Architecture Portfolio 2023

Richard Pinch 余智理

Northeastern University 2022-2023

P O R T F O L I O

C O N T E Twelve X Twelve 42°20’30.7”N, 71°05’22.0”W

Living Walls 42°21’02.5”N, 71°03’35.7”W

Chinatown Cathedral 42°20’58.8”N, 71°03’39.0”W

Merola’s Tower (Precedent Study) 42°20’58.8”N, 71°03’39.0”W In collaboration with: Thomas de Campos, Valentina Ortiz, Wyatt Waters

Raised Beds 42°20’44.2”N, 71°05’35.3”W In collaboration with: Malakhi Oliver, Sydney Singh, and Sarah Wong

Teach on the Beach 4°48’41.6”N, 1°56’12.0”W In collaboration with: Ryan Chan, Christine Cho, and Callum Tinkler

Sustainable Coasts 34°41’38”N, 135°30’8”E In collaboration with: Abigail Noreck, Bryan Rivera, Kelly Thomas

Personal Photography Various Locations 2

N T S About

Richard Pinch 余 智 理 Photo courtesy of Wyatt Waters

Hello! I’m Richard, a third-year architecture student at Northeastern University born and raised in Massachusetts.

Previously pursuing a degree in environmental studies and international affairs, I changed paths to architecture to fulfill my passion for making things. However, I have not left those interests behind, as I strive for my architecture to always be sustainable and look to the traditional building techniques of the world’s diverse cultures for inspiration.

Outside of architecture, most of my time is occupied by geography quizzes, competitive shooters, and keeping up to date with computer components.

Email me!

School: pinch.r@northeastern.edu Personal: richard@rzpinch.com

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New housing developments are increasingly made from prefabricated units due to their low cost and ease of installation.

However, these housing developments are often boring and monotonous, creating spaces that are cold and unwelcoming.

Jarvis Place provides an opportunity to develop a new and inventive housing scheme that will offer affordablerate housing for both graduate students and citizens of Boston.

Twelve X Twelve reintroduces the human element back into the highly modular prefabricated housing scheme through its use of warm wooden materials, extensive shared outdoor spaces, and connectivity between the units of each aggregated module.

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T W E LV E X T W E LV E

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This project is organized around a grid system which begins at the street level. Beginning at the urban scale, a bike lane cuts through the center of the site - the primary line of circulation.

Branching off from this central artery are the circulation cores of the housing complex. Within these cores lie staircases for vertical circulation as well shared spaces to foster interactions between tenants.

Extending from the circulation cores are the service cores which house the kitchens and bathrooms of each unit.

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In between the grid of circulation and service cores are shared green spaces.

These courtyards and terraces bring light deep inside of each unit while providing a multitude of spaces for tenants to interact with each other.

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Unit 3.1

Unit 2.1

Unit 1.1 Each unit is built from a kit of wooden walls and floors with dimensions defined by the 12’ by 12’ grid in which they lie.

Kit of Parts 10

Unit 3.2

Unit 2.2

Unit 1.2 Each piece in this wooden kit of parts is treated using the Japanese burning technique shou sugi ban which protects the wood from insects and weathering. The walls facing towards the public street and shared green spaces are half window and half wall to provide privacy while walls facing private terraces are fully glazed to bring in light and provide shelf space for tenants.

Wall Detail 11

Unit 3.1

1332 sq. ft.

3 Bed 1 Bath

Unit 2.1

1224 sq. ft.

3 Bed 1 Bath

Unit 1.1 12

1080 sq. ft.

2 Bed 1 Bath

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Unit 3.2 1440 sq. ft.

2 bed 2 Bath

Unit 2.2 1080 sq. ft.

2 Bed 1 Bath

Unit 1.2 864 sq. ft.

1 Bed 1 Bath

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Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood is one of many facing the constant threat of urban renewal. This trend of redevelopment claimed the lives of the row houses which once inhabited the parcels of 6, 8, 10, and 12 Hudson St. Not only were four buildings torn down, but their histories as housing for the Chinatown community were erased as well.

This rest stop is an attempt to ensure the history of Boston’s Chinatown can continue to survive, even in the face of urban renewal. The walls of this pavilion serve as a framework to hold the stories told by the neighborhood’s rubble; those of destruction, restoration, and rebuilding.

