portfolio_cc chiang

Projects from GSD Core I

CC Chiang

Harvard Graduate School of Design

(No)bsolescence /1

Thermodynamic Laboratories /9

Steganographic Room /23

Networked Dormitory /17

Personal

Informal Athens /27

RSP Architects PopulousJaponica Partners

Brown University Columbia University GSAPP Harvard GSD

Architecture Intern Architecture InternInvestment Analyst

B.A International Relations New York/Paris architecture program Master in Architecture I

Obsolescence plagues the physical traces of mega-events such as the Olympics. Stripped of their congregative qualities, these buildings often fall into disuse as

voids in the city.

To preclude such obsolescence, an Olympic building must serve an evergreen

civic function.

Sited atop Charlestown, the Neighborhood Olympic Conditioning Complex (NOCC) seperates its programs into a flexible bar that segues into the street and a fixed

tower facing Boston.

An iconic presence housing spaces that can host an array of civic functions, the NOCC perpetuates a state of (No)bsolescence

well after 2024.

(No)bsolescence

GSD Core I | Spring 2015 | Instructor: Jeffry Burchard

1

Public Institutions

Open Spaces

Recreation Facilities

City

Boston Charlestown

Site

20 min15 min10 min5 min20 min

10 min

5 min

Street View

City View

View from Bunker Hill St

View

from

Rus

sell

St

Residential Density

Neighborhood

Median HH Income (2011)

>$100k $30 - 65k <$30k$65 - 100k

Site

Civic space in Boston consists largely of open spaces such as the Boston Common rather than multi-use recreational facilities such as the NOCC. Based on its residential density, Charlestown itself cannot sustain the NOCC as a civic space post-Olympics -

it must serve the city. To do so, the NOCC’s spaces must be sufficiently flexible.

Destinations & Flows

2

Circulation

Program

Handball CourtPool

Archery Range

Taekwando Hall

Table Tennis Courts

GymWellness Center

Running Track

Enclosure Surface Mass Spectat

or

A

thle

te

Flexibility

Use

r

Changing Room

Fixed Flexible

Athlete

Spectator

Mixed

Analysis of the NOCC’s spaces conclude that the changing room would be the building’s center during the Olympics, filtering athletes from spectators, while the largest and most flexible volume - the handball court - should serve as the heart of the

NOCC post 2024, ushering everyday users from Bunker Hill St into the building.

A Flexible Civic Space

3

Circulation

Program

Handball CourtPool

Archery Range

Taekwando Hall

Table Tennis Courts

GymWellness Center

Running Track

Enclosure Surface Mass Spectat

or

A

thle

te

Flexibility

Use

r

Changing Room

Fixed Flexible

Athlete

Spectator

Mixed

4

10’ 50’25’

Basement

Changing RoomSwimmingDivingWater Polo

Ground

Handball

Second

ArcheryTable TennisTaekwando

Roof

RunningWeight & Fitness

Fourth

Spa

Section AA

Section BB

Section CC

Section DD

Section AASection BB

Section CCSection DD

5

10’ 50’25’

Basement

Changing RoomSwimmingDivingWater Polo

Ground

Handball

Second

ArcheryTable TennisTaekwando

Roof

RunningWeight & Fitness

Fourth

Spa

Section AA

Section BB

Section CC

Section DD

Section AASection BB

Section CCSection DD

6

HotCold

Hot

Cold

Open StateClosed State

2nd order transformation

1st order transformation

3rd order transformation

Air Flow

Air Flow

Buildings are open systems: No architecture is closed from its thermodynamic milieu. Yet climate conditions and programmatic requirements necessitate different degrees

of openess.

A Grasshopper armature provides two types of formal organizations: A Closed and an Open state. These extensive geometries in turn inform intensive thermodynamic conditions: a temperature gradient from hot to cold spaces facilitated by convection

and radiation.

The resulting buildings are a product of the interplay between matter, energy, and

form.

Thermodynamic Laboratories

GSD Core I | Fall 2014 | Instructor: Kiel Moe

9

HotCold

Hot

Cold


2nd order transformation

1st order transformation

3rd order transformation

Air Flow

Air Flow

Tracing the movement of the armature’s eight components during its transformation yields its intrinsic geometry, which is then used to generate axes for the flow of energy

in two states: Closed and Open.

Extensive Geometry

10

Skin

Structure

SpaceHot Laboratories

Cold Storage

Private Circulation

Public Circulation

Emissivity

Ventilation Core

Fenestration

Exposed Radiant Slab

Solar Chimney

Operable Window (Double Glazing)


Air SpaceLow-E Single Glazing

Closed State

Open State

Convection Tunnel

Reflectors

Metal Louvers

Fritted Glass Envelope

Opaque Panel

Opaque Panel

Insulated Slab

Insulated SlabExposed Radiant Slab

Intensive Thermodynamics

In its closed state, the laboratory’s energy flows within a closed loop from hot to cold spaces, with minimal circulation beyond its walls. In the open state, the laboratory dissipates hot air via a solar chimney, exchanging energy with its milieu. Heat transfer

runs parallel to the buildings’ circulation paths.

11

Skin

Structure

SpaceHot Laboratories

Cold Storage

Private Circulation

Public Circulation

Emissivity

Ventilation Core

Fenestration

Exposed Radiant Slab

Solar Chimney

Operable Window (Double Glazing)


Air SpaceLow-E Single Glazing

Closed State

Open State

Convection Tunnel

Reflectors

Metal Louvers

Fritted Glass Envelope

Opaque Panel

Opaque Panel

Insulated Slab

Insulated SlabExposed Radiant Slab

Modes of Exchange

The primary modes of energy transfer are radiation and convection. The open and closed convection loops channel air through circulation tubes in the form of a corridor and a solar chimney respectively. Energy exchange via radiation is facilitated by flexible

facades for hot spaces and hermetically sealed fenestration for cold spaces.

