above) User interact through balconies, windows, cafe, entraces, and gardens.

(above) Natural lighting being able to go into the internal courtyard, since the buildings are opened slightly.

(above) The windows allow natural sunlight to the space to reduce artificial light energy.

(above) Rainwater collection to reduce the waste of fresh water resources.

(above) Garden and green roof help with the local ecology and biodiversity.

(above) Mass timber structure: glulam column, beam and CLT floors replace the use of concrete, minimalize the embodies carbon in material.

(above) Large window allow natural ventilation in the space, with the wind blowing from South-West and North-East, it helped with the air flow.

Glulam Beam Timber Frame Glazing roof for internal courtyard

Glulam Column

Timber Frame Glazing for cafe

Non-Loadbearing external wall with brick cladding

Timber structure on large window to provide privacy and control heat

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Project 6:

HOUSE OF FURNITURE REPAIR University Project | Stage 1 | 2020

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1. Hoists to lift furnitures to the forth floor.

2. Sliding door 3. Main working space, is the workshop and the performing place at the same time. Big window with the use of glass shows the movement in the workshop to the street.

4. An area to interact the furniture with daily life. There is a TV in front, this area is for some furnitures that had been repaired to place and use.

5. Shelves and area to put larger materials like foam, fabric.

6. The back balcony for display use mainly. Three rolls of display with glass window to attract the neighbor’s eyes.

This proposal is to change the existing flat in Taipei, Taiwan, into a workshop inspired by a workshop located around the community. As it is a furniture repairing workshop, and the flat is on the third floor, the design focused on the circulation of accessing, and storing the furnitures.

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Project 7:

WHEN CALLIGRAPHY MEETS ARCHITECTURE University Project | Foundation Year | 2019

This experimental project focus on exploring the light and shapes through forms and shadows. I was inspired by the Chinese calligraphy and the meaning of “At Ease” in the Eastern culture. The project was exploring how lighting and shadow could create the sense of peaceful mind and affect the atmosphere within the space.

April Chen Part 1 Architect 2023 april.excelsior@gmail.com +447747376568 @_ch3n__