Portfolio
Selected works by Ng Xin Yi
ACADEMIA
2022 - current
2019 - 2021
NG XIN YI
nationality singaporean
born 24th April 2000
mobile +65 8399 6881
email website
ngxinyi0424@gmail.com
https://ihuix.pb.gallery/
SKILLS
software
SketchUp
Autocad
Rhinoceros3D
Enscape
Twinmotion
Adobe Creative Suite
School of the Arts, Singapore (SOTA) (NUS M.Arch)
Master of Arts in Architecture
(NUS B.Arch)
Bachelor of Arts in Architecture
2013 - 2018
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) in Visual Arts
AWARDS, HONOURS
2022 BCA-WOHA iBuildSG Undergraduate Scholarship
Dean’s List, NUS Architecture, Year 4 Semester 1
Dean’s List, NUS Architecture, Year 2 Semester 2
IBDP Excellence Award 2018
(Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Lightroom, Premier Pro)
design workshop
Laser Cutting
Model Making
3D Printing
Sculpting (Clay Handbuilding, Throwing)
languages
English
Chinese
Written + Spoken
Written + Spoken
WORK EXPERIENCE
Ngee Ann Kongsi Scholarship
EXHIBITIONS, PUBLICATIONS
ArchiVal 2023 NUS
Project Showcase (Y4S1)
AR.C.HI.TEC.TURE Showcase Art Science Museum
Project Showcase (Y3S2)
ArchiVal 2021 NUS
Publications Committee + Project Showcase (Y2S2)
ArchiVal 2020 NUS
Programmes Committee + Project Showcase (Y1S1 & Y1S2)
Housing Modernities Exhibition
Jan-Jul
2023 2021
May - Jul
PI Architects LLP
Quod Architects X QED Design
Drawing Showcase (Y1S1)
NUS Yearbook “Scale, Precedent, Context”
Project Feature (Y1S2)
Curatorial Showacse, SOTA Gallery
IBDP Project Showcase
CONTENTS
Y4S1
Seeding an Extensified Pekarangan
Extensification strategies with Mat, Rug and Quilt typologies
Y3S2
Fluid Boundaries
Blurring boundaries between wet and dry - Rain, Sea and Ground
Y3S1
Patchwork of Craft
Reincorporation of cottage industries in Defu Industrial Estate
Y2S2
Hideout
Design of a shelter for a wildlife photographer in a mangrove climate
Y2S1
Syntopia
House for a fashion designer - Iris Van Herpen
Seeding an Extensified Pekarangan
Mats, Rugs and Quilts | Stephen Cairns Studio
Productive landscapes are being taken over by commercial urban activities at an accelerating rate. The spread of the built environment at the expense of intricate ecosystems and agropolitan activities raises issues of food security, ageing workforce in the primary industries as well as overpopulation of the urban cities, neglecting the rural and peri-urban.
Hence, strategies of extensification in the border between these built areas and the productive landscapes (rice fields) can create a band that not only increases the value of the land, but also protects the landscapes from being taken over by urban sprawl. This extensified border also taps upon existing agropolitan logic found in indonesian agriculture, such as the perkarangan (home garden), subak (water management) and food forest (companion farming).
The arrangement of architecture in the logic of banding and striation will house different programs in each zone, with the zones following the exisitng agropolitan logic in Indonesia’s agriculture. This allows for a replicable strategy that can be implemented at different sites with similar boundary conditions that are facing the threat of urban sprawl.
Horizontal Pekarangan / Companion Farming
Arrowroot
Banana
Home
Salem Leaf
Tomato
Langsat Jambu
Shrubs
Herbacious
Rhizosphere / Climbers
Fish Pond
Cassava
Taro
Chilli
Tomato
Lemongrass
Cardamon
Guava
Papaya
Mango
Ginger
Chicken Coop
The combination of both vertical and horizontal zoning in tandem with the programs (greenhouses with herbacious layer, rainwater harvesting with canopy layer, composting with mycelium/rhizosphere layer) creates a effective system where the different plant species can benefit the most at each respective zones, while still being able to overlap into other zones naturally.
Pekarangan (home garrdens) viisualised in relatioon to the home
Increasing the value of a place through the introduction of technology, by intensifying and extending activites along the border of village and agricultural fields.
