Sonia Mak Graduation Porfolio

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PORTFOLIO

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P O R T F O L I O PORTFOLIO

PORTFOLIO

PORTFOLIO

PORTFOLIO Sonia Mak

contents Architectural studio Inspiration itinerary

by Sonia Mak

reminiscence memory

a new addition to the san michele cemetery in venice, italy

history

water

symbolism

earth and sky

vernacular culture

urban scale

verticality

hong kong summer program

landscape

climate

rural communities

tower and bridge in gainesville, fl

mexico summer program

school of architecture in charleston, sc

territory assemblage in orlando, fl

urban urban ur ban scale

city matrix

vernacular metropolis

intertwining scalar extremes in a 60-story village

earth and sky verticality

hong kong summer program university of florida

XS Shrine and Podium “Design studio began with an examination of Hong Kong extremes: the very small and the very large as manifest in the traditional little red street-shrine and the urban phenomenon of the podium - a big-box, multi-level housing base that incorporates every urban amenity imaginable. In the former we discover an art of the street, authentic in its spontaneity, moving in its utility, and powerful in its ubiquity. In the latter we see an unfinished project of urbanism and place making; monumental, overbearing, ambitious and unapologetic. By definition both are podia, plinths or pedestals, metaphorical bookends of a 60-story village.�

Hong Kong - a city that casts a love spell on all who see her. In the past I could never understand why most foreigners told me that they loved Hong Kong. However, now I too seem to be under the spell. Having been to cities around China, Europe and the Americas, I found none of them comparable to the pace, convenience, energy and refinement of Hong Kong. If not for the pressure or the crowding masses, Hong Kong for me would be the most livable city in the world. The lucky 38 pictures, ode to life ( sounding similar to the letter 3 in Cantonese) and prosperity (sounding similar to the letter 8 in Cantonese), represent my recollections of Hong Kong. These images display some interesting cultural and physical phenomena about this city that cannot be found elsewhere.

The Shrine Metaphor Hopeless land reclamation, human move towards the sky.

Grounded activities lifted, moving away from mother earth.

Base foundation yet drilled deep, laying back into the soil.

Vagrant life, human turn to the heaven.

Smoke rise from burning incense, may the gods receive its fragrance.

Billets yet burnt down into ashes, returning back into the soil.

We dwell in shrines.

⾔嗋∊௱ ມ⎭❗ᵑθӰ五䏞ੇ㫲クȾ ൦䶘⍱ऋᨆॽθᤁ䴘ᆋ㛨⭕ળⲺཝ൦Ⱦ ൦ะ␧᧘θᆿⵖൕсȾ ⭕ળ❗ᑮθӰ五䕿ੇཟുȾ 䕋➏㼀㼀θ于⾔᱄ሕ㿰ᆹⲺ俞俏Ⱦ ❐俏⚦休θ↮ഔຫൕȾ ᡇ‫ه‬ቻ᯲⾔嗋Ⱦ

lion rock

kowloon peak

original Kai Tak Airport landmark park / mountain existing towers proposed bridges proposed towers satellite pavilions proposed podium

residential area

industrial area

parks and recreational area

sorrento

cultural center & space museum tsim sha tsui promenade service and commercial area

eastern corridor

tai koo promenade two international financial centre

convention and exhibition centre

stilt houses museum of coastal defense

unused land

Kai Tak Podium

The old Kai Tak Airport is located at the center of Kowloon East and is traditionally isolated. Since 1997, the moving of the airport to Chek Lap Kok, Kai Tak is left abandoned. The debating urban design concept in Hong Kong tries to reuse the land to act as a future gateway to its surrounding districts. It will be turned into a metropolitan park which consists of housing, commercial and recreational use.

