Choo Ee Pin Architecture Portfolio 16-21

P O R T F O L I O CHOO EE PIN

01.SHARDS MOMA 02.VITALITY 03.PUNGGOL CHANNEL 04.PRINTED CONNECTIVITY 05.LOCALISED BENDING 06.OTHER WORKS

Foreword

This portfolio contains selected works that I think best represent my journey as an Architecture student. The order in which the projects are presented shows how my design through computation has evolved during the course of my study, each project more complex than the last. A common theme in all my projects in here would be the balance between sensitivity at the human and urban scales. I hope that my portfolio would give an insight to my thinking process and design method.

01. SHARDS MoMA 2018 Esplanade Walk, Singapore Choo Ee Pin, Core Studio 1 Year 2

The concept of the MoMA Museum was to create seamless transitions between spaces by using different lighting and ceiling conditions. Aperture, height and depth of each skylight is carefully designed to suit the different lighting conditions needed for the art works on display.

Lighting is one of the most important factors to consider when designing museums. The goal was to use natural light to illuminate the artworks. Lightshafts are designed to bring the right amount of light into the space to enhance the viewing experince while still protecting the works from harsh direct light.

The circulation around the museum was designed based on the main demographics of people visiting the museums. This creates opportunities for both visitors and artist to chance upon each other.

The charts show the exploration of openings when rotating and intersecting different volumes. By using only two operations we can create a variety of spaces that can used in different scenarios throughout the museum. Each of these combinations changes the amount of light that enters the space. The way the volumes intersect create unique openings that control the field of vision in the space, ranging from open to intimate spaces. The circulation was designed to increase the probability of the different users of the museum to chance upon each other. The sections were a study of how the different users experience the museum. By intersecting these paths we can come up with a rough floor plan.

Left - Chart of sections, comparing rotation and amount of intersection between geometries.

Right Top - Chart of plans, comparing rotation and amount of intersection between geometries.

Right Middle- Typical route taken by different people and the room size requirement.

Right Bottom - Rooms skewed to capture sunlight.

Left Top - A sculpture partially hidden due to the intersection of two volumes.

Left Bottom - Permanent exhibition space, with carefully curated lighting conditions for each exhibit.

Right Top - A conceptual section of the interaction between the artist studio and the lecture theatre.

Right Middle - A conceptual section of the Permanent exhibition space Right Bottom - A conceptual section of bringing light to the lower levels.

The museum is designed to pull people in from the main street and the riverfront, with the main entrance facing the street where the majority of visitors will arrive.

The ground floor is reserved for temporary exhibits and permanent exhibits in the lower floor.

Having the artist studio and their artworks in close proximity allows the artist to watch the museum goers’ reaction to their works and visitors to watch the artist at work.

The cafe is positioned at the riverfront to maximise views of the river. The cafe also provides refuge for people visiting the park.

Top - Ground floor plan Bottom - Basement plan

Top - Section of permanent exhibits and courtyard Bottom - Section of cafe and lecture theatre

02. VITALITY MIXED USED

HOUSING COMPLEX

2018 Punggol, Singapore Choo Ee Pin

Core Studio 3 Year 2

In Singapore, 80% of its residents live in HDBs, high-rise apartments that are subsidised by the government. Due to scarce land in Singapore and the rising population, the amount of high-rise buildings have been increasing rapidly throughout the years.

The landscape in Singapore has been changing rapidly with new buildings being built every year. One year you may have wind and sunight but the next, it could have been blocked by a neighbouring building. This has caused many of the buildings in Singapore to look inwards into inner courtyards.

This combined with the design of HDBs have caused the street view of the city to look void of life.

In this project, by using a scoring system, I try to find a way to design a housing complex that not only protects the view of neighbouring buildings but also bring life to the exterior of the building while mantaining the privacy of its residents.

Using the views of the Punggol river and the privacy from neighbouring building, we can score each parcel of land and design a building that not only enhances the site but is sensitive to its context.

The goal of this project was to explore the the possiblity of designing a method to help us become better at designing buildings that respond well to its context.

