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2013 UCL BARTLETT GAD RC6 BY HUANG YI-CHIAO TUTOR LUKE PEARSON

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Huang Yi-Chiao EDUCATION

PHONE +886 (0)972 148027 EMAIL onejoe1010@gmail.com The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL / Nov, 2013. London,UK M.Arch_Graduate Architectural Design / Merit Ming Chuang University / Jan, 2005. Taipei,Taiwan B.Arch_Department of Architecture

EXPERIENCE

2015 - 2017 Space Designer Franz Collection Inc. Retail store and exhibition design 2014 Interior Designer AB Concept, Hong Kong, China High-end hotel interior design 2010 - 2012 Interior Designer T.K.CHU Design Studio, Taipei, Taiwan High-end residential interior design 2008 - 2010 Interior Designer Ferri Design Studio, Taipei, Taiwan Commercial interior and department store vender design 2006 - 2008 Assistant Designer Tai + Associates Design Group , Taipei, Taiwan Residential and commercial Interior design

SKILLS LANGUAGES TUTOR

AutoCAD, SketchUp, Zbrush Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign Chinese, English Luke Pearson Bartlett Graduate Architectural Design / Research Cluster 6 Tutor PHONE +44 (0)754 045 7276 EMAIL lukecasparpearson@hotmail.com

Manhattan New(t) Skin Project R

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01 Pressurized Skin l 02 Layers of City l 03 Water and Skin l 04 Manhattan New(t) Skin Project l 00 Professional Works l

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01 Pressurized Skin There is a totally different world under over 200 meters of the sea

surface. It is called Mesopelagic Zone, which known as the Midnight Zone. There is not much light in this twilight world. Because of this, food prodecing plants are rarely seen here. Even worse, the super high water pressure would crush any creatures without proper body adjustment.

In order to adapt the harsh enviroment under this depth, creatures develope various tatics through long evolution. Compared to this natural adaptation, if human want to venture to inhospitable places, they need extra add-ons to enhence their body. Those are the pressurized skins, artificial or natural. If a building is put under such pressure, what kind of skin it will evolve?

Natural Adaptation: Midnight Zone High Pressure Adaptation Every 10m deeper in the sea, water pressure will increase 1atm(1atm=1kg/cm²). In the midnight-zone, pressure is between 100-400atm, which is remarkably huge. This harsh environment forces them become extreme creatures beyond human imagination.

I. Scaleless

II. Slow Metabolism

III. Porous Tissue

HARD

Human Adaptation: Outer Space

Human Adaptation: Deep Ocean

Actually, inspite military contractor and the public love the concept of hard suit, it was never able to carry out real mission. But it become the public image of spacesuit nonetheless.

Also call Atmospheric Diving Suits. Although it is quite inflexible, wearer can dive down deep.

It also get rid of the problem of decompression sickness, almost like a small submarine.

SOFT

HARD DIVINGSUIT

SPACESUIT

SPACESUIT

To even the high pressure, deep-sea fish have soft and jelly-like skin which is permeable by sea water. Therefore, the pressure inside the fish body can be the same as the deep-sea environment.

An interesting stories about the invention of the spacesuit is about the triumph over the militaryindustrial complex by the manufacturer of bras.

NASA chose their soft, handmade multilayer cloth over the hard, shell-like armor as their final solution. It is a victory of elegant softness over engineered hardness, of adaption over cybernetics.

LIQUID BREATHING

One idea that is being researched to prevent the need for decompression at great depths is liquid breathing. Instead of breathing gas, the diver breaths a non-compressible, liquid perfluorocarbon compound that contains oxygen. The way of balacing pressure is quite similar to the porous body of deep sea fish.

Maybe it is the closest way human can mimic them.

Monstrous Adapation Inorder to adapt the exterme environment, creatures in the midnight zone have evolved in totally different ways compared to the creatures on the land. These adaption can become grotesque and unbelievably bizarre, although to those deep sea fish, the wired shape is chosen by natue and match the required function. These creatures of course inspire the imaginations of monsters.

Minimal Movement

Special Sensory

Light-Producing Organ

The record of space diving were broken in 2012 by Felix Baumgartner with the help of new technology on the balloon. As it ascends, the balloon expands, eventually holding a staggering 834500 cubic meter of helium as it becomes nearly round — 100m high and 130m wide. According to Boyle’s law, the expansion is caused by the change of air pressure.The idea of pressure and balloon skin, lead my research on the shape change under different pressure and materials.

Pressure Simulation A series of pressure simulation is taken on different shapes and forms, which starts at primitive cube and sphere. Given accumulated pressure in computer software, origianl shape begins to twist and deform.

