Portfolio - Duy Huynh

DUY HUYNH PORTFOLIO ‘22

MATERIAL

THIS IS PAPER ISLAND COMPOSITE

SAI YUEN OYSTER HOUSE

COMPUTATIONAL ICARUS

ARTISTIC SYMPOETIC LANDSCAPE

STRING THEORY

HERITAGE IS CREATIVE GENERATION

MECHANICAL CORALBOT

THIS IS PAPER

This Is Paper is my research project conducted at the University of Hong Kong to explore the possibilities that paper as a material holds after its initial use.

The research project aims to provide new potential avenues and applications for recycled paper, the city’s third-largest source of municipal waste, through the creation of three new materials with corresponding fabrication methodologies with varying barriers of entry.

As proof of concept for the material, I created three stools using solely the materials developed to understand how about potential products might be created.

LAMINATED

Through curling up waste paper into rolls and compressing them, lamination was used as a fabrication method to create a planar material that can be further processed using traditional timber fabrication techniques. This material, which emulates timber, allows for paper to be used as a structural system through joinery systems, and also as a load bearing slab.

CASTED

Using a combination of paper pulp, plaster, and xanthan gum to experiment with ways to reinforce paper through casting, the material allowed paper pulp to be molded into different shapes and sizes and canbe used as a mortar-like material to bind objects or casted into larger forms as stand alone objects themselves.

Exploded view of initial iteration of 3D model for casted stool

Exploded view of initial iteration of 3D model for laminated stool

Exploded view of initial iteration of 3D model for printed stool

3D PRINTED

Our third material investigates the possibility of paper pulp as a 3D printed material. Product designs were based on the limitations of the material, including large surface area needed to cure (thus the fractal infill) as well as printable height limitations (thus the strategy of splitting the base into multiple parts).

The material is created using a mixture of paper, sand, and natural binders, resulting in a hard, rock-like material with a rough texture when dried.

Assembled 3D Model for Stool Base

The three experimental tools were part of the Alternative Materials exhibition in Hong Kong and the Renewed Creativity exhibition in Wuhan, Shenzhen, and Guangdong

ISLAND COMPOSITE

Island Composite was a collaborative research workshop conducted at the University of Hong Kong to investigate creating potential construction materials from waste in Sai Yuen Camping Park on Peng Chau island, Hong Kong. The workshop focused specifically on the abundant oyster shells on the island and how might they be used as potential joint systems between casted slabs in conjuction with digitally fabricated elements like CNC-ed wood beams or 3D printed plastic joints.

My role revolved mainly around testing potential material mixes of oysters that could produce large slabs for construction. At the same time, I was also responsible for the process behind casting large slabs with protruding oyster shells, large slabs directly joint together by oysters, and slabs displaying oyster shells in a gradient of fragment size.

The workshop culminated in an exhibition and a film that was subsequently displayed to the general public.

Prototype of 3D printed joints between two casted slabs with protruding oysters

Photos of the oysters being prepared for casting and screenshots from the movie produced

Prototype of 3D printed joints between two casted slabs with protruding oysters

Photos of the casted blocks with embedded oysters on dispay at the exhibition

SAI YUEN OYSTER HOUSE

Sai Yuen Oyster House is a continuation of Island Composite. However, this project seeks to start applying the knowledge generated in Island Composite to construct an actual structure in Sai Yuen Camping Park.

The Sai Yuen oyster house is a collaborative project between Sai Yuen Camping Site and my instructor, Lidia Ratoi, at the Faculty of Architecture at The University of Hong Kong. The house is supposed to be a new structure built out of 3D printed bricks. This project seeks to explore the potential of 3D printed modules as joinery elements while also seeking to integrate natural materials found at the site such as oyster shells and succulent plants.

I was primarily responsible for modeling the modules, programming the toolpaths for 3D printing as well as developing material mixes suitable for 3D printing.

Experiments involving printing on natural, uneven surfaces.

The explorations are diverse and include modules ranging from embedded plant pots into the walls, perforated elements to stimulate growth, simultaneous printing of multicolor/ multimaterial bricks, and embedded 3D space for wood joints.

ICRARUS

Icarus explores strategies for design solutions generation using data. Through the use case of deciding the number and location of glass windows to replace with solar cells in skyscrapers to generate power, the project explores computational design strategies to create a diverse solution space.

By working with physical boundaries, real-life data, and creating customized simulations through the use of digitals tools (Grasshopper), the project offers three different approaches to produce an

array of solutions from which stakeholders can choose from.