The bottom floors of the complex have been designed for shops and restaurants and connects to the existing shopping mall next to the train station. With large inner courtyards for residences and visitors to seek refuge from the harsh sun. By layering and stacking the housing units together we are able to increase the amount of space for greenery.

In order to ensure that all units are desirable, it is important for us to find out what are their weaknesses and strenghts.

The lower levels do not have views of the rivers hence are surrounded by more greenery for views. Lower floors are also planned based on privacy, with more private areas reseverved for housing units. Units on the upper floors are arranged to maximise views of the river, those that do not have such views, face the inner courtyards.

Left - Rendering of the mixed used housing complex.

Right - Exploded axonometry showing the upper floor’s designed influced by views of the river while the lower floors by privacy.

Views of river +1.5m

Views of river +30m

Views of river +50m

Privacy +1.5m

Privacy +10m

The site has been divided into 10x10m parcels of land, each of these parcel has been given a score base on their views and privacy. In order to find out which parcel has views to the river, the river has been subdivided into many points. Each of these points then emits rays in all direction only stopping when blocked. The score would then be the accumulation of the number of times the lines intersect each parcel of land. As seen from the diagrams above, views of the river only starts at a height of 30m. To calculate the privacy score, all surrounding buildings were subdivided. The denser it is, the lower the privacy. From the diagrams above we can see that the privacy of the land increases with height.

Privacy +30m : - Lowest ^ - Highest

Left - A render depicting an interior scene of the complex.

Bottom - A study on how the views between neighbouring units are filtered with layers. Allowing for life to been felt from the outside but not been seen.

Top Left - Unit A plan L1 and L2.

Top Right - Unit B plan L1 and L2.

Bottom - Perspective section of the lower levels.

Top Left - Unit C plan L1 and L2.

Top Right - Exploded axonometric showing the layers that make up a typical unit.

Bottom - Perspective section of the upper levels.

03. PUNGGOL CHANNEL 2019 Punggol, Singapore Choo Ee Pin, Liang Xiuling, Chloe Option Studio 1 Year 3

The concept of Punggol Channel was to create a community dining room, where residences get to dine together and eat the produce of their neighbours.

The culture of hawker centre is an important one for Singaporeans.

Punngol is a relatively new town and has yet to discover a place where residence can truely come together to dine.

To reduce the amount of pollution from the transport goods from all over the world to our tables, our project aims to provide some of ingredients used in the hawker centre. Not only do visitors learn about the process of how food gets to their table, they will also forge a stronger bond with their neighbours know that they could be eating something grown by their neighbours.

The site has been articulated to help capture rain water to be used for growing crops. With the main hawker centre in the basement shaded from the harsh sun by the building above. The building acts as a bridge that connects the existing park connector and other near by ammenities to the Punggol river. The roof also help capture and channel rain water to the reservoirs below. Such channels gives us the opportunity for visitors to interact these water which will later be used for the farms and eventually the food that they will consume.

Render - A render depicting a rainy scene, with the roof collecting and directing the water to the reservoir.

+5.50 +0.50

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+1.50 +1.90 +2.20

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+6.00 +5.00 +5.50 +6.00 +6.50 +7.00 -1.00 +7.50

Roof plan - Showing the channels and the topography of the roof , indicating the direction of water flow

Top - Model, view of the roof and pillars Bottom - Drawing depicting the use and purpose of each pillar. Some for circulation, some as light shafts.

Left - An Isometic drawing showing the pillar connecting the diffferent layers together.

Top Left - Isonometic drawing of the pool on the roof.

Top Right - Model of the pool on the roof.

Bottom - Plan of the ground level.

Isonometric - drawing of Punggol Channel showing the farm lands, hawker and roof

04. PRINTED CONNECTIVITY 2019 Chi Sha Village, Guang Zhou, China Choo Ee Pin

Option Studio 2 Year 3

In Guangzhou China, there are many urban villages that now face the threat of destruction due to the growing needs of the city. Urban villages tend to lie inside and near city centres. These Urban villages belong to the villagers, however most of them do not live there.

Renting out their apartments they have enough money to find better living conditions elsewhere. The majority of its residents are non-locals whom are looking for cheap accommodations and proximity to their work in the cities.

