When designing Serpentine, our team paid special attention into how the cantilever was added into the structure. The cantilever was a crucial part of the design, making sure it was not an afterthought. This began to inform our design decision about the offsetting and the use of joinery. The bottom tiers are the widest offering the support needed to raise the cantilever at a minimum of 4 feet over the ground.
As you move on up, the cantilever snakes up the whole length. Undulating up, the offsets become extremely prominent. It narrows eventually coming to a point. The height of the height of the structure was 12 feet in total where it scraped the top of the concrete waffled ceiling in the Wurster building lobby.
Strategically designing and placing the pieces on the board, we wanted to make sure we used as little material as possible while in return doing the most work. The joinery created was unique to our project as we had a miter joint, a miter half-lap, and a 45 degree angled miter half-lap connect into a single point. Although this introduced many complexities into the project, it was well worth it in the end as it gave our structure a clean appearance.
Designed and Built by: Lily Xiong, Jessica Ma, Jonas Jimenez, and Alex He
Detail of a miter joint, a miter half-lap, and an angled miter half-lap meeting a single point.
Serpentine was designed to reach 12 feet with a 4 feet high cantilever using the least amount of material possible.
This exploded axonometric delves deeper into the ways we decided to join our tower together. By having 2 separate modules which could be joined on-site, this allowed the tower to be able to fit into an elevator or standard doors.
Detail of a Dado Joint.
The additions of moment joints increased the structural strength of our wooden tower. This reduced the chance of racking as well as creating reinforced corners, limiting the need for inner supports. By adding moment connections we realized that our original design of having 4 inner supports was unnecessary as long as the rectangular frame was stable. This in return reduced the need for extra material and labor.
After being awarded an Idea Fellowship a two year long research period was devoted to the Optimization of Multi-Family Housing. This work was chosen by the AIA committee as a topic of interest, which allowed this research to be presented at the AIA Conference on Architecture 2019 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
This research provides insight into how “Architects can drive change”. As designers we sought to see if design could help make an impact or possibly find a solution to ease the current crisis. The housing crisis in the Bay Area is a real concern, where the displacement of individuals has reached a new high. It is estimated that an additional 180,000 units needs to be built just to keep up with the growing population.
Idea Fellowship Team and Advisors: Holly Arnold, Phil Hyndman Andrew McCune Ryan O’Rourke Brendan Dunnigan Upali Nanda Kate Renner Melissa Hoelting, Northern California Regional Carpenters Council San Francisco Housing Action Coalition, and Alex He
Credits & sources: LA Times, SF Business Journal, JLL, McKinsey Global Institute, SF Planning Department, CA Environmental Resources Evaluation System, GIF & Grasshopper Script by Thomas Sears
ILight is an annual lighting pavilion design competition hosted by the Singaporean government. Working in a deign team, we wanted to tackle the issue of mental health and how mental health is disregarded as a legitimate issue in certain parts of Asia. By shining a light on this issue, literally and figuratively, we designed a pavilion that would act as a form of light therapy as you walk through it.
Starting with the calm blue it transitions to an alert red. The structure’s shape mimics that of a brain wave which starts with a less intense blue representing youth and to a more frequent red representing adulthood. Oriented to an underground passage towards a children’s playground and a war monument, this draws the connection between the new (blue light) and the old (red light).
Design Team: Frances Yang, Jessica Ma, and Alex He
Using the remnants of the previous site, an overlay of grid lines allowed important topographic features such as a the light gradation as well a dips in the landscape to be incorporated into the massing of the building. Noticing a residual staircase carved into the land, inspiration was taken to use the staircase to carve into the mass. This aided my design in two ways, to define my program as well as to reveal my program.
Focusing on the theatre, I prioritized it as being the main aspect of the building. This was also influenced by the context where the south of the highway had sparse entertainment spaces. Therefore, the Urban Institute would provide a new and refreshing gathering space for SoMa (South of Market). The other programs such as workspaces, and gallery were also heavily influenced by the context. The workspace was oriented to have a visible connection to the finical district of San Francisco, while the gallery was oriented towards the street corner for a welcoming experience as well as optimal lighting from the southern exposure.
