Kevin Ting-Yu Huang2010551382

The University of Hong KongDepartment of Architecture

ARCH2002Instructor: Christiane Lange

Spring 2011

1 Encounter: Municipal Services Building FilmThe aim of the first project is to capture a certain quality of a multi-programmed building through the means of film. Through a short 30 second film, we attempted to show the erosion and residue in a municiapl building located within an expatriate com-munity.

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2 Municipal Services Building AnalysisThe quality investigated through the film was further explored through drawings and physical models. Through axonometric projection and nota-tions we attempted to show the incompatibility of the programs and users and the resulting erosion of certain programs.

Our site is located at Happy Valley, which used to be a small Chinese village until the British made it a foreign residential area by building a racecourse there.

Because of the racecourse, the Happy Valley area gradually transitioned to an expat area. The former Chi-nese programs such as fruit markets began to disappear as more Westernized pro-grams such as wineries and pet shops appeared.

Density of Expatriate ProgramsInfrastructureContext

Market programs (marked in red) have become spread out rather than focused in the municipal building.

Ground Level

The ground level contains the meat and poultry stalls of the wet mar-ket. The current condition is very poor, for the shops have began to close down and only threew are left.

First Level

The first level holds the rest of the wet market. The fruit and vegeta-ble stalls and the clothing and sundry stores are all on this floor. The condition here is similar; one entire row of stalls are now used for storage and many other stalls are closing down.

Second Level

The second level is con-nected by escalators and a small elevator to the wet market. This floor is the cooked food market and government offices. The formal offices are places to the square sides and the informal restaurant spaces are placed next to the curved wall. This is a struc-tural concept we observed in all levels.

The third floor is separated from the market and needs to be entered through a different elevator. This floor is the library, and it was observed that people only use this space informally to read newspapers and surf the Internet.

Third Level

Fourth Level

The fourth level is the en-trance of the sports center. There is a large atrium space around the curved wall. In this floor there is also an observed program transformation. The squash courts have turned into children playrooms, and the sitting areas have all become play spaces for the expat children.

Fifth Level

The fifth floor holds many of the service rooms such as the A/C control room and pipe room. Thus there is not much space for formal programs. The only program here is the sitting area, but even that has become barely used. The viewing area for squash and ping pong courts has been closed to public due to the increase of children coming to the sports center.

Sixth Level

The sixth level holds the gym that can accomodate both badminton and bas-ketball activities. There are also sitting areas here, but only the maids waiting for kids use them.

In each level we were able to observe different spaces that went through transformations in pro-gram. Some spaces simply lost their programs. Some spaces changed their original programs. And some unprogrammed space even gained new pro-gram.

The model is an attempt to show how the program mutations within the municipal building relate to the context. The municipal building is exploded up-wards to show each individual level with different colors notating a different change in program. The model is made to represent an axonometric drawing of the building.

3 Seoul WorkshopThe site for the design project is located in Insadong, Seoul. Through a workshop with Seoul National University architecture students, we investigated the site and made propositional models for our designs. Our proposal was to create ‘loops’ on different levels that hold programs for the three main user groups of the area: tourists, musicians, and locals. We stacked the loops together, with the ones of mixed programs on top. The goal was to create spaces for all user groups, which do not exist at all in the currently extremely segregated site.

Local Neighborhood Nagwon Arcade Site A

Site BInsadong Tourist StreetElderly Area

Insadong is a historical district that has become a tourist attraction for tradi-tional goods and souvenirs. Because of a recent addi-tion of a music shopping center, the area is highly segregated between the tourist street and the local area.

Our propositional model is basically a combination of programmed loops for the three main user groups that we identified: the elderly and locals, musicians, and tourists. We used red tubes to point actors to existing and proposed programs.

4 Market LibraryThe main project of this semester is to design an architecture containing both market and library programs in response to the Korean site. There are two choices of site separated by the Nagwon arcade megastructure. One is adjacent to the busy tourist street while the other is surrounded by the Tapgol park and the local neighborhood. Because my target is to break the segregation of the user groups, I selected the site tan-gent to all usergroups. My intention is to have strips of program that intersect to create ‘mixing chambers.’

