The University of Kansas Professor kapilads@ku.edu
Jae Chang
The University of Kansas Professor jdchang@ku.edu
Education
Metropolitan Community College
3.75 GPA
University Of Kansas
Master of Architecture (In Progress)
3.7 GPA
2019-2020
2020-Current
Experience
Sales Associate - Academy Sports
Counselor - Liberty Public Schools
Involvements
Multicultural Scholars Program
KU Car Club Recruiter
Study Abroad
Finland, Sweden, Denmark
2022-2024
2017-2022
Personal Works
01 02 03 04 05 06
DESIGNBUILD - PHOENIX
LIGHTBOX
WELCOME CENTER
CRAFTHOUSE
PERSONAL WORKS
Lawrence, Kansas
PHOENIX HOUSE 01 Design Build
Chad Kraus
Fall 2023-Spring 2024
Role - Project Management
Focus
The University of Knasas has partnered with Tenants to Homeowners to provide affordable housing to the surrounding community as well as other communities across the country. Their goals aligned with the KU core goals to provide a sustainable, affordable, and durable home for someone in need. The studio of just 14 people was tasked to create a single bedroom home within 350-500 SF.
The primary goals of this project were low embodied carbon, sustainable materials, affordability, durability, as well as renewable energy in an aesthetic way. The entire building is created out of 3 PLY cross laminated timber walls. CLT walls would be exposed on both the interior and exterior, creating a warm, durable, and expdeited construction for the home. The exposed wood has many benefits for an individual who lives there, and to accompany the wood we used a wood rainscreen on the exterior as well as a standing seam metal roof that waterfalls over the North facade.
SITE
Lawrence, Kansas
The site is located in east Lawrence, known for it’s historic districts and proximity to Massachusettes street. Phoenix house is nestled among a close knit community of neighbors, close to nearby parks, and a trail that runs along the edge of the property known as Burrow’s Creek trail.
The building will be placed on the Northwestern side of the site to avoid the floor plane, but also receiving a good amount of southern light. Plans to build a second home on the property are slim, but had expressed interest and so the Northwestern plot made the most sense in many ways.
During the first week of the design phase, part of the studio had the oppurtunity to meet the neighbors and receive feedback regarding affordable housing in thjeir neighborhood. The feedback that we received was an overwhelming agreeance that Lawrence needed to make a change and that the community was always there to help in any way. This in turn opened new doors for us and we even threw a block party and invited the surrounding neighbors to come celebrate and check out the studio’s progress and final design.
WINTER INTERSESSION COURSE
The studio had the oppurtunity to take a winter intersession course to help expedite the building process later on which we took full advantage of. We prefabricated all of our studded walls as well as assembled all of the cabinetry for the home.
As Co project Manager, I was tasked with keeping the studio on task as well as pushing deadlines. Many shop drawings were made in the early stages of this course in which we used later to prefebricate all of the walls that were not mass timber.
PLAN AND ELEVATIONS
The layout of the home was kept relatively simple with the bedroom on the North end of the home, and the living and wet spaces on the South side. The entry acts as a bridge between the two spaces and on the exterior acts as a hyphen seperating the two private and public spaces. The exterior doors which connect to the hall are both full glass, which creates the illusion of a negative space.
The outdoor areas were extremely valuable, especially for someone transitioning to a home for the first time. The front and back patios created both public and private spaces for the individual to enjoy, dpending on if they want to be social with the bighbors or enjoy the peacful backyard that extends into the trail.
Project Manager
As Co Project manager with Samantha Weidner, I was in charge of weekly team meetings, creating construction schedules, as well as assigning tasks throughout the entire production phase.
My role during construction documentation was to develop the elevations for Phoenix house, as well as meet with every individual during this process. During my individual meetings I would discuss progress being made and create internal deadlines with my peers to stay ahead of schedule. This documentation led to quicker turnaround times and a smoother workflow among the studio.
CONSTRUCTION
During construction I was able to take on more personal building roles aside from project management.
Steel work and welding
During the construction of Phoenix house Hayley Ford and I did most of the tseelwork for phoenix house which included welding and steel fabrication. We cut and welded the southern window frames as well as construct the steel tie connectors.
Planter Box
Corrie Bolton, Hayley Ford, and myself also took a lead role on designing and constructing the planter box that sits in front of Phoenix house. This planter box was built using the leftover CLT and rothoblass steel connectors. This planter box wasconstructed off site and burned using a shou sugi ban method of charring the exterior of the box.
Concrete drilling
During the initial phase of the on site construction, Julia Bond, Hayley Ford, Grace Beirne, and myself drilled holes on the foundation for our rothoblass connectors. These connectors needed to be exact with little to no wiggle room. These supports would anchor our CLT walls to the foundation.
FINAL CONSTRUCTION
The final construction of Phoenix house fits right in with the surrounding neighborhood. The design is minamal and reacts to its enviroenment in a sophisticated way.
Phoenix house can now be a new home for somoene in need and because of its Mass timber construction, should last a lifetime or two.
02
WAVE THE WHEAT
Community Center
Lawrence, Kansas
Kent Spreckelmeyer
Fall 2022
Rhino, Enscape, Adobe Creative Suite
Focus
Wave the Wheat is an incredible outdoor experience for basketball fans and lawrence residents alike. Located near the busiest street in Lawrence Kansas at a lively community center sits this amazing feat of architecture. Waving the wheat plays a major role in the atmosphere of lawrence and especially KU students and alumni.
