wk michelle chang | 2014 undergraduate portfolio

W.K.MICHELLE CHANG folio 2014

STUDIO Fire 2013

Conan doyle theatre “The Missing Band” The Conan Doyle Mystery Theatre was our final studio for the three year undergraduate course.

The theatre was to pay tribute to Conan Doyle and his Sherlock Holmes mysteries.

I found the dynamic between Holmes and his arch enemy Moriarty a fascinating part of the Sherlock stories. The way they are constantly neck and neck because of their similar intellect yet are in constant opposition due to their conflicting moral standpoints gave inspiration to the

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form and circulation of the theatre. The plan therefore looks as though it has a line of symmetry however it is in fact rotated rather than mirrored. The different levels are also connected on alternating floors until the very bottom level is reached to express Moriarty and Sherlock chasing after one another. Though there is a circulatory disconnect between the levels, the floors are

→

→ still connected visually and spatially and therefore represents the way the two characters are constantly narrowly missing each other.

The initial concept during the beginning stages of the design process was about a missing clue.

This was expressed using a band taken out of a simple geometric form. The concept was to reuse the missing strip somewhere else within the building for theatre patrons to discover and make the connection allowing them to ‘solve’ the mystery for themselves. Here I have re-used the strip within the restaurant that is at the very pit of the building and also where the dual circulation paths in the building meet.

The images on the right show photographs of initial concept models based on the missing band idea (top row) and the dual nature of Sherlock and Moriarty (bottom row), as well as initial attempts for fitting the program into the site. This however resulted in a problematic form. I tried to resolve this in the final design by sinking the building underground which would further emphasise the process of discovery when entering the building

SECTIONS

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FIRST FLOOR 1:800 LOADING BAY

LOWER ENTRY

CONCEPT 1 - THE MISSING BAND

GROUND FLOOR

SHERLOCK

MORIARTY

1/F FRONT ENTRY DR 1

G/F BACK ENTRY LG

BLACK BOX

B1

CINEMA

B2

PROSCENIUM

B3

RESTAURANT

DIRECTOR’S OFFICE ATRIUM/ FOYER

DR2

VISITOR’S OFFICE BLACK BOX

LOWER GROUND

CONCEPT 2 - ALTERNATING LEVEL CIRCULATION - ‘CHASING’ FLY TOWER

The program determines the number of floors within the building with the blackbox theatre, cinema and proscenium theatre sandwiched between two layers of semi-public space that is the entrance and restaurant.

In terms of site and context, I was particularly interested in the use of the site as a civic space.

Stairs were therefore the key way of expressing the importance of the building in its urban context.

CINEMA

BASEMENT 1 STORAGE CLOSET

WORKSHOP DR3

FEMALE TOILET

TECH STAGE

DR4

MALE TOILET

STAFF TOILET STAFF TOILET

BASEMENT 2

KITCHEN

REHERSALS

MALE TOILETS

RESTAURANT

FEMALE TOILETS

BASEMENT 3

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STUDIO AIR 2013

WYNDham Gateway In collaboration with YiiWei Hou and Thawini Veraphong This project explored the possibilities of generative architecture and form-finding through the use of scripts in the Rhinoceros plug-in Grasshopper.

The brief given to us was more sculptural than architectural, allowing us to be more flexible and bold in our explorations. Our group chose to look at patterning for the project and focused it down to patterns that mimicked nature. We found an interest in nautilus shells and from there looked

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into recursive patterning and how grasshopper scripts would be able to aid us in doing so. Initially we were quite lost with using the program and created the patterns manually but still using the same formulaic method that grasshopper would provide. After some time with the program however we were able to then develop the design using scripts to create the form that is based on similar fractal principals. →

RECURSIVE PATTERN GENERATION: 8 SIDES

7 SIDES

6 SIDES

5 SIDES

1

2

3

4

5

SELECTION & DEVELOPMENT:

1

2

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→ The next stage of our development process was to begin creating 3D forms based on the same concept of fractals and recursive subdivision.

Starting with a simple tetrahedron we went through the same generative form-finding process as we did with the pattern. This time however we had the help of grasshopper scripts allowing us to generate much more complex designs quite quickly.

Above on the left shows a breakdown of the script we used. The inputs included the starting geometry, the side which the start and end ge-

ometry would attach together, the angle of rotation and scaling factor of the resulting geometry.

What resulted were forms just as natural as the patterns we created before, this time only resembling coral and drift wood rather than just nautilus shells.

The gateway therefore almost unintentionally had depth and layers as it was fractal-based in its entirety - from the whole structure right down to the pattern of each panel which make up the individual blocks.

This generative process allowed us to answer questions about the brief that would not have existed prior to creating the form.

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STUDIO water 2012

STUDLEY PARK bOATHOUSE Learning from Tadao Ando This design was developed from an analysis of Tadao Ando’s formal and conceptual style. We were first given the task of tracing plans and sections in order to understand the formal and spatial relationships of the Koshino and Row House.

Having a deeper understanding of the complexity hidden behind Ando’s simple concrete facades, we then were asked to design a boathouse based on his style and design principles.

Inspired by the Row House courtyard, I focused

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on the control of circulation and thresholds to draw the surrounding natural environment into the experience of the building that would hopefully enhance user’s sensitivity to nature.

The boathouse therefore would not only within the landscape but encourage users to interact with and experience the landscape by being guided towards specific views or having this contrasted with control and removal of light and space through the building.