While not all solutions are optimal, the project’s primary aim is to create algorithms that can generate a diverse solution space to choose from rather than arrive at one singular most optimal solution.

STRATEGY 1

The program divides the skyscraper into a grid surface and reads the average solar energy each vertex receives each year. It then ranks the cells based on how much solar energy is received and draws a boundary curve around the region with the highest energy received based on the desired surface area to be replaced with solar cells.

STRATEGY 3

A gridded surface is generated and mapped onto a cylinder in the middle of the building. Four points on the surface are selected and projected onto the exterior of the building. These four points are the basis for creating another surface that slices the building in half. The energy received by the top half and its surface area are then compared to the desired outcomes. Finally, an evolutionary solver adjusts the location of the four points on the original cylindrical surface, as well as the rotation of the cylinder, to obtain the desired results.

STRATEGY 2

The program generates free agents that create a surface inside the building, which is then projected onto the exterior. The surface is constantly changing due to the particles’ movement. The average energy the surface receives annually at different instances is recorded and compared to the desired input. An evolutionary solver then fine-tunes the particles’ characteristics to ensure the surface created matches the desired surface area and inputs.

SYMPOETIC LANDSCAPE

Sympoetic Landscape was an installation that came into existence during my time working at MakerBay Hong Kong. The installation was an entry into Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture 2019 and was conceptualized by the architecture firm LCC and manufactured by MakerBay.

The installation was on display at The Mills in Hong Kong for the duration of the biennale, from December 2019 to February 2020.

The installation explores methods of creating structures with fabrics, specifically submerging fabrics in resin to create free-standing sturctures without the neeed for additional support.

Firstly, a large frame for the fabric is constructed, upon which, the main body is hung freely from. Resin with smaller pieces of fabric were applied on top to start the hardening process. Once dried, the structure was flipped and trimmed so it can stand by itself.

Photos of Sympoetic Landscape on display at The Mills, Hong Kong

STRING THEORY: THE FUTURE OF LEISURE

String Theory: The Future of Leisure also came into existence during my time working at MakerBay Hong Kong. The installation was an entry into Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture 2019 and was conceptualized by the architecture firm LCC and manufactured by MakerBay.

The installation was designed to be assembled from off-the-shelf parts

and I was the primary person responsible for its assembly. The structure was supposed to act as a playground that children can climb on and was on display at The Mills in Hong Kong for the duration of the biennale, from December 2019 to February 2020.

Photos of String Theory: The Future of Leisure on display at The Mills, Hong Kong

The structure were created using cut aluminium profiles with fabric colorful fabric straps suspended between the frames that acted as a climbing space.

Photos of String Theory: The Future of Leisure on display at The Mills, Hong Kong

HERITAGE IS CREATIVE GENERATION

This project was created during my time working at the Fabrick Lab as design assistant for Elaine Yan Ling Ng. As part of the Heritage is Creative Generation project by Design Trust Hong Kong, she was comissioned to create an artwork based on the snake Chinese zodiac.

Drawing from the snake’s natural transformation throughout the year, the work features four artefacts reflecting a snake during

the four seasons. The artworks also combines a mixture of handmade and digitally fabricated elements to create the artefacts.

I was primarily responsible for the digitally fabricated elements, including modelling the 3D printed artefact (Winter). I was also involved in creating the handmade elements of the Spring and Summer artefacts as well as documenting the entire fabrication process of the artwork.

Courtesy of Design Trust Futures Studio

From right to left: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter

Creation process of the installation

3D model created for the Winter and Spring snake artefacts

The Summer (left) and Fall (right) snakes consist of individually hand wrapped magnetic modules that snap into place directionally to create the shape of a snake.

Courtesy of Design Trust Futures Studio

The Spring (above) and Winter (below) snakes a created using a 3D printed resin and create a latex cast from it to simulate the snake’s hibernation state and its shed skin

CORALBOT

CoralBot was a social design project to develop a drone that could map coral reefs and identify corals using AI to help marine biologists study new reefs. I was involved with creating the mechanical design of the drone as well as making and field testing prototypes.

The project also engages Hong Kong youths through community art projects to help raise awareness about the current state of corals in Hong Kong. In this aspect, I was involved in advising and teaching the youths how to use tools and construct their ideas.

Several configurations were tested to determine the most optimal for stabilizing the camera to capture the reef. The algorimth was trained based on data collected and tagged on site.

The next page shows the exhibition and community artworks created by the youths invovled in the program.

Developmental photos of different configurations of the drone

Photos of the production and exhibition of Local Coral, the community art project created by the youths