Junmin Chung_Portfolio_2021

2018 Arc hitecture Por tfolio

JUNMIN CHUNG Selected Works

Contents 01

Archive of the City Unbuilding the City: Revealing and Archiving 2020

02

Design Through Section House for Two Couples in New York 2018

03

Design Through Analysis House Analysis: 50 x 50 House by Mies Van Der Rohe (1951) 2018

04

Analysis of Modern and Post Modern Architecture Analysis: Understanding the Precedents 2019

01

Arc hive of the City Unbuilding the City: Revealing and Archiving

Expanding the study of landmarks towards greater part of Manhattan, a pattern that began to occur was that while individual landmarks were mostly in commercial area, landmark districts were comprised of residential areas.

In such case, who lives in the areas that are preserved, which values were recognized as worthy of preserving?

Districts of Manhattans are dividing by straight lines and streets. However, as I walked between districts such as Greenwich Village and Chelsea, which have strong characteristics, I noticed spaces between them that showed no sign of belonging, a zero identity areas. For convenience, we have divided the districts through lines, but I began to imagine the possibility of boundaries that are not shown. In investigation of how districts gained identity, I came across the landmarks and landmark districts that were designated to preserve a moment in time. This act of landmarking is an urban scale archiving of the city which preserves the moment in time and its cultural value.

Overlap of Two maps

Overlapping the map of demographics and

map of landmarks, it could be observed that

majority of the landmarks were inhabited by White population.

Areas where the colored lived were only

filled by darkness, an absence and erasure.

Map of Demographics Asian Black Latino White

Map of Landmarks Individual Landmarks Landmark District

01 Archive of the City 1 of 8

0

The finding from the analysis of map of Manhattan intrigued further exploration of the difference in

condition between a landmark district and the areas adjacent to such district. Through such investigation, I came upon a fascinating condition where, along Park Avenue, 96th street became a critical boundary

between two districts. One was a site of preservation, along left, while other was a site of erasure through construction of super blocks and Tower in the Park typologies on top.

Tower in the Park Typologies constructed in 1950s and 60s to solve the issue of housing was highly criticized as destroying the social interaction that was created by the New York Cartesian Grid and remains a

polemic issue today. However, the surveys and media published at the time pose the issues at the site and the good will with which these towers were constructed. While it may not be great architecture, these

tower in the park typology that is rarely built today, is also a representation of a moment in time. Is there a way these towers could be preserved and utilized as the site of an archive?

01 Archive of the City 2 of 8

Survey by Slum Clearance Committee of N.Y, 1934

Posters Created by Artists for NYCHA, 1930s

500

1000

2000

Stage 1 Unbuilding the Ground Floors

First, there was the act of unbuilding to detach the towers from the ground. The study of the

area revealed that these towers were built on top of areas where water used to flow and expose themselves to the possibility of 100 year flood.

Through this act of unbuilding, it speaks truer to the intent with which Le Corbusier invented

such typology and exposes only the essential structure and the core which holds up the building, allowing the water flow through in times of flood.

01 Archive of the City 3 of 8

Stage 2 Enclosure of Towers

Second, there was an enclosure of space. One reason why these towers are detached from one another is the difference be-

tween the bird’s eye view of the urban planner and the ground view of the users. Gestalt psychology makes people construct

relationship between similar shapes and creates geometry between the voids. Hence, through a repetition of same shapes, the urban planner imagined this relationship between towers due to their similar shapes.

However, this relationship does not occur in the human scale. Hence The intervention was to fill this psychological space with promulgation of columns in a form of field that extrudes parallel to the facades. The expansion of the field connects the tower into a courtyard typology.

