Portfolio 2020

JIŘÍ VAL A Selected works 2016-2019

JIŘÍ VAL A +420 605 860 455 vala.jirka93@gmail.com Dvořákova 877 Slavkov u Brna, 684 01 Czechia

I am Jiří Vala. I am 26 years old and I was born in Brno, the city in Czech Republic with a great history of functionalism in architecture. This is also where I started my studies of architecture and obtained my Bachelor‘s Degree.

My next steps led me to the city of Ghent, where I have succesfully finished my Master Thesis under the guidance of Kris Scheerlinck and his Streetscape Territories discourse. My Master Thesis is dealing with the urban condition of Red Hook - a vibrant and unique part of Brooklyn in New York.

This city greatly intrigued me in many different aspects and I decided to take the next step in my journey and assigned for a one year internship in New York. I have recently returned from this significant experience back to Europe and I want to continue contibuting to this amazing field which keeps me going every day. Please take a moment of your time and list through the selection of my works.

Work Experience Kuba&PilaĹ™ architekti | Brno, Czechia, winter 2016 | Part time internship during the last year of my Bachelor‘s studies. My role was helping with 3D modeling and drafting for various smaller scale projects in Brno.

MAARCH | Antwerp, Belgium, Summer 2017 | Summer Internship during which we developed the complex map called Nolli 2.0 which serves as a key document for introducing the Green Lobe City concept development in Sint-Niklaas/ Baenslandwijk (Belgium).

MODU Architecture | New York, USA, November 2018 - October 2019 | Post-Graduate one year internship during which I worked on number of project varying in scale and programme. I had a chance to manage different projects in different stages from concept development to construction and fabrication sets.

Education KU Leuven 2017-2018 Faculty of Architecture - Campus Sint-Lucas Gent | Internation master of Architecture, graduated Cum Laude Fachhochschule Salzburg 2015 erasmus exchange, spring semester 2015, Wooden constructions, Graphic design BUT Brno 2012 - 2017 Faculty of Architecture and Urban planning, bachelor degree 2016 EC Brighton 2014 English language summer school, finished with obtained CAE Cambridge certificate Language Proficiency English German Czech

| advanced, CAE certificate, 2014 | intermediate | native

Software Skills Expert

Advanced

| AutoCad, Sketchup, Rhinoceros, Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign | Lightroom, MS Office, Makerbot, Vray, Enscape,

Intermediate | Grasshopper, Premiere,

Awards 2020 Valentine Heart Times Square Arts Competition 1st Prize, Project Heart Squared, realization in January 2020 | concept and design development under MODU Achitecture 2018 RIBA Silver Medal Nomination, Project Red Hook, Reconnected | Master Thesis Project - KU Leuven Reformation 2017 1st Prize, , Project Flüchtlingsboot, realized in summer 2017, Wittenberg, Germany | concept development under FH Salzburg Exhibitions DRAWING OUT: Material Dialogues with the Boyarsky-Collection | November 2017- June 2018, De Singel, Antwerp, Belgium Studio Anatomy | June 2017, NEST Creative Hub Ghent, Belgium PARADIGM WEEKLY OPEN OFFICE | June 2017, Design Museum Ghent, 019 — Museum Of Moving Practice, Belgium Reformation 2017 | Summer 2017, Wittenberg, Germany Vineyard Majer Jaroslavice | Summer 2016, Markel Vineyard, Jaroslavice, Czechia miniBrownfields pavilion | May- June 2014, Brno Train Station Publications The Architect‘s Newspaper | November 2019, Times Square Arts reveals the 2020 Valentine Heart Design winner https://archpaper.com/2019/11/times-square-heart-design-modu/ KoozArch | April 2018, Path, Interview https://www.koozarch.com/interviews/path/ ERA 21 | April 2017, Teaching Architecture, Interview with our Tutor featuring project Memento

CONTENTS Territorial Bridgings Second Life Path.

BRAUHAUS Jaroslavice Winery

MEMENTO

Territorial Bridgings Master Thesis 2018 RIBA Silver Medal Nomination The ground floor is the main level on which our public realm spreads.

It expands in the streets, squares, parks and basically all publicly accessible open space. The limits of the space are defined by different architectural elements. Doors, walls, fences, windows, shop windows but also just poles or trees are demarcating different territories under different kinds of ownership with various level of surveillance. These are the outlines of the public space which we perceive and respect and they affect our movement within them. The notion of this project is to test and question this overly controlled environment which somehow lost its freedom after application of all of the laws and regulations.

This project aims to look beyond limits of these preset dogmas in order to extend the level of accessibility and possibilities of treating and sharing the common spaces and moreover the habitation itself.