These lands are not bound to any building code, with no governing body, they grow upwards and close together in order to maximise living area to increase rent. Buildings so close together some call them ‘hand-shake buildings’.

Because of the proximity of these villages to the city, the government is keen to purchase these lands for the expansion of the city. The need for land coupled with the poor living conditon has urged the government to buy over the land for village owners, forcing residence to move out and lost of many heritage buildings within the urban villages.

This project aims to improve the living conditions in these urban villages.

By allowing the landlords to connect with their neighbours, creating shared common areas free up space for larger living areas. With these improvement the villages will no longer be viewed as a hindrance to the government.

The project was also modelled to change over time. To show how the village would improve and grow based on necessity and activity.

Render - of bridges being build between buildings by 3D printing robotic arms.

This project can be broken down into 2 distinct phases. Phase 1 is identification and Phase 2 is construction. In Phase 1, using agent-based modelling, we can identify areas which are the most commonly used. These areas will be the first to start making connections with its neighbouring buildings.

Because of the narrow streets, it is difficult for building equipment and materials to be brought in. Therefore i have designed a method in which robotic arms will extrude building material to connect different buildings together.

Over time more and more buildings will be connected, creating multiple levels of circulation through the village, elevating the congestion in the lower levels. Making it easier to move goods and services to the places that need it.

Left - A Frame of n Isometic plan of Chi Sha village, showing how the agents identify and connect buildings. https://youtu.be/dqfOD_w0nqw

Left to Right - Frames showing agents identifying and building connections to other buildings. https://youtu.be/svzbUy3Nv_o

Phase 2, the design of the construction of the bridges. In order to bring building materials through the narrow streets, I have decided to use a robotic arms that will 3D print the connection. These robotic arms would build its own support as it continues to move forward. If the landlord chooses to stop the build mid-way, the structure would still be able to bear loads, and can serve as a balcony.

With the connected buildings, common areas such as kitchens and living rooms can now be shared. This would free up more space in the living area for better living conditions. Sharing common areas creates community spaces that fosters interaction between residents.

Right to Left - Frames showing agents building bridges and support structure between buildings. https://youtu.be/HWbBQnmbEME

Max Tension

Supports - Anchor points in the wall.

Loads - A maximum load of 20Kn/m2 is applied at the end of the bridge.

1.00 mm

Generation 0

Maximum Compression: Maximum Tension: Maximum Compression: Maximum Tension: Maximum Displacement: Weight:

Min

Utilization - Red sections represent tension and blue compression. In this simulation, the maximum acceptable utilization should be below 80%.

2.50 mm

24.48 kN 23.15 kN 50% (Utilization) 39.4%(Utilization) 0.410 mm 478.56 kg

Max Compression

1.00 mm

Generation 25

Maximum Compression: Maximum Tension: Maximum Compression: Maximum Tension: Maximum Displacement: Weight:

Using an evolutionary solver, we can optimize the amount of materials needed to build each bridge. Each beam’s thickness can be adjusted to ensure that the bridge can hold up to 20Kn/m2, with a maximum utilization of up to 80% and maximum displacement of 1mm. Because we are using a robotic arm, we can build each beam to its specific dimension. Keeping only what is needed we can reduce its weight and materials needed.

2.50 mm

25.35 kN 25.24 kN 77.7% (Utilization) 73.9%(Utilization) 0.75 mm 284.98 kg

Max

Displacement - The maximum acceptable displacement should be less than 1mm.

1.00 mm

Generation 100

Maximum Compression: Maximum Tension: Maximum Compression: Maximum Tension: Maximum Displacement: Weight:

2.50 mm

26.36 kN 25.24 kN 80% (Utilization) 80%(Utilization) 0.846 mm 257.17 kg

Top Left - model of a man sitting on a half built bridge Top Right - model of a young girl crossing a bridge Bottom - detailed model of how two bridges intersect

Section - showing the different stages of bridges being built and connecting living areas together.