Creating overarching zoning of crops, technology and programmes based on concepts of companion farming, crop zoning and production chain.
Increased Coordination
• Comp anion Farming
• Cr op Zoning
• R eference to traditional systems (Water Subak, Crop Pekarangan, Talun Kebun)
Tackling Ageing Workforce
• Div ersification of jobs
• L ucrative future with increased technological advancement
Mitigating Rural Urban Migration
• Mor e jobs would result in an increased incentive to stay in peri-rural
• Pr otection of agricultural jobs and increase food security
Planning of each strand, such that programs, systems and crops function ideally along the band.
Shifting of programs to overlap or intersect in ech zone
Interlacing between zones through the planning of circulation systems in terms of ramps, pavements and bridges.
Common Pool of Resources that form a mutually beneficial system
Parti Diagram
1. Extensification2. Striation
3. Organisation4. Sliding 5. Reconstructing
The site is chosen as it holds characteristics typical of a village house / rice field boundary, which includes a fish pond, gardens and front yard for rice drying. These existing infrastructure would inform the immediate banding logic of the design adjacent to it.
The project , as seen in the plan above, can be replicated in similar villagericefield conditions across Indonesia. The overall plan shows how the project can expand and develop in subsequent years. This would hence increase the value of both the rice field as well as the productivity of the village to protect the productive ricefields from being taken over by larger corporations for commercial uses.
• T he first zone of greenhouses contain higher percentages of the herbaceous and underground layers of the food forest, as it is nearest to the village kitchen. Spices, root plants and vegetables used in daily cooking are thus most accessible.
• T he next zone of the fisheries hold more large shrub species of plants that require more moisture content in soil, such as eggplant and taro.
• T he poultry farm zone generates soil with most nutrients due to animal droppings, suited for crops that require high nutrient content.
• T he rainwater harvesting zone is recessed at a lower ground plane, allowing for more trees and taller canopy to form in tandem with the taller architecture.
• T he last layer of composting encourages creeper and mycelium layers to develop, aiding in decoompsing organic matter.
Drone image of selected boundary (Village and Rice Field) Zoning Strategy implemmented in village
Axo of design strategy at phase 1 completion, with consstruction of other parts of the band in progress
View of greenhouses and gardens
View of Rainwater Processing Facility
View of fisheries and duck farm
Inside of duck farm
FLUID BOUNDARIES
Blurring boundaries between wet and dry | Federico Ruberto Studio
Water has always been made subservient to infrastructure, as exemplified through the channeling and enclosure of it. We become detached from its origin - earth, sky and sea, narrowing our association to it as a mere resource. Human endeavors also seek control through constantly drawing a line between the dry and wet, confining water into the edges of rivers and pipes. However, these boundaries have the potential to possess qualities of gradation in moisture, ranging from sparseness to full submersion. Instead of perceiving water as an element that needs to be controlled and confined, qualities of fluidity, overflow and perforation can be applied as new leitmotifs to architecture of water in order to reconnect us to its origins.
The prototype will tap on the exploration of forms created through the three operations: Aggregation, Erosion and Excavation, where they interface with water as the primary environmental factor. Through consideration of the acoustics as well as thermal properties of water, the designed space mitigates between the external environment with the internal spaces where humans dwell. By varying the degree of curvatures, depth of caverns and intersections of spaces, the prototype curates a meditative and tranquil space that goes against the usual conventional architecture that shields from the environment into one that embraces it.
The degree of exposure to water, sound and light are varied in different spaces depending on the type of programs - due to their different needs and relationship between other programs, the components are connected and carved to differ the exposure to water in multiple ways.
Sea, rain and water from surface run-off are negotiated through the building in different network systems, from the roof to the floors, from exterior to interior, from drain cavities to tanks. Through the channeling and travelling of water, the building taps on the sound qualities created through flow of different speed, volume and spaces of the water travel to create environments of varied spatial qualities.
Flow of water between components
Various prototype iterations, with iteration 1 being most explorative and open, where cubes stacked within a 15x15x15m cuboid grid has spaces that are excavated and carved out to creater internal voids and indents for water to pool and flow through. Iteration 2 focuses more on creating different compo -
nents that fit together, as well as negotiating more variations of closed spaces. Lastly, iteration 3 looks at creating logic through the introduction of prototype parts that can be combined to create exhaustive spatial qualities throughout the prototype.