The interventions goal is to allow completely new way of movement in the urban environment of Red Hook and reconnecting the identities of urban block to the public realm and streetscape on different levels.

Focusing on the vacant lots and their reconnection with the building units and the streets a new pedestrian infrastructure is proposed. The series of chronological operations in a perpetual process is altering the original sequence of the gradient we’re used to operate in. The way we approach our house, our garden or the roof of our house can be turned the other way around. By this intervention the borders of public and private are softening and the binary relationship between the two evaporates.

Urban block of Red Hook, this unique identity researched in this Master Dissertation from many aspects is treated as a test ground for this alternative sequence and migration though the urban fabric.

The system of vertical cores, footbridges and footpaths connects to the pre-existing situation of built environment. This structure runs through the urban block as crawling tentacles and is dropping down on the vacant lots, expanding the existing facades and blind walls with the possibility of creating new openings and reconnecting to the existing roofs.

This intervention is becoming part of the pre-existing conditions and creating bonds between the voluntarily shared spaces. It is anchoring the existing identity of the urban block and allows to reconnect the future interventions in order to improve their co-existence.

Conceptual Narrative

Vacant Lot Matrix

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Coles, Luquer and Nelson Street Sequence

Sullivan, Wolcott and Dikeman Street Sequence

Hamilton Avenue

Luquer Street

Sullivan Street

Dikeman Street

Filters Pivot Gate This gate is designed to not stand out of the line.

It means it doesn’t really differ from the nonmovable fence segments so it merges into one continuous line when closed. When it is open though, it peaks into the space of sidewalk just a little bit. Not enough to break your nose, but enough to get your attention and raise your eyes from your phone to let you discover this space behind the fence. It either lures you to step in and take a turn or it merges with the surroundings, being left unnoticed when you pass by.

Sliding polycarbonate fence To use the full potential this intervention, all of the solid boundaries should be erased. Thus all of the fences blocking the access must make way. This simple system allows its users to limit the accessibility of their gardens just by a simple push. Even though if they close the doors there still remains the sense of what is on the other side because of the semi transparent texture of the corrugated polycarbonate panels. They create this tension by the curtain like effect between both sides. You can see silhouettes passing behind, yet it leaves you with a sense of privacy on one side or another.

Cutting Trough The Existing Walls The third dimension of the vacant lots as one of the main focuses of my discourse are the neighboring blind side walls of the houses, representing a third dimension of this vacancy. The intervention is allowing these blind walls to become a lively extension of the existing environment. By a simple operation of creating a completely new door or turning the existing window into a door the whole experienced setup is altered and brings new qualities without actually changing the inside of the building. Sometimes it just allows you to enjoy the cigarette on the wall you’ve been always looking to on your way from work. Sometimes this turns into your new way from work.

Additions Mesh Masque In this case the structure is supported by its own vertical support and therefore doesn’t need to be supported by the neighboring building. The structure is fixed in the corners by steel plates and screwed into the existing facade to fix it in place.

Instead of using a traditional railing in this case a steel wire mesh is attached to the structure to provide different spatial qualities in this particular scenario. This principle is applied in the extension of the building on the corner of the Defonte’s sandwich shop. Currently all of the three floors are not in use except for the ground floor used by the shop. This addition allows access and gives life back to the building. The roof can be also covered with the solar panels which could provide electricity for charging whatever device you mind need if you decide to just go and get some work done or have a Skype call somewhere outside of your house, because your flatmate is having some noisy friends over.

Hanged Catwalk This case is a solution of how to reconnect the facades of the adjacent buildings with its fire escape staircases to the spinal axis without dropping down to the garden of the house with the vertical support. The I beam is attached to the existing load bearing walls and is creating a counterweight to the load that is hanged from it.

This way the intervention is possible without the necessity of the vertical support which would decrease the qualities of the space below.

Cantilevered Platform When similar situation as the previous one appears, but there is no possibility to apply the technique of hanging the platform from the load bearing walls it can be also cantilevered from the existing wall. Addition of the steel profiles attached to the existing wall into this design solution is supporting the structure. This step also eliminates the necessity of the vertical support and the intervention stays more subtle.

new openning

cornice

grate flooring

plinth of a fence detailing

Theatre

Communal Announcement

Sunday market

Dance Floor possible scenarios

Second Life MODU Team: Phu Hoang, Rachely Rotem, Shu Du, Zhenwei Zhong Second Life aims to transform urban neighborhoods through the revitalization of vacant or abandoned structures; transforming underutilized properties into dynamic spaces for local businesses and community groups. Our cities are home to countless properties that does not meet the market demand for retrofit projects. Unlike traditional retrofits, Second Life focuses on the creation of “mini-buildings” — lightweight, modular structures that are temporarily installed within empty buildings.

