Portfolio BArch NUS

ALEX CHUAArchitectural Portfolio

National University of SingaporeSelected Works (2012-2015)

Alex Raphael Chua Guo-RongNational University of Singapore

ContactEmail: alexraphaelchua@gmail.com

CONTENTSSelected Academic Works

Design Year 1 - 3Architectural Construction (Archi Con) Year 1 and 2

Selected Non-Academic Works

Redesigning the School of Design and Environment

The Bio-Phylic CentreYear 3 Semester 1 (Individual Work)Students were tasked to study two separate species of bio-diversity. An animal to provide the inspiration of the movement within the architecural design and a plant to provide impetus for the structure. From this initial discovery, a centre where members of the public were allowed to view and experience nature was to be conceptualised.

Concept

Observing the site of Pulau Ubin and bio-diversity, the rubber trees and Macaques were chosen for bio-mimicry purposes. The rubber trees’ branches and leaves always sprouted in groups of three. Using this information, a set of rules were imposed to only design the structure in elements of threes. The macaques supplied a different set of potentials, namely movement. Moving through a curated architectural space, especially in a nature reserve, always felt constricting and lacking the freedom of an animal to roam the space at will. As such, basing the movement of the users on the movement of monkeys allowed us to design a space in which users could for once experience the space using all four limbs instead of two.

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The Ng Eng Teng MuseumYear 2 Semester 2 (Individual Work)Students were tasked to design a museum for the works of the late Mr. Ng Eng Teng. Many of his works expressed strong emotions and as such, required a complementary space that drew the best of these emotions from gallery visitors.

curatorial plan

Use of a ramp lowering or raising the viewed object

Changing of roof or floor heights or room volumes

Other explorations

Concept

Observing the art pieces that were to be displayed, a series of boxes protruding downwards allowed concentrated sunlight into the spaces at certain points of the gallery. In a similar fashion, a central sunken courtyard is enveloped by the building, bringing the greenery into the building rather than as an external landscape. Curatorial considerations for each type of desired emotion were taken into account and were placed according to the light.

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Plans|1:100

Basement 1

1st storey

Ground Floor

South-Western elevationSouth-Western elevation render

Northern elevationNorthern elevation render

elevations|1:100

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The DormitoryYear 1 Semester 2 (Individual Work)Students were tasked to study the architectural language of several precedent studies and formulate a design for a dormitory for two (30 square meters).After which, a selected work from each studio was to be built in a 1:1 scale, made out of cardboard.

Concept

The Norman Fisher house by Louis I. Kahn was chosen to be reimagined as a dormitory space. Studying and using the architectural language of pure shape and carved impressions on the elevations, a dormitory with a living space and a bedroom was conceptualised. A large showpiece window in the living space over-looks a lush backdrop of the back garden, while a servant space ran through the middle of these two intersecting cubes to provide access.

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Cardboard House (1:1) Construction and Final Model

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The Concrete TowerYear 2 Semester 2 (Group Work)Students were tasked to design a series of stacking concrete modules that were held together just by the weight of each module. When a physical model was completed, a conceptualised apartment tower was to be designed.

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The Bicycle StandYear 1 Semester 2 (Group Work)Students were tasked to design a bicycle stand with wood as the primary material used in its construction. An added side challenge of using as little material as possible to create this stand was issued.

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Re-Imagining SDE 3Summer Break of 2014As the NUS School of Design and Environent is embarking on building a new building to house new real estate, project management and industrial design students, a call was made to help to redesign the current building meant for the department of architecture.

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