Different material settings are also tested. Under same pressure they deform in different way.

De+Compress Then the simulation go on to grille structures to investgate the possibility of architecture structure under the progress of decompress and compress. high pressure can effect the form of a structure

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Grille Cube

Grille Sphere

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Evoluve + Transform Shape of object altered by pressure and become totally different object. The transformation of form might give us a hint of how a soft architectural building can behave under the deep sea or in the space.

02 Layers of City While

animals and human can adjust themselves to adapt environment, a city, too, has to evolve through different situation.

One, maybe the most urgent one, of the crises that cities need to adapt is global warming and the problem of increasing flood.

During the field trip in New York, I looked into the city’s data and found that Manhattan is built up with complex of layers, from above the ground to below.These layers, like spacesuit’s various layers, serve as different purposes. Can we apply these layers for the new function of flood defence? Is it possible to learn from deep sea fish’s porous skin and add its feature to city’s layers? Can this be a new skin for Manhattan?

City Adaptation: Flood Defence Flood defence might be the biggest problem for cities in the future.

What are the solutions for a city to adapt the flood? The question become more and more important since global warming generates more and more hurricanes each years and leads to the rise of sea level. The interface between city and sea thus has to evolve to adapt to the extreme weather. Solutions can be classified as hard and soft which conceptually same as the different approaches mentioned in previous chapters.

HARD DIVINGSUIT

This hard hull protect diver from the high pressure enviroment in the deep sea. The suit has to be completely sealed or the whole system would fail.

High Dikes

Mechanical Flood barrier

In 2011, a small Japanese fishing port Fukushima was devastated by a tsunami caused by earthquake. In a documentary film, although the town was protected by dikes, tsunami flew over it easily.

The problem of this method is that you never know how much water it would be, especially in the future of sea level rising.

Netherlands, a country famous for its effort to keep their feet dry, has developed all kinds of mechanical water barriers, and control them by series of bumps and sluices. Without those infrastructures, 65 percent of the land would be under water at high tide. Their movable parts also work as water regulator in normal times.

To even the high pressure, deep-sea fish have soft and jelly-like skin which is permeable by sea water. Therefore, the pressure inside the fish body can be the same as the deep-sea environment.

Polders in Netherlands

Lifting Venice

In Netherlands, apart from numerous barriers, lowland landscape consists of hundreds of water management units called polders, which is an area completely isolated by a berm, or dike. This control involves a variety of drainage schemesusually canals that deliver the water to the perimeter of the polder. Through this complex web of in land artificial streams, water can be carefully expelled.

Italian experts are proposing a dramatic new solution to the watery threat facing the city of Venice .The scheme would involve pumping huge quantities of sea water into the ground beneath Venice through pipes. The sea water would make the sand beneath the city expand lifting Venice by 30cm in 10 years.

POROUS TISSUE

Island Specimen In the flooded future, it is predicted that many island countries will be submerged under sea water. When the time comes, human have to preserve certain islands as specimen, just like the dead butterflies in the frame.

City Specimen

NYC Rockbed Map

When the whole world is flooded, all new buildings and cities will be designed to float on the sea, but some cities are still preserved for nostalgia’s sake. In that case, Manhattan might be one of the specimen cities for pilgrims to visit.

Published in 1994, this map shows that the underground rockbed of Manhattan island. In down town area of Manhattan, new layer of city covered the old undulate geological layer. A lot of rivers, lakes, valleys are still under the city.

Underground Polders Is it possible to use the existing underground landscape as a system similar to polders of Netherlands? The city itself becomes a sponge: when the flood comes, it allows water to flow underneath its surface.

Large amount of water is redirected and conveyed to remote underground lakes and reservoirs; When the flood leave, it start to drain the water through these underground polder and recycle it as usable water. Manhattan then possesses porous skin.

Imaginary render of Manhattan buildings and the rock bed.

Manhattan’s water line of flooded buildings

Manhattan’s water line of flooded rock bed landscape.

03 Skin and Water Combining

the ideas of hard/soft, city layers and flood defence, comes the experiment of permeable skin, which, in Manhattan’s case, is a two dimensional interface. One is the horizontal regulator between sea and the city, the other is the vertical layers stand between upper city and the underground rock bed. Computer simulations try to play with these two different types of water permeation.

Landscape Flow Test Test starts at simple models. Computer simulates water flow through these models and turn out to get different shapes. Some models represent natural topography and others refer to artificial flood barrier.

It is interesting that complicated free formws can be generated by merely simple models.