The mini-building utilizes prefabricated components to optimize on-site assembly; significantly reducing the time and costs associated with building renovations, while lessening the need for skilled labor. They are semi-climatized and require minimal utilities to operate, enabling them to adapt to a variety of changing climates. During extreme weather conditions, these mini-buildings act as hubs of activities independent from the larger space thez acommodate. In temperate weather, they serve as “seeds” that support the growth of more expansive activities throughout the existing building.

Newburgh, NY, 292 Vacant Buildings

Philadelphia, PA, 40 412 Vacant Buildings

Model Photo

Isometric Scheme

Plan

The Mat The Mat is an innovative approach to vacant homes and developed as part of the Second Life initiative. It allows users to convert formerly residential — and thus smaller — buildings with inadequate structural integrity into dynamic spaces for local businesses and community organizations. The approach defines building elements that are permanent and those that are designed for interim use.

The open floor framing system consists of modular wood components, which streamline the construction process, minimize costs and reduce the need for skilled labor. This open framework stabilizes the existing structure while supporting open-air rooms. The rooms are enclosed in visually permeable mesh screens and are semi-climatized with radiant floors and thermal curtains. Since they are suspended from the frame, the entire building footprint below remains accessible for gatherings of all sizes. Once permanent occupancy has been established, the rooms can be readily uninstalled while leaving the floor framing system intact for the new owner.

Model Photo

Isometric Scheme

Plan

The Line The Line is a freestanding mini-building that was developed for the Second Life initiative.

It allows for the creation of work and community spaces within vast, vacant spaces — such as formerly industrial, infrastructural, or civic buildings — without requiring extensive renovations of the entire structure.

Unlike typical interim solutions-- such as storage containers-- which compartmentalize space without the possibility of growth, the Line activates the surrounding areas in the vacant building. It is a raised, open-air platform that is supported by a modular frame and wrapped in mesh screens. The platform is passively cooled in warm months and partially climatized with radiant ceilings and thermal curtains in cold months. The mesh supports the growth of climbing plants, which create a healthy environment within the Line. Similarly, mesh canopies extend from the roofline, providing opportunities for larger, more collective gatherings to develop beyond the Line.

Inside Out Townhouse MODU Brooklyn, New York Team: Phu Hoang, Rachely Rotem Inside-Out Townhouse is a rooftop addition to a Brooklyn townhouse, which introduces solar-based low energy systems to both the addition and the existing home. The addition is a 3-bedroom duplex apartment unit that includes a verdant outdoor terrace. Solar based energy systems (photovoltaics, solar hot water) are part of an overall design focus on sunlight and natural lighting. Two roof terraces in Inside-Out Townhouse—one for the additional unit and another for the existing building—are surrounded by perforated metal panels that promote the growth of climbing plants.

Inside-Out Townhouse is designed for residents to experience an open flow between indoor and outdoor living. The two roof terraces are connected by an open steel frame that supports passive cooling systems-- shading canopies, climbing plant trellis and water misting cooling system. Together, they provide the experience of being in “outdoor rooms.” The addition’s mezzanine bedroom also has a retractable glass wall that, when open, extends the outdoor terrace into the bedroom.

In the addition’s interior spaces, a double height area in the living room is naturally lit from the terrace above. Throughout the addition, large operable windows allow for ample cross ventilation. The openness between inside and outside provides residents—in both the addition and the existing townhouse— with daily connections to nature, improving their quality of living and well-being.

Isometric Section

Plan Mezzanine

Plan 4th Floor

Path.

Design Studio Anatomy KU Leuven, Faculty of Architecture Sint Lucas Ghent cooperation: Marek Vilášek, Timothy Ghyssaert published on KoozArch, march 2018 https://koozarch.com/2018/04/23/path/ We discovered a sequence of spaces in the the immediate surroundings of Church of Our Lady in Bruges. Outer spaces defined by walls filled with details and hidden potentials which intrigued us to their further investigation. All of those spaces appealed to us as separate rooms with strong connection through the enfilade of doors, gates and viewing axes. They are connected with it‘s common path we discovered and decided to follow and listen to all the whispering pointing towards us. Each room have it‘s unique atmosphere created by the specific key elements and details. After deeper examination the background narrative of the path of life came to surface. With our design we work with the emotion of each room in the straight connection to the path and enhacing the atmosphere through the language of architecture and architectural detail.