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L I V I N G W A L L S

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PRECEDENT STUDY

Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library This project began by examining SOM’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library made for Yale University. What stands out most about this library, and what was carried forward into the Chinatown Cathedral, was its transparent walls. Using thin slabs of marble, the Beinecke Library is able to have a solid, monolithic exterior that still allows light in, animating the walls.

This transparency was studied through a diagrammatic model: a large block of cardboard with voids carved away from it. As the smooth carves get closer to the exterior, they create varying levels of thickness and thus transparency, a theme that will carry forward.

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Construction Process

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Filtering of Light, Air, and Sound

Longitudinal Section

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This project aims to revere the idea of a library and the community spaces a library provides through references to church architecture. The building’s interior forms and programmatic arrangements are defined by how the sun hits the site, yet they are all hidden behind a porous brick curtain. Only once the visitor enters the library are these spaces revealed.

CHINATOWNCATHEDRAL

Despite being one of Boston’s most central neighborhoods, Chinatown has been without a branch location of the Boston Public Library for the past 6 decades. This has deprived the community of not just books and media, but also spaces for gathering and support structures. This Project imagines what a library branch for Chinatown would look like and its role as social infrastructure for an underserved community.

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The interior of the Chinatown Cathedral is created by light, carving a cruciform shape through a large solid mass which sits on the site. These beams of light create the primary circulation corridors for the building with the programmatic cores segmented onto the four sides of the rectangular plan.

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Horizontal Circulation Carved

Programmatic Cores Defined

Vertical Circualtion Nestled

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Floor 4

Floor 3

Floor 2

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Exterior gathering spaces are carved out of the solid brick box on the ground and roof, alternating sides of the building.

These exterior voids express the primary interior programs, the stacks and the lecture hall, which also alternate the side of the building they are located.

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In the middle of the library is a light well which gradually shrinks as it goes down in level. This brings light into the darker center of the building, while also creating an ethereal experience that draws the visitor further up into the library.

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PRECEDENT STUDY Carles Enrich Studio’s Merola’s Tower in Puig-Reig, Spain is a beautiful case study in wooden construction techniques. In collaboration with my group members, we reconstructed and redrew the tower to better understand the seamless wood structure made possible by the collection of steel knife plates found at each connection point.

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MEROL A’STOWER

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Steel Knife Plate Inventory

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initial designs and layout

2.864 sqft

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3.305 sqft

3.326 sqft

Our group began by looking at different bed typologies to decide which we believed would be the most accessible and provide an equal experience to everyone who visits the garden. This process led us to decide on the desk style of raised beds, as they are ideal for access to those in a wheelchair.

We eventually decided on the second of the three initial designs shown above. This design with a mix of diagonal and straight pieces of wood allowed for a large volume of soil while maximizing ease of accessibility to all areas of the bed while seated.

R A I S E D B E D S

In 1998, NU ASCE Community Service designed and built the Accessible Garden in the Fenway Victory Gardens, a 3200 square-foot plot for individuals with mobility impairments to use. The current renovation project aims to install 300 feet of new perimeter fence, a new ADA-compliant compacted gravel surface, and a set of new wheelchair-accessible raised garden beds.

For the designs of the new wheelchair-accessible beds, NU ASCE Community Service is holding a design-build challenge for the 2022-2023 academic year. In diverse teams of 3-4 members, drawn from Northeastern’s student chapters of the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Institute of Architects, and American Society of Landscape Architects, as well as the Northeastern University Gardening Club, students will design and arrange 3-4 beds totaling 100-120 square feet of gardening area with self-watering systems that follow ADA accessibility regulations for mobility impaired individuals.

Shadow Study

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4’-7” 4’

2’-3 1/4”

2’-10 1/2” 1’-11 1/2” 1’-7 1/4”

2’-5” 1’-11 7/8” 1’-11”

2’-1 1/2”

final design and layout

After an receiving feedback, we discovered that the bed would require more structural elements to support the amount of soil and the self-watering system. To resolve this problem, we made three major changes: 1. The wood at the bottom of the bed was replaced with a plywood sheet to give it more

lateral strength.

2. Another joist was added to support the front end of the plywood to prevent the bed from splitting open under the weight of the soil.

3. 2x4s were added to the inside edges to provide nailing surfaces to hold the bed together.

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Site Axon

It was also determined that the middle two beds being back-to-back would potentially prevent plants in the rear bed from getting adequate sunlight if taller plants were placed in the front bed. To resolve this issue, the two middle beds are now staggered. This also allows for more gardeners to be working as now both sides of each planter will now be accessible, as opposed to before when only one side of each was able to be in use.