12

+130’

100’50’25’

+190’+24’’

+12’’

13

+130’

100’50’25’

+190’+24’’

+12’’

14

Closed State

15

Open State

16

Mixed

Loud

Quiet

Stair Core

Vertex AEdge 1

Vertex AVertex B

Edge 2 Edges 3 + 4

Vertex C Vertex B Vertex C

The American college dormitory is a major campus node, midwiving some of the economy’s largest enterprises alongside its traditional functions of socializing and

learning.

To create a network of circulation, learning, and living, the geometry of a stair core is juxatposed against a continuous 960’ long facade. The networked dormitory in the interstitial spaces is a 24/7 circuit running through the full spectrum of modern

student life.

Networked Dormitory


17

Mixed

Loud

Quiet

Stair Core

Vertex AEdge 1

Vertex AVertex B

Edge 2 Edges 3 + 4

Vertex C Vertex B Vertex C

Social networks consist of vertices and edges. Manifested architecturally, the central stair core’s geometry is extrapolated into a family of 4 ramps and stairs of different slopes and dimensions connected by 3 vertices. The resulting voids house common

spaces while dormitories are arrayed along the edges.

Network Theory

18

Network

Stair Core

Bathrooms + Learning Spaces

Rooms

Facade

19

Network

Stair Core

Bathrooms + Learning Spaces

Rooms

Facade

20

+ 6’

Section AA

+ 42’

Section BB

Section AA

Section BB

5’ 10’ 20’ 21

+ 6’

Section AA

+ 42’

Section BB

Section AA

Section BB

5’ 10’ 20’ 22

1001

Hidden Room

Room 1Room 2

Room 3

Room 4

1

4 53

2

30° 15° 45°

30°

60°

45°

Steganography is a means of concealing by breaking down information and converting its basic units into something different. Unlike encoding and encryption, steganography is not evident to the naked

eye.

Architectural information is encoded in projective representations. By converting a room to its axonometric equivalent, the hidden room is encoded into its surrounding spaces, revealing itself through a circulation sequence generated by the

flow of information.

Steganographic Room


23

1001

Hidden Room

Room 1Room 2

Room 3

Room 4

1

4 53

2

30° 15° 45°

30°

60°

45°

A 10x10x10’ room is rotated and sheared into its axonometric projection - the Hidden Room. This geometry is then applied to the envelope of a typical plan grid, embedding the Hidden Room within its surrounding spaces. One approaches but never accesses the Hidden Room, and only sees it in its entirety at the end of the circulation sequence.

Concealing Spatial Information

24

Section AA

Section BB

+10’

+20’ +30’

+5’

Section AA Section BB

5’ 10’ 20’

25

Section AA

Section BB

+10’

+20’ +30’

+5’

Section AA Section BB

5’ 10’ 20’

26

66%

34%

85%

15%

GreecePeer

Median

Official GDP Informal Economy

€ bn

0

100

200

300

201320122011201020092008

GDP

Employees Self Employed

Illegals Self-Employed Employees

Public Space Private Space

Tax Burden

MarketInefficiencies

Entrepreneurial Culture

Unregulated SpaceInformal

EconomyIllegal

Immigration

Labor Cost

15%

40%

45%

€ 36 bn

€ 184 bn

34%

15%

18%9%

24%

14%16%

A major drain on tax revenue, the Greek informal economy is output not accounted by conventional methodologies, including the black market, unreported work, and

undeclared income.

A significant proportion of the labor force is engaged in the informal economy. They may be categorized into Illegals, Self-

Employed, and Employees.

In this personal project, I examined the spatial ownership and exposure of three typologies occupied by these participants: The Street, the Periptero (kiosk), and the

Polykatoikia (apartment block).

Informal AthensPersonal | Fall 2013

27

66%

34%

85%

15%

GreecePeer

Median

Official GDP Informal Economy

€ bn

0

100

200

300

201320122011201020092008

GDP

Employees Self Employed

Illegals Self-Employed Employees

Public Space Private Space

Tax Burden

MarketInefficiencies

Entrepreneurial Culture

Unregulated SpaceInformal

EconomyIllegal

Immigration

Labor Cost

15%

40%

45%

€ 36 bn

€ 184 bn

34%

15%

18%9%

24%

14%16%

EU: Greece’s highly entrepreneurial culture relative to its EU Peers suggests that a substantial amount of economic output may be unreported, as the self-employed have both the incentive and

means to conceal incremental activities.

Greece: Most informal economy estimates are based on tax evasion data instead of Greece’s unique labor market. I estimated incremental GDP

based on unreported economic output.

Athens: Each participant in the informal economy occupies a different typology and space. The most conspicuous illegal immigrants account for just

15% of economic activity.

28

Illegal Goods & Services

Undeclared & Under-reported Income

Transactions

Ownership

Platia Vathis

Zeroing in on Platia Vathis, a neighborhood North of the Kerameikos-Metaxourgeio district, I studied shifting boundaries and commercial transactions of three informal typologies to diagram their spatial ownership and accessibility over 6 hours on a

typical weekday.

29

Illegal Goods & Services

Undeclared & Under-reported Income

Transactions

Ownership

Polykatoikia

Due to high social security costs, informal employees, occupying the most stationary but least exposed space within polykatoikia

blocks.

Owners of periptero kiosks constantly bend the rules to expand the boundaries of their space, which is exposed to heavy consumer

traffic.

Periptero

Illegals hawking contrabands and drugs are highly exposed in public spaces. They own fluid spaces that react to market conditions.

Street

30

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