Sequence of Urban Rooms

Narrative of The Path of Life

Pre-existence Initial idea of this intervention is based on the biblical story of Tree of Knowledge, Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Paradise. Space we create here symbolizes the state of preexistence. Place so flawless and perfect, it feels even inhuman. Alienated. It‘s space out of this world, too perfect for us to actually be able to spend a longer period of time so we need to leave and continue forward.

plan

Moment of Birth The promise of space behind that wall that makes you wonder and raises questions. You want to enter that space, but you‘re not allowed yet. Dismantling couple of bricks could reveal something not yet known. This intrigueing desire does not leave a passenger calm. Right after passing through the door you‘re drawn by that wall. The gable, the only trace left behind . Mass of bricks and mortar with a promise of pace behind it. Mysterious retreat defending you from the outter world.

You need to dare that first step and climb through. You climb through the tunnel and reach the safe shelter. After a while you find a trapdoor beneath your feet leading to the cellar.

After descending on a narrow ladder you discover resources allowing you to stay a bit longer. Wood, water and wine.

Life What seems to be the goal from the distance might turn out as a dead end after reaching it. While chasing you‘re dreams you might even forget, why you started running in the first place.

When you come to an end without a closure, you should turn around and retihnik your next steps. Where are you heading?

The walls are raised and two gates are built. One gate leads you nowhere, the other one gets you to the other side. At the first glance one of the gates lures you in and than offers you no option to pass through. It‘s just a window, revealing you the absence of the bridge.

You follow a wall on your way. A wall with the gaps big just enough to see and scrape through but small enough to walk pass them unnoticed.

You might not even find a way out if you don‘t allow yourself to see.

Death You‘re facing the river. Preparing for that long step into the unknown. Reach out with your your foot to land onto something you have a clue about, yet you‘re not sure. There is a bridge in the water. Just below the water level, to give you a hint of it‘s existence. You need to reach out with your feet and seek for the solid ground below. It is possible to pass that bridge, but you need to be aware of every single step you make. This bridge does not give you comfort, but it gets you to the other side. You just need to make an effort and start walking and see where it leads.

plan

Afterlife The final destination. Tunnel leading into the darkness down below. You walked a long way up to this point and you‘re about reach the end of your path. You‘ve been throu- gh struggle, but you can‘t just stop walking now. There‘s a certain mystery waiting in the darkness, too tempting to just let go.

The Patent A welded steel element that, when assembled, creates a circular structure which supports a heavy weight marblestone dome. It also creates a space between the surrounding earth and the dome, which permits natural daylight to enter the underlying corridor.

The support of the dome is achieved by passing a cable through the bottom marble blocks which forms the dome and hang them up on the steel elements. The cables take up the tensile strength of the outward pushing forces, while the marble blocks and brick walls and foundations take up the downward forces through pressure strength. A second cable runs through an extending arm of each steel element. This cable supports the bottom row of marble blocks, in the same way the rest of the dome is supported. These bottom row of blocks reach out from the downward force axis of the dome, so that it seems like the entire dome is levitating.

Model pre-existence

Model afterlife

BRAUHAUS school project 2018 KU Leuven, Faculty of Architecture Sint Lucas Ghent Today there is a long barbed wire wall standing between the beautiful garden and the old factory. These two immediate elements of wasted potential of today’s form of Jules de Saint-Genoisstraat are the initial triggers for the hereby proposed intervention.

The building is clutching two courtyards different in size which are breaking the monotonous stereotype of the long, dull street and they’re offering a diverse program opportunities. The bigger courtyard is a reflection of the garden facing on the other side of the street and is becoming it’s prolongation.

These spaces are also creating the two windows into the historical industrial site and offers and insight of the days of the past.

Perspective Elevation

Perspective Section

Ground Floor Plan

Interior Perspective

Detail of the facade

Three residential wings are going out of the volume and resting on the permeable stems accommodating a bar and the office spaces. Each apartment dispose of a spatial terrace which is visually connected with the street. The vertical communications of the residential units are connected with the industrial space through the series of windows hereby offering the contact between the working and living environment and are enhancing the gradient of the two.

Section through the facade

Tectonical drawing of the ground floor segment

JAROSLAVICE WINERY Bachelor Thesis 2016 One of the key parts of the strategy for this project was to enhance the hidden potential of the landscape notch - the heritage after the old clay quarry. The production part of the winery is made in the way of traditional wine cellars in terms of excavating the soil and then covering the building in the ground. The production part serves also as a supporting wall of the slope and provides stabilization. Spatial and volume configuration comes from the concept of historical rural yard and concentration of individual functions around the central yard space. This idea also empowers the initial feeling of the landscape of the future vineyard. The site is shaped by the years of clay excavating almost as a natural amphitheater.

concept production+degustation

acommodation

yard

d yar ne wi

win e lane

central point

terrain

wine alley

house of the owners

Hexagonal shape of a winery is interpreting the traditional archetype and opens with one side to the vineyard and with the other side to the historical wine alley and connects with the heritage of Jaroslavice.