Active Gestalt Perception of a Triangle

01 Archive of the City 4 of 8

Neutral Gestalt Perception of Repetitive Shapes

01 Archive of the City 5 of 8

B : Round Elevator

An entrace point for people with disabilities

B|

D

a

C

C : Rotunda

The pavilion through enter the archive and a unifying element A : Fins

The transformation of columns to fins was a critical transition in the archive. While the columns were a point form, the fins are a linear form which as a collective can mimics the fabric that was erased from the site. Imagining the space between fins as the buildings that were demolished, the archive hence takes on the legacy of the erased as it is constructed above the void.

D : Enfilade

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Organization of space for function while retaining the rhythm

Room 1 Landmark

Room 2 Fabric

Room 3 Photo Archive

Room 4 Study Space

Diverse Programs are organized along the enfilade of the archive, each taking on two bays of fins.

At times of irregularities, in bay size or in need of greater space for the program, it detaches from the fin system into column system, as seen in Room 6, marking the differences in organization through a shift in structure.

01 Archive of the City 7 of 8

There are different figures in play, but through rhythm and system, the archive pulls them together into one.

Archive is not simply a place of storing, but a space of collecting, not just of different objects but also of people.

01 Archive of the City 8 of 8

02

Design Through Section House for Two Couple in New York

Limited to a 20 ft x 40 ft by design proposal, the challenge was to create a residential for two couples with commercial on the first floor on a site in East Village where the blocks are composed of small three to five stories residential housings of similar typology. In order to visualize the layer of space, the design proposal made one think of the architecture through section rather than plans, through which we began to imagine the layers of space vertically.

The key aspect of my design process was the separation between the two conflicting programs, a house of commerce and a house of residence.

Site 97 1/2 East 7th Street, NY, NY, 10009

02 Design Through Section 1 of 4

Concept Section of the House

The image I had in mind as I was working on the project was a ship. Living in New York, the city always felt alien. To me, New York was a vibrant place not because it was a place of permanent residence but a place of temporary residence, occupied by diverse people who created energy through their ephemeral presence.

Like the ships that temporarily landed at the harbors along Manhattan during nineteenth century, this idea of momentary presence of living in New York led the design procedure.

Step 1 Separation of Function

Step 2 Displacement of Floors

Step 3 Sculpture of Volumes

Step 4 Final Form

Unlike the other houses built up to the border of the lot, The house hides its existence from the street. At times, it seems floating as the wall that the volume cantilevers from is hidden from the viewer. It main02 Design Through Section 2 of 4

tains a temporary status in relation to the street at times.

Symmetry vs. Asymmetry

The symmetry recognizes the existence of two couples who are cohabiting the building, while asymmetry acknowledges their difference and the need for different programs based on their lifestyles.

Split Floor System

The floors are split into halves along the central wall. This allows the breakdown of circulation to shorter length while allowing diverse programs to take place.

Private vs. Public

As one moves from front to back, there is a shift in privacy. At the frontal part are the private spaces for each couple, next is a semi

public space that holds the necessities. Last is a communal space that encourages interaction between inhabitants.

Floor plans

Groud Level

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Lobby

Floor 1A

Floor 2A / 1B

Floor 3A / 2B

The Front Elevation

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03

Design Through Analysis House Analysis: 50 x 50 House by Mies Van Der Rohe (1951)

The studio examined the iconic houses of the 20th century and asked the students to analyze it and transform it. The house I was given was 50 x 50 house by Mies Van Der Rohe in 1951, a design proposal by the architect for a mass produced housing. The analysis of the house focused on the break down of the building into a kit of parts, transforming the assembly of the house into a sequence of organization based on the prominent structural and architectural elements of the house. This sequence was then used to generate a new set of houses that challenged the fundamental architectural principles of the original house. Glass that dismayed the boundary between exterior and interior because of its transparency now became the element that creates the hierarchy through layers of space.

03 Design Through Analysis 1 of 3

Plan of 50 x 50 House

Kit of Parts

S e q u e nc e of As s e m b ly

Roof

First, there was the Cartesian Plane

Then, the columns were placed to define the boundary of the house.

The glass followed the boundary and gave it a physical form.