SOUTH ELEVATION

cafÉ

kiosk

Kitchen

STAIRS

ENTRY

toilets

SECTION

STUDIO WATER 2012 | Studley Park Boathouse p11

SITE & PROGRAM

Embeded

Thresholds

Admin, Food, Service One site,

PLAN 1:100

Entry

2ND FLOOR PLAN 1:100

Office

Kitchen

Boathouse Kiosk

Restaurant

Koshino Hou

Boats

Cafe

B O A T H O U S E at K E W

GROUND FLOOR PLAN 1:100

Axis

Unit to Whole

Circulation

FORMAL & SPATIAL DIAGRAMS BASED ON ANDO’S PRINCIPLES OF: -AXIS -UNIT TO WHOLE -CONTROLLED CIRCULATION -SIMPLE GEOMETRY

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Simple Geometry

Axis

ANALYSIS OF KOSHINO HOUSE, ROW HOUSE & CHURCH ON WATER

two approaches

Views

Site Map 1:400

North Elevation 1:100

use

Cafe

Unit to Whole

Circulation

Simple Geometry

Kiosk

Kitchen

Stairs

Entry

Toilets

Section 1:100

DIAGRAMATIC ANALYSIS OF KOSHINO HOUSE

SITE ANALYSIS/ DESIGN DEVELOPMENT STUDIO WATER 2012 | Studley Park Boathouse p13

Designing Environments 2011

waiting space princess park For this first year subject we were asked to design a waiting space between the gates of the Melbourne Cemetery and a tree-lined avenue in Princess Park. The space was to be occupied by one or two and allow for contemplation.

This project encouraged conceptual thinking. I decided to look at dreams to describe this threshold between the gate and the path.

Dreams have no definite beginning nor end and are more like a space you go into which is how I

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wanted to describe the waiting space. They are also solitary personal places in our own heads and escape from reality which I tried to describe through splitting off sections and digging into the site such that the surroundings would not be visible. This would also reduce the amount of light entering the site allowing for withdrawal into one’s own mind rather than being distracted by heat or light.

VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS 2011

BODYSPACE wearable lantern FEATURING NATURE This first year project was an introduction to Rhinoceros and the capabilities of 3D modelling in form-making and fabrication.

thetic reasons, I later changed this to the back as it would provide more heat and moisture which fungi prefer to cling to and grow on.

The brief was to design a paper lantern that would be wearable and was also based on some aspect of nature. I decided on mushrooms as they formed interesting shapes that would be relatable to the human body in terms of where mushrooms like to grow. Though my initial sketches placed the design on the neck for aes-

We first modelled our designs out of clay which we then used to create digital models out of. Using paneling tools we were then able to planarise and unroll strips of the model onto paper which were then used to model the physical paper lanterns shown above.

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This was the process which we used to create digital models of our model. The clay model was sliced into thin pieces which we then traced first on paper and later onto Rhinoceros. The outlines were then re-arranged into order and lofted to form a relatively accurate digital representation of the clay model.

We then used the paneling tools plug-in to planarise and triangulate the model. The image on the left shows the original lofted model and on the right the paneled model. We also experimented with different types of triangulation in order to achieve the best shape for our form.

These images show the unrolling and fabrication process used to make the model. We learnt to use the card-cutter after unrolling all the faces and laying out the strips onto large sheets and adding tabs to each strip. The photographs in the right corner show the assembly process.

VIRTURAL ENVIRONMENTS 2011 | Bodyspace p17

CONSTRUCTIOn DESIGn 2013

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CONSTRUCTION DESIGN 2013 | Documentation Project p19

Website Re-design 2012

Future Leaders Academy www.futureleaders.com.hk Future Leaders Academy is a education centre in Hong Kong started by Jason Pak in 2011. I was introduced to him by a friend who was working for him at the time.

The task given was to redesign the company website to include information about the courses offered and also allow customers to understand FLA’s goals and purposes more clearly.

The website’s development was heavily depend-

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ent on the open source framework Zurb that uses a customisable grid system to arrange and organise the page.

Though it took a long time and was occasionally frustrating because of my lack of knowledge in coding, I found the learning process an extremely enjoyable one.

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website Design 2013 - ongoing

Keen ON Learning http://beta.kolearning.com Further to Future Leaders Academy, Jason wanted to branch out further into online learning websites. KOLearning was created to provide students with a quiz-based learning system. This time the website was far more complex and I was only involved in front-end design of the website.

Again I depended on Zurb to organise the pages.

The logo on the right was designed for KOL. I used Rhinoceros to create it in 3D before exporting the 2D image into illustrator to colour and finish off.

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Jason’s idea was for the logo to represent the K in KOL and an arrow hitting a target - symbolising a student achieving their own academic targets.

Currently the website is still in beta as the more technical quiz and log-in systems have yet to be finalised. Jason also has plans for further development for KOL and hopes to include a proofreading service for students alongside the online quiz site.

WEBSITE DESIGN 2013 | Keen On Learning p23

visual Communications 2012

graphite & mix media Left: Pencil Sketches on a3 R ight: pen sketch & digital painting VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS 2012 | GRAPHITE & MIX MEDIA p25

Thank You! “Matilda said, “Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it’s unbelievable...” ― Roald Dahl

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Wai Kay Michelle CHANG BEnvs (Architecture Major) @ University of Melbourne m: 0479 161 052 e: mchllcwk@gmail.com

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