05. LOCALISED BENDING 2020 - 2021 Copenhagen Choo Ee Pin

Masters Year 1 Wood CITA

Curved glulams are usually made with a modular press whereas for doubly curved elements, more complex methods are used such as steam bending, cold bending, subtractive manufacturing and self shaping (Dylan wood). The focus of this project was to look at alternative ways of making curved timber elements that can be done with off-the-shelf tools.

The aim was to increase the accessibility of complex timber construction that is not constrained to industrial machinery.

In this project, veneer was chosen as the main material over timber planks.

Veneer is used to make laminated veneer lumber (LVL) in the construction industry.

It has the advantage of having uniform characteristics throughout the beam.

It can be produced from cheaper raw materials and has a higher recovery from smaller logs. Veneer comes in the form of thin sheets which are suitable to be used as lamellas in curved timber elements.

This project explores two different methods of producing curved timber elements. The first method is to use the bending strength of wood to bend itself into the desired geometry. The second method used specifically placed bending elements to progressively bend lamellas into its final form. In order to achieve control over the bending behavior of wood, Karamba simulations were used during the design process.

Moving between physical and digital models to calibrate the Karamba model produced a relatively accurate simulation model that would aid in beam design and predict how the lamellas would behave as they bend.

Photo - Curved LVL made with localised bending elements

Render - Bent Veneer installation Utilizing the bending strength of wood.

The first method looks into using the bending strength of wood to bend itself into shape. By using veneer of different lengths and thickness and anchoring them in specific locations, we can control how they would behave.

When simulating how the veneer would behave when bent, we can subdivide the surface into different segments.

Areas with knots would be less flexible and would have a larger segments in the digital model. It was critical to move between the digital model and physical model to calibrate the model. This model can then be used as a design tool that is closely related to the fabrication; Bridging the gap between design and fabrication that is usually costly and disruptive to the design vision.

In this project only photography was used to compare results. Further studies should make use of 3D scanners such as a Faro scanner to provide a more accurate feedback loop.

Left - Using 5 Strips of veneer with varying length to create a bent structure.

Left (top to bottom) - Karamba simulation showing how knots affect the bending behavior of veneer.

Right - An overlay of Karamba simulation and the physical model. This method was used to calibrate the digital model.

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Top Left - Doubly Curved elements PLA Right - Normals of the doubly curved beam is projected on to a straight line to determine where the screws will be placed Bottom - detailed model of how two bridges intersect

In the second method, the goal was to achieve complex timber elements without the need of large presses. By using precisely located holes along the lamella. Threaded rods are inserted into these holes and then tighten on the other end with a nut; this pulls the lamellas together, bending the lamellas. As more rods are added the artifact starts to bend to the final curvature. Once the glue has set, the rods can be removed and dowels can be added to form a seamless beam.

Prototype 1: 29(w) x 68(l) x 30(d) 14 x Venner (2mm) 10 x M4 treaded screws

Prototype 2: 29(w) x 50(l) x 30(d) 15 x Venner (2mm) 13 x M4 treaded screws

Prototype 3: 29(w) x 80(l) x 30(d) 15 x Venner (2mm) 21 x M4 treaded screws

This method was able to produce highly curved elements with minimal force. As seen in the photos above, this method produced many defects along the top and bottom faces of the element. This is because of the localised pressure at the location of the screws. This problem was later corrected by using a large washer in order to spread the forces over a larger area and reduce the amount of cracks.

Photo-Final prototype made with 4mm thick veneers.

06. OTHER WORKS 2020 - 2021 Copenhagen Choo Ee Pin

Workshops and Works CITA

THE DEVELOPED SURFACE SUZI PAIN THE ROYAL DANISH ACADEMY IBD This project looked into how clay can be used to clad existing columns ; exploring geometry and jointing techniques. The pieces were made from a Clay 3D printer.

Photo - Suzi Pain IBT The Developed Surface

UMEA TOM SVILANS CITA This project looked at optimizing the use of lumber in the production of Glulams.

Photo - Tom Svilans, CITA, Umea

ROBOTIC METAL FORMING CITA Robotic fabrication of sheet metal forming for panels used in a bridge.

This project also involved the use of the opti track system and lidar scanners during the fabrication process. Holo lens was also used to aid in the design and assembly process.