The doors were set inside the glass to make the inner area accessible.

Then, the roof gave the plane a 3 dimensionality into a space.

Hence,the inhabitant.

Door

Inhabitant Glass

Column

Int e r ve nt i on a nd Tr a ns f or m a t i on

Grid

03 Design Through Analysis 2 of 3

New void was set inside the square to disrupt the homogeneous space and counter the centripetal force.

As a result, there was a tectonic shift of the roof in reaction to the conflicting forces.

Elements were reorganized in accordance to the new centripetal force.

T h e Re s ul t a n t s : H ouse A & H ouse B When the void was inserted, the void broke the symmetry of the house and required a re-organization of the house to bring itself

Detail 1

Diagram 1

Detail 2

Diagram 2

Detail 3

Diagram 3

back to equilibrium. By one simple operation of insertion, it created a new hierarchy within the space that was neutral. If there

had been only interior and exterior space beforehand, there were now Exterior space, Interior space, and a space created by the

void which was ambiguous whether it was an interior-exterior space or an exterior-interior space. This inner courtyard became the While glass was transparent, it was no longer neutral. It becomes the new dominator of the house.

House B - 1

element which now organized the space within. Wider space becomes a living room, while a narrower space becomes a corridor.

House B - 3

House B - 2

ㅙㅕ

When the void was placed on the corner, it broke the square into an L-shape and the only way to retain the void was by encapsulating it with another square. Then, there was the Mies question that arises, “how do the corners meet?” While it might not be a visible issue to the inhabitant, the tectonics of the glass affected the formal hierarchy of the space like a van diagram. Through the alignment of the glass, whether it be on the outer edge, on the center line, or the inner edge, the void began to take on different roles in the house, as a patio, a circulatory space, or simply an exterior. The same language was then applied to the way other architecture elements were re-arranged as well.

03 Design Through Analysis 3 of 3

04

Analysis of Modern and Post Modern Architecture Analysis: Understanding the Precedents

There was a seminar type studio that was performed to develop our understanding of the precedents that shaped the architectural discourse, a 14-week project that focused on the works by key figures of Modern and Post Modern architecture: Le Corbusier, Mies Van Der Rohe, Adolf Loss, Aldo Rossi, James Stirling, O. M. Ungers, and Robert Venturi. Every two weeks, a group of three students analyzed selected works of the architects and developed an understanding of the method through which each architect shaped the discourse and conveyed their ideas through space and architectural elements.

It was a critical seminar through which I developed methods of communication through model, and an understanding of the precedents. I want to credit my two partners for their collaboration constructing the model during the process, while drawings are my individual work.

Free Facade and Figure Ground relationship

Free facade was a trope of Le Corbusier’s Architecture Language. Detaching the facade from structure, the facade was no longer limited by structural order and

became an autonomous element. In the Salvation Army, Free Facade was deployed to create a backdrop for the geometric figures in front, where the geometric figures La Cité de Refuge Le Corbusier 04 Analysis of Modern and Post Modern 1 of 3

were organized in linear manner to create a promenade as one enters the space.

Florey Building James Stirling

Challenging the Classic Values

Works of James Stirling could be characterized as post-modern architecture due to its nature of challenging the classic values. In Florey Building, He took a form which was symmetrical in shape with equal length on all sides. Then, he disrupted it through an insertion of a volume that performed as a core circulation.

Through this simple act, it distorted the figure into an asymmetrical form, and this asymmetry established a new hierarchy within a space while conforming to the original order which organized the whole.

04 Analysis of Modern and Post Modern 2 of 3

Raumplan

Raumplan is a development of architecture through design of spaces rather than through the typical plans and sections. In the model of Villa Moller, all other rooms are removed and only the row of volumes that hinge between the two

facade remains. The volumes grow on itself and expand as it proceeds to the back.

Each Volume interlocks on the other to leed the eye of the viewer.

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Villa Moller Adolf Loos