Frozen Flow: Waterfall

Frozen Flow: Shower

Water was added on the top of the cliff object and the fluid was frozen at certain time. Then second wave of water was added and frozen, and then the third. The test aim is to see how frozen shape of water can affect upcoming water’s form.

Water was added on the top of the first polygon object and the fluid was frozen at certain time. Then second wave of water was added and frozen, and then the third.

Permeable Layers Water was added on the top of the three layers which have holes of different size and density to see how water can run through the permeable filters.

04 Manhattan New(t) Skin Project My previous research suggested that natural, human or even city

adaption can be classified as two totally different type: hard and soft, and more and more people aware the importance of soft and tender method like deep sea fish’s skin and soft spacesuit. But is there any reference of adaption that can combine these two opposite ideas?

This is where I found the peculiar newt skin.

A newt is an aquatic amphibian who lives between water and land at different stage of life. To deal with this kind of life style, its skin tissue changes with different environments, from jelly-like permeable skin to solid, water-proof surface. That is to say, newt is the combination of deep sea fish and submarine, of soft and hard skin. Its amazing adaptability can be a great reference of flood defence of a city.

Manhattan new(t) skin project is thus born.

Aquatic Larvae Stage After hatching, the tadpoles live under water, usually in ponds or slow moving streams. In this early stage of newts’ life, its skin tissue is water permeable. In order to survive, Newt larvae need continuously contact to water, so it possess the ability to contain water. In some cases, scientists will study the stability of the amphibian population when studying the water quality of a particular body of water. Because their skin is permeable to water they absorb oxygen and other substances they need through their skin.

Metamorphosis Stage During the next few months after birth the tadpoles undergo metamorphosis, during which they develop legs, and the gills are absorbed and replaced by air-breathing lungs.

By the onset of metamorphosis, morphological changes of the skin include stratification and flattening of epidermal layers and disappearance of typical larval cells.

Terrestrial Adult Stage Once fully metamorphosised they leave the water and live a terrestrial life, when they are known as “efts”.

At this stage, newt’s skin begins to transform to a harder form.

During the terrestrial adult phase, the skin is characterized by the presence of numerous tubercles; moreover, the lower epithelium is thicker than in the aquatic phase.

After that, newts’ skin is fully developed and no longer permeable to water.

Translate from skin to landscape If in the early stage of newts’ life, its skin tissue is water permeable, then how can one translates this to landscape? It might be reservoirs to reserve water when the flood invades, which won’t stop the water but can slow them down.

During the process of metamorphosis, the skin becomes half permeable compared to previous stage. For the landscape, some hills are created to deter the flood, but between them, there are canals and streams that allow part of the water to proceed toward the inner space.

Then, at the final stage, the skin tissue becomes more solid and only controlled amount of water is allowed to pass through the surface. The frontline of the skin is harder, but the inner tissue still needs to conserve certain amount of water. The different functions of the cells are then translated to different landscapes like dikes, canals and small lakes.

Aquatic Larvae Stage

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Metamorphosis Stage

Terrestrial Adult Stage

Flood Frontline: Battery Park Battery Park is one of the most seriously flooded areas in the event of Hurricane Sandy and it is also a famous spot of man-made land. So it seems to be a reasonable site to apply previous ideas of deep sea fish, flood defence and underground layers to the park rearrangement.

This area had long been known as the Battery since at least the 17th century, and it served as protection to the town. Now it does not need to battle against human army, but has to fight against natural force of extreme weather and the rising sea level. It can be the very front line of war between city and the sea.

FLOOD EVACUATE ZONE

FLOOD EVACUATE ZONE

Membranes and the Flood The skin of Manhattan should be soft and hard at the same time, just like different stages of newt skin. When the solid part works as dike and dam, the soft part will twists, bends and transforms for various purposes. For example, expandable membranes should be inflated and reserve certain amount of water when the flood comes, but in the normal times, it just recovers as usual park landscape.

Chart of Flood and Energy Flow The diagrams show the routes of how flood water and energy transit from the top to the bottom level of the skin (or vice versa). The major purpose is to transform the disastrous flood to a useful resource.

Path of Flood SEA

Path of Energy

Speed Cushion (Inflatable Tetrapod)

SEA

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Speed Accelerator (Vortex Generator)

Provide energy to sensor and acclerator

Speed Cushion (Wave Power Plant)

CITY

Water Wave Power Plant

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CITY Sea Water Filter System

CITY

Steam Convey System

Provide energy to water filter system

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Terrestrial Heat Power Plant

Water Cleaning System

Conversion Terrestrial Heat

Underground Resvoir

Underground Canals

Evacuation Alert When the flood alert is

triggered by the weather sensors, the operation of the Manhattan New(t) Skin Project initiates. Firstly, the sensors/lamps start to beam out emergency signals, warning the citizens about the incoming flood. Secondly, the huge tetrapod balloons will be inflated in a few minutes and ready to slow down the first impact of flood water.

