Shorthand Portfolio

Franco Chen 714.381.3240Francochen@csupomona.edu20470 Via MarwahYorba Linda, CA 92886

Education

Honors

Interests

Qualifications

Skills

California Polytechnic State University, PomonaBachelor of Architecture, Class of 2017Completed 1st Year Architectural DesignGPA 3.6

Dean’s List 3 quartersPresident’s List 2012-13

Architectural theory, Deconstructivism, Parametric/Computational Architecture, Sustainability, Social Urbanism

Ability to rise to challenges, determined to succeed, dislikes failure, diligent worker, capable team leader and worker, everlast-ing pursue of knowledge

Fluent in: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Rhinoceros 3D, Grasshopper, V-Ray, Google Sketchup, AutoCAD, Microsoft Office Suite.

Photography, graphic representation, model making, line drawings

Winter ‘12 Starting off with a cube, a form was abstract-ed and exploded to allow emphasis through stacked forms which created opaque and transparent voids. Medium: 4-ply museum board, 1/16” basswood, OSB, and rope.

In the exercise, “divide,” we begin to explore not only the exterior of the cube, but also the interior. The cube is cut into two halves, and then assembled in a way that the two pieces will complement and blend together, creating one solid sculp-ture, rather than two individual pieces pieced together. Two goals that must be met include the ability to fuse the two spaces together to work as a system of one, but also have two distinct, and unique spaces.

The final part of the project is “Multiply.” There are three main objectives to this assignment. First, there must be four individual spaces. Second, these spaces must be made of Museum Board, Plywood, Basswood, and a material that we recycled. Third, these spaces must cumulatively work as a system.

Winter ‘12 The Tremaine House in Montecito was designed by mid century modernist architect Richard Neutra in 1948. This was a case study model on common partis, with this house being the pinwheel.

Spring ‘13 The last project of first year studio required students to design a bike shelter with a group of seven. This bike shelter must be able to comfortable seat three, and must be able to safely accommodate ten bikes. Recycled materials must account for the majority of the construction.

“Linear Wrap Bike Shelter” is based on the notion of how we define spaces. We started off with a rectangular prism the size of a parking spot with seven feet of clearance. On the surfaces of this rectangle, one continuous line was drawn, only differing in the angles of protrusion onto adjacent planes. Then, we imagined this line to be a cut across the surfaces of our shape. Next, we took the negative of this model, so rather the cut being transparent, it has now become opaque, and the wall transparent. With the previous shape of the line cut, enough wall area was still opaque to define the space as an indoor space, but by taking the negative of this model, the nature of the space changed along with it.

Questions raised in this exercise include: what does it take to perceive a space, and to what extent can we push this perception, while maintaining its illusion?

Materials: reclaimed 2”x8” Douglas Fir

Urban Decay is a competition entry that deals with the aspect of death care, and how we interact with those who have passed. This design aims to draw closer the link between the public and the deceased. The hill that slopes down towards the sidewalk allows for this by lending some of the cemetery space back to the public in an urban environment. Underground, you will find the actual cemetery, taking inspiration from the tunnels of ant hills to form a never been seen before way of organizing the deceased.