The whole production part is covered in the ground which provides the optimal inside temperature throughout the whole year. The degustation space is perpendicular to the slope with the vineyards and is framed as one big window into the landscape.

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2.03 2.02 2.01

Plans and Exploded Isometry

Perspectives

MEMENTO Competition MOONTOPIA 2017 eleven magazine cooperation: Vojtěch Marek Moon connects us very closely to the Earth, because it was made from it. In Earth’s early period of existence, it was hit by a huge asteroid and new Earth’s satelite was accumulated. Much later, around 53 billion years, there was a human. On of the earliest dreams of humanity was to reach for the sky they looked upon and set foot on this foreign, yet neighbour orb. Human life could be symbolized as just a small dot on timeline of Luna’s life, yet this ancient dream was already fulfilled. Someone once said:“Earth is humanity’s cradle, but you can’t live in the cradle forever.

That’s human nature, posessivity, desire to colonize, urge to own. But isn’t there much greater potential, beyond the horizon of this initial impulse?

Some great wonders of nature and universe can only be recognized within certain distance relative to it’s size. Only this perspective gives human the possibility to perceive and embrace this beauty. That is why we decided to never set our foots onto the Luna’s surface again. Hovering in the lunar orbit offers us the opportunity to gain this distance and experience the connection, without phisically reaching it with our bodies. Our bodies are just shells driven by our souls.

Lunar cycle goes from dusk till dawn every 29 days.

Same as a human life it has it’s beginning and an end.

Death is a natural element of a life cycle. Still it’s troubling for us to accept it, we fear the death, we try to fight it but at some point we simly have to face it. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassement or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is trully important. You are already naked, there is no reason not to follow your heart. When it comes we gather with our loved ones and we grieve, we honor the memory of deceased. But there is no such thing as an oblivion. Because death is not the end, being forgotten is.

Moon is a very inhospitable place to try and start a cycle of life, but reverent and decent place to end one. Very quiet and calm environment where mourners say their last goodbye during this unforgettable expirience of a lifetime. As the sun rays reaches the urn with relics it acummulates the power. After one lunar cycle, when shadow envelops the urn it creates the beam of light and merges with the starry sky. It shines for us, every time we look up into the sky. As a silent memorial. The memento.

Ă˜

From the outside the volume of the cenotaph evaporates. It‘s reflective surface mirrors the surrounding landscape and it merges with the outside world. The only accentuation of this invisible mass is monumental entrace located on the viewpoint of the site and and thus determines its orientation.

∞ After entering the cenotaph you find yourself in an immaginary infinite space . The World as we know it is hidden behind the giant wall. The sight is struck by the night sky, the infinity space without any limits.

cross section

monumental entrance

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Plan

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100[m]

Elevation

Model Photo

Model Photo

Heart Squared 2020 Valentine Heart Times Square Arts Competition / 1st Prize MODU Team: Rachely Rotem, Phu Hoang, Brenda Lim, Tom Sterling https://archpaper.com/2019/11/times-square-heart-design-modu/

As the winning entry of the 2020 Times Square Heart design competition curated by the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, Heart Squared is an abstracted heart formed from a cubic steel lattice nearly ten feet high. Suspended within the open lattice, hundreds of mirrors reflect a kaleidoscopic array of the surrounding urban spectacle of New York’s Times Square. Kaleidoscopic images reflect the urban life of Times Square — tall buildings, brightly lit billboards, and the many kinds of people.

Heart Squared is also an urban anamorphic projection—a large mirror array creates a pixel “emoji” heart from hundreds of reflections; this heart is visible only from a specific location, allowing multiple people to experience it at once. It is made of many reflections of buildings, billboards, and people, surrounded by a field of pure sky. Even in one of the densest urban spaces in the world, day or night, it is possible to find the sky above.

Fundamentally inclusive, Heart Squared brings people together to discover the heart within, a heart that reflects anyone and everyone who engages with it. During day and night, Heart Squaredsurprises and delights by bringing skyscrapers, bright lights, and people’s faces together with unexpected glimpses of New York City’s skies. In Times Square, a space of urban spectacle, the installation encourages the public to interact spontaneously with one another while also finding their own experiences with the artwork.

Conceptual Diagrams

On Site Mockup Testing

Perspective Scheme

Model Photo

Model Photo