This image was shot before the attack of a major hurricane and citizens started to evacuate from the front line of the city. Ironically enough, the project was built for the security of citizens, but it also attract numerous tourists that need to be evacuated when the danger level rises.

Weather sensor / Warning lamp

Signal Lamp

Weather Sensor

Signal lamp is used for communicating remote watchers who locate too far to hear the voice.

During the event of flood, it can be convenient to use this kind of signal for warning alert.

This gadget contains temperature and humidity sensor, also the anemometer, but the most important one for the project is the sensor to detect the incoming flood.

Skin Deep Tour: Layer 1&2 From time to time, city explorers organize trips for small group of people to explorer the skin. They will gain insight on this spectacular project and if the weather permits, they can even take you down to the deeper space of the skin structure.

However, In the event of the flood, citizens should follow the signal light and evacuate from the area as soon as possible.

Inflatble tetrapod

Seashore Tetrapod

Inflatable Subway Plug

Concrete tetrapods are widely used on the shore to destroy the wave from the sea. It is vital to break and slow down the flood at the start.

This inflatable balloon is recently tested in NYC and the result is satisfying. It was designed to block the subway tunnels from the flood.

Vortex and Wave With professional guide, tourists climb down from the upper level to see the peculiar vortex generator (which speed up the water flow for generating power) and expect to witness the operation of the wave power plant. They said it is more spectacular than the discharging water of Hoover Dam. This part of the skin has become a must-see spot for the bold city explorers in NYC recently.

Although the city authority has warned about the danger in the event of flood, many adventurers still rush to this spot to see the grand water show when the flood comes.

Vortex Generator Vortex Turbine This hydro facility’s original purpose is to speed up the water flow for generating power. Now it is used to accelerate the water speed for the next wave power plant.

Water Wave Power Plant Tidal Power Plant Sea water flow can be powerful at the bottom of the ocean. This power generator unit sways with the flow and transit the electricity back on land.

Skin Deep Tour: Layer 2&3 Because of the increasing danger, the tour into this level is usually not available for normal tourists. Only experienced explorers and researchers are authorized to descend to this depth. One needs proper equipments and a support team to ensure a safety journey down here.

Various Prototype

Steam and Heat Extractor

Terrestrial Heat Energy

Steam Turbine

At the depth of this layer, one can aware the increasing temperature from the core of the Earth. This underground heat in this layer is used for generating power.

In the project, this specific kind of turbine is used for transport the steam to the city’s steam system. But it is hidden inside the skin and connects to the extractor opening on the skin surface.

Terrestrial Heat and Steam This part of the skin project is filled with

steam and heat. Only equipped explorers can reach this spot, because of the hazardous heat and unclear sight fogged by the steam. The survivors said that it is easy to fall off the structure, and the temperature down there can likely make one suffers from heat stroke.

The steam here will be conveyed to Manhattan by steam turbine and the heat is also used to generate power. The strange shape columns here work as sea water desalination system. It will turn the incoming salt water to fresh water.

Water Desalination Unit Sea Water Desalination Desalination technology of converting seawater into fresh water is being used in many parts of the world. But the process of seawater desalination is very energy consuming. That is why the wave power plant and terrestrial heat power plant is vital for the whole skin system.

Evacuation Alert

Skin Deep Tour: Layer 1&2

Underground Resevoir At the very bottom of the skin project,

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hides the underground landscape of Manhattan. This final part of the city membrane works as water filtration system and reservoir. Continuing the work left by the previous sea water desalination system, each testicle filter, which contains numerous layers of porous membranes, transforms the fresh water to drinkable water.

It is said that the water stored here is crystal clear and clean. Normally, this area is not allowed to enter by any citizens in order to avoid further contamination. The exclusive photo here was secretly taken by a scientist works there.

Skin Deep Tour: Layer 1&2

Vortex and Wave

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Testicle Filter

Skin Deep Tour: Layer 2&3

Terrestrial Heat and Steam -60m

Filter Tissue

Membrane Filter Element

Multiple layers and membranes help to filter the unclean water from the upper level. This is the section of a filter unit. It is consisted of layers of different materials with various porosity, just like the skin project itself.

The water filter element in the project is designed to extend as long as possible. This is because the flood water usually contains a lot of unclean substances and need to be processed as much as possible.

Underground Resevoir

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