Prototype Development
Interior walls are lined with limestone concrete, which are imprinted with textures that are adapted from the bell hole textures found in cave. This interior surface treatment enables more variation in interior acoustics, where certain spaces with larger dimensions of surface treatment will have more reverberations than the latter.
Wall Treatment adapted from Bell-hole surfaces in caves
Different components that encompass different programs will receive different interior surface treatments, which are indicated through the use of colour in the exploded axonometric.
Exploded Axonometric of Components
Differing Spatial Qualities of Components
Cavern Typologies
PATCHWORK OF CRAFT
Envisioning cultural transformation in Defu | Roy Pang Studio
Culture does not need to be preserved, as it is constantly changing, where human societies evolved steadily through cummulative cultural adptations, with the accumulation of skills, knowledge and technology producing improvements and variety that is suited to the needs of the contemporary world.
Craftspeople and thier ateliers have gradually retreated from the main streets into the depths of industrial parks and remote shophouses. Why are traditional artisans shunned to the periphery of societal consciousness , with their craft relegated to the status of vanishing trades in the informal sector?
The future of Defu is envisioned as a place that will facilitate learned behavior, which in turn encourages the transformation of culture and place in both the physical and programmatic.
The project begins with the exploration of the existing patterns and observations of Defu. One of the areas which have left the biggest impression on me was the prevalance of cultural heritage in the site, which is reflected in terms of the type of businesses that reside in the buildings of different typologies, as well as the pattern of behaviour of tenants and residents in the site.
The me thodology of clustering is observed on the site, and replicated into the design of both programmatic and formal aesthetics of the building. Through the employment of different types and ways of clustering as seen in the diagram above (creation of a courtyard, path determination and flow), different types of programs depending on the needs and requirements of different businesses can be integrated into the different courtyard typologies (as seen in the exploded axonometric diagram on the right).
Compilation of exploration models
models made during project
HIDEOUT
Creation of a shelter for wildlife photographers | Yuan Chao Stu dio
The design seeks to shelter and aid wildlife photographers in their journey of capturing the most intrinsic ecosystems. The process began by interviewing photographers to develop a comprehensive design brief encompassing – assimilation, ergonomics, and thermal comfort.
Due to the abundant variety of animals living in a wet biome climate, mangroves create an opportunity for photographers to capture photos of these unique creatures. Openable snapping modules form the membrane of the structure and are designed as apertures to curate sightlines for the photographer, as well as to react to the climate – ventilation to combat site’s high humidity and closed to provide shelter from the sun and rain. The module’s band component is constructed using steel measuring tape, where two pieces of bands are connected by a pivot ending, allowing it to snap open and close.
Plants and trees in the wetlands and mangroves tend to adopt traits of the drip tip at their leaves to promote water runoff. This is crucial due to the high levels of humidity in the wet biome climate, as moisture could cause bacteria growth on the leaves. Similar concept is adapted into each module membrane to reduce water retention in the design structure. To mimic the effect of rain interception found in forests, the modules are arranged in an overlapping manner to prevent rain from entering the structure. For camouflaging, the modules are mimicked in the shape of a leaf, in terms of its overall form and the membrane within.
The overall structure follows the shape and form of the mangrove roots to aid in the camouflage objective. It also allows for the accommodation of various photography stances and room for comfort during long hours of waiting for creatures to emerge in documentation sessions.
Watch the story here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJUMLLkzOys
Sectional Persepctive of interior of fashion design house
SYNTOPIA
The idea of symbiotic relationships are linked to the different programs of the space and how they can interact or coexist in the space, while ideas of waves and translucency can be translated into the facade as a climatic and visual response to the site context. Van herpen uses grasshopper scripts to generate curves, seen in her collaboration on the syntopia dress, where the curves generated from bird sound waves are lofted to fit the body. She also actively incorporates use of contrasts, between fabric and skin, as well as light and dark through varying opacities and layering of fins. Chosing to explore interference waves, specifically using sine waves as it is the primary underlying function in many naturally occurring phenomenon, this project adopts the characteristics of form finding that Van Herpen uses in the design of her dresses.
Iris Van Herpen Design House | Joseph Lim Studio