Waving the wheat is embedded deep into the University traditions in which fans raise their hands above their heads and wave them back and fourth like a feild of wheat. This dates back to the farmers in the 20s and 30s in Lawrence when they would grow large farms of wheat and the chant stuck around.
Above is a rendering of what a spectator would see on a typical day at this extension of the community center. An extension of the court allows for raoming and the extensive greenspace behind the community center is a breathtaking place to experience the outdoors.
The site plan on the top right shows the proximity of the site to Massachusetts Street, which is among the most prominent and populated area in all of Lawrence.
AIn closing, the spectacular size of these grand leaf like statues that tower above the site allow for a great shaded area as well as a wonderful show at night. The rear side of the structure is a expanded sheet metal that is designed to project a wheat pattern onto the front when the sun is behind. This creates an amazing sight and an omage to old KU and Lawrence as a whole. The final image shows how spectacular this art can look in the early morning of the day.
My precedent for this project stems from the Pitzker Pavilion which is also a world renowned site and has lots of boundaries pushed when it comes to steel structures.
03 LIGHT BOX
Alejandro Aptilon
Fall 2021 Paper & Wood Model
Focus
The light box was an exercise to test the understanding of how shadows work. The light box that I created has two main parts of focus.
Design
The first of which is the cape exterior which the shadows bounce off of. The second focus is the cylindrical, DNA like, strand that hangs down surrounded by the cape. The shadows created on the right, the light box shows its most amazing features. The exterior cape of the light box contains the shadows and imprints them on the interior of the cape.
Materials
This light box was constructed out of wood and museum board paper. The museum board holds its shape the best out of other methods and the wood used was minimal, but strong enough in the minimal use to hold the light box together.
Lightbox Shadow Phases
Phase 1 shows the light source coming coming from the upper left side of the light box until the light funnels down through the concentric interior creating fantastic shadows on the floor.
Phase 2 shows the light source coming from the front of the lightbox eccentuating the fun and exciting swirl of shadows leading the eyes downwards.
Phase 3 is very similar to phase 2, but with a closer camera angle, it creates an encapsulating view of what happens inside the light box when the light source is beating down the front.
WELCOME CENTER
04
Jayhawlk Boulevard
The University of Kansas
Hugo Sheward
Spring 2023
Sketchup, Enscape, Adobe Creative Suite
Focus
The University of Kansas’ campus is very unique. The main focus for this project was to select a site that would be the new proposed site that would be the new “entrance” to campus. KU has three main landmarks which are Fraser, Allen Fieldhouse, and the Campanile. I chose a site that would have references to all of these in unique ways. The welcome center itself has a past room which look onto Allen Fieldhouse, a present room which is encompassed by Fraser Hall, and finally a past room which has spectacular views of the Campanile as well as the very populated Jayhawlk Boulevard.
Design
The design of this building was intended to create a sense of questioning, where nothing was outrightly shown. For example, a person visiting the building would be taken on an experience, rather than through an ordinary building. One would need to travel through the building, rather than just in it. All rooms lead to spectacular views which one must find.
West Facade
East Facade
North Facade
South Facade
Main Plan
Top Plan
The interior of the ne w up of large concrete beautful campus. The
Upon further venturin g and formal events.
The cafe leads visito r around the exteior of Northwestern facing w campus.
w welcome center guides visitors through a narrow lit corrdior to face a beautiful seating area made and wood steps. This area is used as a resting spot for visitors to enjoy their coffee and look at KU’s view points directly towards one of KU’s oldest builidngs, Allen Feildhouse.
g through the building, visitors soon find themselves in the main cafe area which is used for gatherings
r s to the guest staircase that takes them upstairs to the final desination point. The staircase wraps the building and makes a statement for itself immediately. The final spot on this journey ends at a large w indow that looks upon the students future. This future is held at the camponille located in the heart of
Helsinki, Finland
VALMISTAA 05 CRAFT HOUSE
Chad Kraus
Fall 2023
Sketchup, Enscape, Adobe Creative Suite
Valmistaa is located in the heart of one of Helsinki’s more up and coming neighborhoods near the bay known as Hernesaari. Hernesaari is currently being reconstructed from a dockyard to a family oriented area for families and residential districts to thrive. Valmistaa will be an affordable housing option for artists and craftspeople to have a beautful place to live and work.
Sustainability is at the forefront of Valmistaas plans for a long term housing option. Recycled brick from the nearby dockyard and sustainable materials like rockwool and mass plywood panels make Valmistaa a budget concious solution for the long term.
KEY SITE
WALKING (15) ATTRACTIONS
PARKS / BIKING NEIGHBORHOODS BUILDINGS
LÖYLY
1/2 MILE
KAIVOPUISTO
Recycled Brick
Sourced from nearby harbor
Mass Plywood Panels
4“ Rockwool insulation
Zip sheathing
Metal rainscreen
Triple pane glass
Nail Laminated Timber Floors
2x6 boards nailed together
Staggered formation allows for passage for electrical below and sprinkler system above
Glulam Columns & Beams
10 x 10 in attached with rothoblass connectors
Concrete Floor Topper
Gravel Sand
Vapor barrier
4” Rockwool insulation
4” Concrete slab
Bottom Floor - Craft Space
The bottom floor of Valmistaa consists of the wood shop and metal shop as well as the formal entrance and storage spaces.
Main Floor - Retail / Public Space
The main level of Valmistaa consists of the retail space as well as more technical spaces for crafts.
Main Residential Spaces
16 apartments make up the top 3 levels of Valmistaa . Each apartment consists of a two story layout which allevaites the need for more levels in the building. The upstairs portion of each apartment is the residents own personal craft space.
