lighting design (2023)
Truly the last of the generalist professions, architecture not only engages with spatial/programatic agendas but also prevalent topics such as sustainability, materiality, community, and new modes of living. I hope that my portfolio is able to reflect my facination towards this multifaceted quality of architecture.
ASOS 1 | 2022
INSTRUCTOR - STEVE LEE
/W DUNN ZHANG, ESME WILLIAMS
Since this studio is focused on achieving an open space with a clear span structure, we decided to utilize a conventional portal frame with 40’ tall frames and 20’ wide bays between those frames constructed from glulam columns & beams. As the site is situated near a river, we integrated a water taxi station for customers to arrive by water. For the roofing of our market, we are using 8 inch thick CLT panels. Because the geometry of the portal frame has heavy connotations with factory and industrial
buildings, we incorporated many unique design elements and playful architectural gestures that distinguishes it from other portal frame structures. For instance, the horizontal and vertical protrusions of medium programs bring many interesting spatial conditions on the mezzanine level such as the exterior balconies and the system of elevated hanging diagonal pathways. We’ve also added a canvas shaded open-air arcade for vegetable vendors during the summer.
A combination of corten and perforated Corten is used for the East, West, And North facing facade of the building. The south side consists of the PV array on the sloped roof and the open air vegetable arcade. The three monitor windows can be seen on the North facade while the glazing strategy on the West consists of a layer of perforated sliding corten steel on top of a curtain wall assembly.
ASOS 3 | 2023
INSTRUCTOR - JEREMY FICCA
This studio examines the possibility of densification in the Grand River Northwest district of Detroit and tackles housing problems such as affordability and shifting demographics. Because of the narrowness of my scheme, two houses are able to occupy a single parcel. The primary structural element of the project are 2-foot thick rammed earth partywalls. The roof and floor joists attached to concrete bond beams that are embedded within the earth walls themselves.
In order to combat the lack of ventilation and solar exposure, each instance of the house contains a glazed courtyard that could be enclosed during the winter. The offsetting of the scheme also brings more daylight and cross ventilation into the building while softening its street edge. With the alternative materials, spatial configurations, and prototypical features, my project challenges the conventional notions of an American house.
BEE-BREADER MODULAR HOUSING COMPETITION | 2021
W/ JERRY ZHANG
3RD PLACE WINNER
HOUSE CONSTRUCTION KEY
1 OPERERABLE ROOF PANELS
2 MOTORIZED ROOF SLIDING SYSTEM
3 FROSTED GLASS ROOF PANEL
4 WOOD FRAMES
5 MODULAR STORAGE UNITS
6 MODULAR ROOM UNITS
7 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
8 BATTERY, WATER TANK, & ELECTRIC WATER BOILER
9 WASHROOM
10 EXTERIOR AC UNIT
STORAGE & ROOM CONSTRUCTION KEY
1 BEAMS WITH INTEGRATED SLIDING SYSTEM
2 UNDER FLOOR SLIDING SYSTEM
3 FLOOR PANELS
4 POLYCARB PANELS
5 STEEL FRAME
The 21st-century society has become more materialistic, and fast-paced than ever before. More often than not, people feel a greater connection to their belongings than their dwelling.
Taking note of this paradigm shift, our project seeks to challenge the conventional program with the proposition of a new typology: “Object-Oriented Architecture” where the program of the spaces is defined by the things within it.
BUILDNER ARCHITECTUAL COMPETITION | 2024 /W ASHLEY SU HONORABLE MENTIONS
After selecting the crater-filled Nevada proving grounds as our team’s nuclear-testing memorial site. we decided to float a large, black, ballons in the center of each creater. These Ballons, or “Critical Masses”, serve as visual indicators of the sheer scale of the nuclear testing operation. During certain times of the year, the shadows of these balloons would intersect with the concrete viewing platform embedded within each creator and create an artifical eclipse for the viewers.
SUMMER | 2023
RESEAERCH ASSISTANT FOR JEREMY FICCA
Jeremy Ficca’s Incremental Hemp House investigates the affordances and aesthetics of exposed hempcrete. Hemp is a carbon sequestering, cost effective, and environmentally friendly building material. The linear plan of the hemp house encourages optimal solar exposure and cross ventilation through its carefully composed awning windows.
The incremental nature of the house allows farmers to grow the building material on-site and construct the house over long periods of time. During my time on Jeremy’s research project, I assisted with major design iterations and creating representations such as renders and drawings.
ASOS 1 | 2023
SELF GUIDED PERSONAL PROJECT
This process-oriented project aims to explore the interactions between molten glass and wood through the fabrication of a cherrywood mold. Instead of a traditional 2-part mold. This mold was divided into 4 pieces as the mold itself is designed to hold the same glass bulb it produces.
The mold itself is CNC milled from four pieces of laminated cherry wood. After the glass-blowing, the mold is then reassembled around the glass spheres. The charring in the spherical cavities from the hot glass were kept in the two lights as a conscious design decision in order to fully convey the fabrication process.
Because the mold was designed for re-usability, four bulbs were ultimately produced from the mold itself. Although the 4-piece mold was only supposed to produce a single light, the two outer pieces of the mold unexpectedly produced a second, equally interesting lighting composition.
PRAXIS 1 | 2021
INSTRUCTOR - JEREMY FICCA
COURSE - FABRICATION CUSTOMIZATION
In this course, students are tasked with designing and creating a millable door handle while exploring the affordances of rapid prototyping. My earliest iteration started with a minimalistic approach where the door handle is generated from a piping logic. However, as this assignment requires us to design with a subtractive milling logic in mind, I iterated upon my initial designs and generated a new set of handles by manipulating SUB-D geometries. The final prototype was a pair handles that can be rearranged to fit different needs and aesthetic preferences of the user.
2004 - 2024
SELECTED PERSONAL + ACADEMIC WORKS
In the following pages is a collection of traditional and digital illustrations for both academic coursework and personal uses. Aside from pencil drawings, I also utilize other mediums such as ink, watercolor, acrylic, and charcoal. Like traditional art, digital art also requires an in-depth understanding of color, value, and markmaking. However, it’s abundance of functions and layer options allows for collaging and photobashing.
SUMMER 2024 - SPRING 2025
ARCHITECTURAL/DESIGN INTERN
During my time in the 6-month Olson Kundig Internship, I participated in around 4-5 residential/hospitality projects, with two of these as my longterm assignments. In the project above, the Woodstock Main Residence, I headed the design of the stacked interior and exterior fireplaces.
While the lower, exterior fireplace utilizes conventional proportions, the upper, interior firebox juts out from the corner of the structural chimney and expresses itself through a kinetic guillotine-style cover. Throughout the design process, I mostly worked in hand-sketching and revit modeling. Renders are completed within enscape.
In the hospitility project below, the Black Desert Cabins, the client requested a mixture of eighty 1-bed, 2-bed, and 3-bed cabins on the dark, vocanic rocks within Ivins, Utah. Initially working on site planning, I jumped to the design of the 1-bed cabins. In the renders to the right, the design of the cabins were initially skinny and elongated. However, after a series of client meetings, the clients requested a square plan as seen below. During this project, I was working primarily through hand-drafting and Rhino modeling.