The Podium City, located off the existing runway, extends from some existing podia and stretches into the water like stilt houses. The elongated linkage consists of interstitial spaces which is a reminiscent of the tight Hong Kong alleyways. The podium serves as commercial and retail centers, while the extended bridges / interstitial space act as a cruise hub. Towers oriented in a constellation to provide maximum view towards the Victoria Harbour. stilt houses

place-making plac place-ma p lace ce maaking kin ng iin n rrural ural ccommunities ur ommunities mexico summer pr me prog ogra og ram, ra m, p pre rese servat ation at n institute: caribbean

rural setting

culture

landscape

Recreation Center for Children Children needed a public gathering space to hang out. When the sun is high in the noon sky, children gather around shaded areas in front of the church or next to the footbridge to chat and play, and ride horses. Water is the consistent idea of the whole project, the transparency of water reflects and reveals the framework of the building. Each of the spaces is constructed as a metaphor or a symbol of the phenomena of water. Different aspects of these phenomena are manifested by architectural devices.

Outdoor landscape garden carvings on the ground direct water to the place of collection; vegetation planted in the garden and water from sprinklers is directly absorbed into the ground which reminds people that water is a source of life

Swimming pool symbolizes the storage of water Existing water duct uncontrolled spill of water is now collected through proliferated ground down to the subterranean plane implying another layer of flow through multiplicity of ground Stair well acts as a transportation space for both water and human : with its tall penetrating form and a punctuated space on top of the roof, the stair well mimics water tanks on most Mexican buildings as a memory of water storage

Library line of books mimics the line of water in the existing duct across the garden : symbolize the spreading of water

Resting Area for horses sits between the source of water and the bridge where water leaves the village : in-between appearance of water is another memory of water flow and addresses a visual linkage to the building

Entrance allows circulation from the plaza to the garden. It serves as a linkage between the two : this circulation opposes the flow of water and it moves visitors into the landscape as a metaphor of human finding the water origin

Changing rooms and restrooms glass located at the top of the separation walls collects mist inside the humid room - the creation of the mist from showers

Unobstructed gathering space isolated from water from the outside world and from the rest of the building : fear of water Art room the reflection of moving water with light spots on the ceiling gives the feeling of diving underwater, and it links to the idea of the swimming pool Roof and collection canal act as rainwater collectors directing water down to the collection canal, which is the primary water vessel Reflection pool water disappears into the building and re-emerges as a reflection pool in the front façade : acts as a memory of water from both orientations – the source and the exit of water – depending where the visitors come from

urban scale

landscape

the horizon

city identity

territory assemblage orlando, florida, usa

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Party / Parti Wall The Parti Wall separates two living units in a housing complex yet it unifies the entire construction.

Represented by a water wall which acts as a blurred partition, it constantly brings reminder to the other party /neighbor’s existence. Light and shadows through the wall become pheonomena of remembrance which links the two spaces visually.

The Water Wall Moving from the scale of a housing unit to the scale of the city, several pavilions are proposed to define the public and private zones in the downtown area of Orlando. With the idea of the water wall, in addition to the implication of skyline in a city, it is intended to redefine the identity of the city by what it is - a city of lakes.

Territory Assemblage - redefining downtown Orlando The entire complex acts as a wall which masks noise from the interstate yet it is protected by its own wall, masked by the sound of the flow of water. The horizontality of the wall and the complex itself as a miniature of the downtown Orlando skyline marks the horizon. Borrowing the idea of water from the previous project, it tends to arouse memory of the citizens in Orlando - it being a city of lakes - the city's identity is re-allocated.

tower and bridge gainesville, florida, usa

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school architecture downtown extention sc chool of ar rch hitecture do own charleston, south carolina, usa

Devil's Millhopper Sinkhole, Gainesville, FL

Tower and Bridge : Dwelling with Nature Mamicking nature by the filtering of light and the reflection of light; arousing sensation by forcing occupants through a series of repetitive insertion or structure with change of scale; linkage between the earth and the sky and between the banks.

Rum Island, Santa Fe River, FL

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