Market

Library

View 1 View 2 DetailDiagram

Programmatic strips as intertwining ramps

Programmatic strips intertwining vertically

Programmatic strip folding through a mass

Initial Massing Ideas

View 1 View 2 DetailDiagram

Intertwining three different programs: market, library, performance space

Programmatic strips intertwining vertically to become walkable surfaces

Programmatic strip folding through a mass based on a grid created from the context

Development 1

View 1 View 2Detail Diagram

Thickening the ramping strips

Folding strips in section to create mass

Void strip splitting mass into different

levels

Development 2

View 1 View 2Detail Diagram

Three ramping strips punching through

three masses

Three main program-matic strips with

smaller strips beneath

Strips folded in plan to create different levels and courtyard spaces radially towards the local neighborhood

Development 3

View 1 View 2 DetailDiagram

Ramping surfaces cutting across three masses

One continuous me-andering strip with multiple folding strips beneath

Void separating two strips folding in plan

Development 4

Variation 1

Variation 2

Final massing strategy: folding in plan

The final strategy was to have a straight shifting strip cut through a meandering strip to create different spaces for the market and library programs.

Slopes are proposed to link the large form of the megastructure to the smaller local urban fabric.

Test Model 1

The first attempt was to make the straight strip a ramping mass for mixed programs. The meandering strip is for circulation and there are connecting platforms in between.

Test Model 2

The ramped strip was changed to a strip of void that connects the inner courtyards from both sides and can act as a new tourist street.

Test Model 3

A few models were then made to test what the mid-dle slanting section would become. In this model sloped strips of mass cre-ate courtyards in the mass.

Test Model 4

The shifting strip in the middle was tested as a triagnulated space in this model. Smaller voids were also punched through the mass to create interior open spaces and viewing platforms.

Test Model 5

The triangulated connection in between did not work, and the sloped spaces were tested again. In this model the continuity of the meander is fragmented to create an emphasis on the puncturing void.

Test Model 6

At this stage it was decided that some of the middle connecting spaces would be sloped while others would be flat. The continuity of the meander is kept while being broken by voids on different levels.

Test Model 7

Parti test model: Library as spiral spaces

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B

A A

B

B

Megastructure Grid Distorted Urban Grid Superimposition Meandering Mass Creating Inner Courtyards

Straight Void Punching Through Adjusting to Site Creation of main coresC onnections

Massing Strategy

The ground floor market street was imagined to be

a large informal space with hawker stalls and souvenir shops. The street is mainly lit by natural sunlight com-ing from the voids through

the building. At night the street is lit by street lights.

RoofSixth FloorFifth FloorFourth Floor

Third Floor

Second Floor

Ground

Preliminary Plans

Final Form Model

For the final form, each level is composed of different spaces and different connections. The heights were changed to respond to sun-light conditions and the bottom street was altered to fully connect the large space in front of Tapgol Park and the local neighborhood on the other side.

Ground Second Floor

Informal Reading

Reading Zone

ReadingZone

Cultural Library

ReadingZone

+Bookshelves

Performance Stage

Study Area

Digital Library

Digital Library

Tourist Streetwith Hawker

Stalls

Third Floor

Informal Reading

Informal Reading

OfficeOffice

Study Rooms

Bookshelves

Bookshelves

Shops

ReadingZone

StudyArea

Cafe

Cultural Library

Fourth Floor Fifth Floor

Bookshelves

ActivityArea

Shops

Study Area

Shops

Bookshelves

ActivityArea

Shops

Reading Zone+ Bookshelves

Study Area

Bookshelves

Informal Reading

Informal Reading

Informal Reading

Sixth Floor

Shops

ReadingZone

Bookshelves

ReadingZone

+Bookshelves

StudyArea

InformalReading

Zone

Study Area

Reading Zone+ Bookshelves

Roof Garden

Bookshelves

Roof

Outdoor Theater

Roof Garden

Shops

InformalReading

Zone