As for the materiality, I choose to use concrete to emphasize the concept of carving and sculpting into a mass. The revealing would be through the use of clear and lighter materials such as glass and thin steel structures. By doing so, light and air can be introduced to pierce my massing. Lastly, the glazing design is used to emphasize the geometry of the staircase as well as the original gradation of the topography.
This stair design was influenced by the feeling of levitation. We wanted the experience of having treads gradually floating at an angle to bring the user up the staircase. By connecting the steel sheet tread and risers we were able to achieve the lightness and hollowness of floating. Not only did connecting the riser and the tread help us achieve the floating experience, but as well as to create a complex simplicity that strengthens the frame, producing the tread and risers, as well as minimal use of materials. The two mild steel box beam stringers are located on opposite ends of the trend to open up the free space in the middle furthering the feeling of weightlessness.
Lastly, for the wooden balustrade and handrail the parallelogram shape mimics that of the slanted tread/riser frame to bring continuity throughout the staircase. Using recycled wood from a previous project, we were able to further cut down on cost. Having the wood gave us another complexity of figuring out how to connect plywood to mild steel. We decided to position 6 bolts on the bottom of the railing to reduce the profile of the hardware. With the addition of mesh, the floating concept is more visible. This helped to comply with the code as well as to provide more strength to the parallelogram railing.
Designed and Built by: Lily Xiong, Jessica Ma, Jonas Jimenez, and Alex He
The additions of mesh in the balustrade allowed for uninterrupted views past the railing furthering the user experience of having a weightless/floating staircase. This also provided stability as well as using the least amount of materials as possible.
Composed of recycled materials, this staircase is designed with sustainability in mind.
Detail of floating tread/risers sitting on galvanized mild steel stringer with mesh balustrade.
This view shows the design intent of using a parallelogram geometry to create a floating aesthetic, add strength to the frame, and use less material.
Detail of plywood and mesh connection.
Free space is provided by using the parallelogram frame as well as pushing the stringers to the opposite sides of the treads. The viewer is able to grasp what the back of the staircase looks like by just looking at the front.
Models at 1:80 scale was produced for two multi-family residential and a hotel located in various locations: Burlingame, California, Redmond, Washington, and Sacramento, California.
Production Team: Ryan Doone, Bob Milbrath, and Alex He
This concrete hyperboloid paraboloid was influenced by the act of inverting. Borrowing the same aesthetics from Felix Candela, we wanted two double curves. One curve is designed to be more aggressive than the other, giving our concrete a more dramatic form. To achieve this form, we made a form-work out of basswood, plaster cloth, and duct tape. The basswood was waffled to produce a stable foundation for the form work as well as to lay out the general shape of the hyperbolic paraboloid. Next, using plaster cloth we hand molded the cloth to the waffled basswood to smooth out the geometry and to provide a more stable surface.
Lastly, the duct tape was applied all around to further smooth out the surface and to provide some texture. One difficulty was getting the concrete to mold into the shape of the curved form-work. The mix would have to be fluid while still maintaining its original strength. Through the use of an admixture we were able to accomplish the required fluidity without increasing the water ratio. The use of a steel mesh reinforcement aided in holding the concrete together. As for the aggregates, we sifted the original mix to remove the large pieces so that the concrete mix would be able to pass through the mesh while acting as a binding agent.
Designed and Built by: Garrick Ho, Lily Xiong, Emma Ryan, and Alex He
This view shows the bare form-work which consist of 3 layers: basswood structure, plaster cloth, and duct tape
Placing the concrete form on an edge, this provides a view of how the wooden form-work protrudes into the concrete form to create inverted curves.
Depicting the strength and durability of the concrete. Steel mesh reinforcement along with an admixture increased the fluidity without the need to increase water. This aided in providing the necessary strength need to support the weight of a person.
After completing eight years of rudimentary training for a variety of art practices, I moved on to soft pastel where I was able to develop my skills over a period of another four years. Soft pastel taught me patience and an understanding of color layering. Specifically how different shades are combined or overlaid to create dimension within a piece. Focusing on animal portraitures, the obstacle of creating a spirit for the piece was not easy to achieve. Most of the energy was spent on the face, particularly the eyes.
