PORTFOLIO
CONTENTS
00 RESUME 01 INSTALLATION 02 HOT SPRINGS 03 REIMAGINATION 04 CLUBHOUSE
MOLLY CHEN
(650) 796-8326 molly.f.chen@gmail.com OBJECTIVE WORK EXPERIENCE
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
EDUCATION
RESUME
Searching for an challenging summer internship at a practice dedicated to collaboration, sustainability, and designing with purpose. Chinese Academy of Building Research Intern AutoCAD/SketchUp, Translator
Beijing, China Summer 2013
Atkinson Architecture Intern Model Making, Field Survey
Palo Alto, CA 2010-2012
Kohler Associate Architects Intern Document Filing
Palo Alto, CA 2011-2012
Proficient graphic and brochure design with Adobe Photoshop Adobe Illustrator Adobe InDesign Extensive experience in 2D and 3D design and studio work Skillful physical modelmaking Able to use woodshop and metalshop machines Hand drafting skills Working knowledge of 3D modeling with Rhino AutoCAD Form-Z Laser Cutter Fabrication Google SketchUp CNC Router Fabrication Simple animation experience with Form-Z and SketchUp Fluent in both English and Chinese Proficient English writing and presentation Great familiarity with Microsoft Office California Polytechnic State University B’Arch (in progress)
BLDG 5-paraSITE BUILDING 5 - COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE - SITE 42 WINTER 2013 INSTRUCTOR - RICHARD BELLER TEAM - G. GRIFFITH, M. CHEN, C. SLUDER, A. BOUCHER How do you implore passerby to stop and enjoy a previously dismissed part of a building? The architecture building of California Polytechnic State University is brutal on the eyes, its gaudily colored HVAC system exposed on the outside in a possible imitation of the Pompidou Center in Paris. It has been scratched, sprayed, painted, or taped by every single student that has passed through the school. We leave behind a stoic concrete structure that is unafraid of the abuse guaranteed for generations of students to come. The program of this project was to encourage interaction between humans and architecture, to show others what each team understood about their own site. SITE 42 was located about a column that supported a bridge between studio classrooms, bathrooms and the stairway. An area of high traffic, the bridge never allowed the herd of students and faculty a reason to pause and appreciate the great importance of our 2’ x 2’ structural concrete column. Our team set forth to create an installation that would draw the attention of those on their way to class (or to the bathroom.) Our project hoped to establish an ethereal rather than a corporeal interaction with its viewers as a 4th-dimensional analysis of the column’s shattering pattern, given the fourth dimension of time, or given the fourth dimension as an extrusion of the three-dimensional space that we inhabit.
E-INSTALLATION
Further exposition of this project can be found online.
SUBTERRANEAN well
FRANKLIN HOT SPRINGS, PASO ROBLES, CA FALL 2013 INSTRUCTOR - JEFFREY PONITZ
N WOMB SPACE People need somewhere to heal--a space that serves the function of promoting rehabilitation with exploration. Upon arriving at the site, the first thing a visitor notices is the accosting smell of the sulphuric waters. A quick glance around, and it is also instantly apparent that the landscape all around is flat--with the exception of a mound that on cold days breathes delicate steam and on dark nights emits a soft glow. __________________ _______________________________________
____________. This site is born from the water that spills out of a single pipe – just as every living being also is manifested from fluids. No matter how far we go, we eventually return to the water, and to the void. So starts a very small journey of exploration around the ground and structures of this place, which ends at a subterranean or otherwise similarly enclosed void with womblike properties: warm, slightly steamy, and filled with a curiously soft, cushioning, mineral-rich water.
Plaster Construct Mass envelops void as void envelops mass. Interaction with the mass and void at the human scale can be gradual or abrupt. The cuts imply that the void and other interventions continue beyond the envelope, just as everything continues beyond what is originally perceived.
Interior Seeking cover from the bright but harsh sun, a visitor finds her way up and into THE WOMB. Here, she can float on her own, soaking in the diffused light and the water-bound nutrients. The water mutes all other sounds, providing an opportunity for inner privacy as the visitor recuperates.
Renderings of project intervention
Further explanation of this project can be found online.
REIMAGINE PORT PORT SAN LUIS HARBOR, AVILA, CA FALL 2012 INSTRUCTOR - MICHAEL LUCAS TEAM - M. CHEN, G. LOPEZ, K. FAUSKE, E. YAROSH, E. XIE, S. YANG
A team of six, one small section of a 1300-foot long pier, and three “clients”makes for an interesting approach to program. The pier is a working pier with fishermen coming and going every day. It boasts a few restaurants, an old “inn”, and multiple spots for sea lions to sun themselves. The small bay teems with wildlife: a fantastic scene. We sought to customize our portion of the pier for a professional photographer looking for fresh views and a couple old enough to want to escape from the
T SAN LUIS PIER beach but young enough to enjoy the sea breeze. Thus, we established a system of boxes balanced mildly precariously on top of each other. They focus on framing views for the couple while providing new and open vantage points for the photographer. The stairs offer a perforated view of the deck and water below, drawing their design from the hidden but beautiful structure that supports the massive pier. They remind the visitors to look beneath the surface to discover previously unseen systems that are vital for supporting what we do know and experience.
BuSSY - A TWO
O-CLUB-HOUSE GRAND AVE PARKING STRUCTURE, SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA SPRING 2013 INSTRUCTOR - BRENT FREEBY Every club needs a clubhouse. Now try sharing it with another club. Thus was the problem presented: create a set of spaces that fulfills the programs of two clubs: the Cal Poly Motor Car Association and the Penguin Motorcycle Club. The site? The outer rim of Cal Poly’s largest parking garage. This particular clubhouse sought to showcase its two clubs to entice new members with a system of ramps and stairways that would conceal, reveal, conceal, then reveal again the clubs’ fantastic cars and motorbikes as they drive between the different levels of the parking structure. The project addresses three scales of circulation: the regal movement of cars, the daring maneuvers of BMX bikes, and of course, the urgent hustle of students eager to tinker with their machines. The motocross ramps are appropriately supported by a system reminiscent of a roller coaster. A wide staircase alluding to some car engine part leads to a workspace that also functions as a showroom.
TOP RIGHT BOTTOM RIGHT BOTTOM MIDDLE BOTTOM LEFT
showroom space club meeting space perspective from above view from below
THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION MOLLY CHEN (650) 796-8326 molly.f.chen@gmail.com