Plan courtesy of Sarah Wong

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Render courtesy of Callum Tinkler

Their site already has one classroom, designed by a previous volunteer for the organization. Our group decided to use that building as a precedent for the rest of the site. The facilities we designed follow the rounded pill-shape and utilize the same rammed earth walls and thatch roofing - speaking to the traditional sustainable techniques of Ghanian construction.

To support airflow within the buildings, we used a collection of screens throughout the project, bringing cool air inside and ensuring a comfortable interior. These designs embedded into each screen frame are modeled after the Adinkra sybomls of Ghanian tradition, with each symbol tied to an idea Teach on the Beach strives to instill in its students, from life-long learning to a strong sense of community.

TEACHONTHEBEACH

Teach on the Beach, a non-profit NGO based in Ghana has been devoted to educating and empowering young people and has been rapidly expanding. Having outgrown their rented apartment, the group has decided to build its own facilities in Busua to support a larger group of students.

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11 9

8 5 3

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10 4

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1 - Children’s Classroom 2 - Adult Classroom 3 - Shared Kitchen 4 - Communal Dining Area 40

5 - Living Room 6 - Leisure Area 7 - Office Space 8 - Bathroom

9 - Volunteer’s Bedroom 10 - Summer Hut 11 - Orchard

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Floor 3

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Floor 2 Plans courtesy of Ryan Chan and Callum Tinkler

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7 AM

11 AM

3 PM

7 PM

Use Throughout the Day

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Adinkra Symbol Screens

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Sustainable Development Proposal: Sea Level Rise in Osaka, Japan

CO-PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: Abigail Noreck, Environmental & Sustainability Sciences, first year, noreck.a@northeastern.edu Richard Pinch, Environmental Studies & International Affairs, first year, pinch.r@northeastern.edu Bryan Rivera, Environmental & Sustainability Sciences, first year, rivera.bry@northeastern.edu Kelly Thomas, Environmental & Sustainability Sciences, third year, thomas.kell@northeastern.edu

FUNDING REQUESTED: Year 1: $897,875 Year 2: $785,675 Year 3: $785,675 Year 4: $785,675 Year 5: $785,675 Total: $4,040,575

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SUSTAINABLECOAST S

ABSTRACT As a coastal city, Osaka, Japan, is extremely vulnerable to the impending effects of sea level rise. By the 2070s, this port city could experience over $900 billion in economic risk from flooding, impacting a population of nearly 2.7 million people from a wide variety of socio-economic backgrounds and lifestyles.

This study aims to identify the different ways Osaka can pursue forward-thinking strategies to adapt to the inevitable problems climate change and sea level rise bring. We acknowledge that climate change has already progressed an irreversible amount and will continue to do so, causing a level of irreparable sea level rise in the near and distant future.

Although some of the coastal damage can’t be undone, our study looks to provide enough information to implement mitigation strategies to prevent further destruction. Our team believes that Osaka would benefit from assessing its current coastal infrastructure and investigating a wide range of infrastructure types to minimize the projected impact of sea level rise, as well as develop a variety of community-based greenhouse gas reduction strategies such as community agriculture to lessen the magnitude of future sea level rise. The research team proposes the following study methodology in an effort to improve the coastal stability of Osaka, Japan, preserve its status as an economic hub, and increase the safety and wellbeing of all who live in the area.

Our research team aims to implement community-based solutions to improve the city’s well-being and sustainability. Compared to a one-time fix, community-based solutions foster a sense of unity for a city-wide cause and create a positive feedback loop of sustainable behavior. Residents will become invested in improving their own community to increase the well-being of their own lives and of those around them and become advocates for climate action in their own communities. By studying the costs and benefits of various coastal barrier strategies, we hope to provide Osaka with a comprehensive recommendation on the most effective strategy to pursue in the interest of overall community health. We also hope to measure the benefits of community agriculture in a variety of settings and formats. These research efforts will promote Sustainable Development Goals 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), 13 (Climate Action), and 15 (Life on Land). These goals are all extremely vital in stimulating and preserving the local economy, taking direct action on climate change, and enhancing overall community health and long-term well-being of Osaka, Japan, and the planet as a whole. Our community-based efforts focus on which tactics should be implemented to best achieve these goals.

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P H O T O G R A P H Y

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pinch.r@northeastern.edu