in application for the AA spring semester programme 2014
joel lauselected work
Experience
Architecture Intern, DCA Architects , 2013
Ling Hao Architects, 2013
Urban Redevlopment Authority Singapore, 2012
National University of Singapore - Student Editor, 2012
Teaching Assistant for AR2723 Sustainable Architecture, 2012
National University of Singapore - Research Assistant , 2011
Singapore Institute of Architects - Architour guide, 2010 -11
Signal Officer in the Army, 2009
BUILDING UP
In a country where 84% of the population owns homes in the form of government subsidised public housing, staying tens of floors above the ground in blocks el-evated on pilotis is a common thing. Public amenities abound, and such apartments can cost up to USD 500,000 per 100m2 flat. When public housing becomes the next investment vehicle for capital gain surely it must take on new forms.
Other things bother me too. How have the planners who drew the spaces decades ago produced spatially unjust outcomes that people must deal with today? And how can I -- not just as a designer, but as an oc-cupant take over the architecture and ameliorate them.
I am terribly curious to study the Microrayons and see how others approach such space. I am a product of Singaporean public housing; I wonder how others from elsewhwere think.
joel lau mun fai t. +65 90404405 e. [email protected]
Y04 CLOUDSPACE
Contents
Y03 TO CATCH THE TREES
Y02 URBAN (KINDER)GARDEN
Y01 ABSTRACT. FIBONACCI TOWER
O UM-NUS SHOPHOUSE CONSERVATION
THE WOMAN
CHOICES.
AR CHAIR
The Essence of Landed Property Transposed
CLOUDSPACE
Ong Wee Jin, Gwendolyn Wong, Joel LauTutor: Associate Professor Tan Teck Kiam
Year 04 Sem 2, Singapore
\ Planting Verge
\ Width
\ Human Scale \ Environment
\ Continuous Street
27.2
27.2m
* 2 pax per unit
70 % Developable x Floor Area Per Lot
30 % Green area setback
Average Singaporean
Residential Development Guideline
2
50 DU per hectare
house for a young bachelor
house for a young couple
Ratio based on average Singaporean
no. of pax in a unit
L1 L2 L Floor tofloor height
3 planararea
planararea
planararea
devfirst floor
t % of f dthird floor
evt % of
devt % osecondfloor
ed total
purchasvolume
develop-ablearea sqm3
2 2 1 + 80 80 0 3.5 0.7 0.7 0 560 112
2 1 1 + 160 0 0 3.5 0.7 0.7 0 560 112
3 2 2 + 80 160 0 3.5 0.7 0.7 0 840 168
3 2 2 + 160 80 0 3.5 0.7 0.7 0 840 168
3 3 2 + 80 80 80 3.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 840 168
4 2 2 + 2 160 160 0 3.5 0.7 0.7 0 1120 112
4 3 2 + 2 160 80 80 3.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 1120 224
4 3 2 + 2 80 80 160 3.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 1120 224
4 3 2 + 2 80 160 80 3.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 1120 168
6 3 2 + 2 + 1 160 160 160 3.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 1680 336
Unit Type
80m2 saleable units are purchased incrementally to suit the future needs of a family
mber ofnufloors
umberof lots
N
As hunger for real estate grows and 6.9 million Singa-poreans begin to aspire towards owning private hous-ing, a new typology bridging the condominium and the terrace house emerges.
Examining how the spatial characteristics of the latter can be transposed onto the former in high-rise, me-dium density residences, Cloudspace questions how the third dimension - height - can become a meas-urement by which residential units are sold in. Vari-
-ric, with residents, amenities and space tied together by a street that wraps itself around and through the building.
Y4
Y3
Y2
Y1
O
L5
L4
L3
L2
48 765
11
9 10 123
4 8765
1191
0123
UP
UP
UP
UP
UP
UP
UP
UP
UP
UP
UP
UPUP
UP
UP
UP
UP
1:300
27.2
27.2m
* 2 pax per unit
70 % Developable x Floor Area Per Lot
30 % Green area setback
Average Singaporean
Residential Development Guideline
2
50 DU per hectare
house for a young bachelor
house for a young couple
Ratio based on average Singaporean
no. of pax in a unit
L1 L2 L Floor tofloor height
3 planararea
planararea
planararea
devfirst floor
t % of f dthird floor
evt % of
devt % osecondfloor
ed total
purchasvolume
develop-ablearea sqm3
2 2 1 + 80 80 0 3.5 0.7 0.7 0 560 112
2 1 1 + 160 0 0 3.5 0.7 0.7 0 560 112
3 2 2 + 80 160 0 3.5 0.7 0.7 0 840 168
3 2 2 + 160 80 0 3.5 0.7 0.7 0 840 168
3 3 2 + 80 80 80 3.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 840 168
4 2 2 + 2 160 160 0 3.5 0.7 0.7 0 1120 112
4 3 2 + 2 160 80 80 3.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 1120 224
4 3 2 + 2 80 80 160 3.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 1120 224
4 3 2 + 2 80 160 80 3.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 1120 168
6 3 2 + 2 + 1 160 160 160 3.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 1680 336
Unit Type
80m2 saleable units are purchased incrementally to suit the future needs of a family
mber ofnufloors
umberof lots
N
2 unit small family loft 3 unit small family loft 4 unit multi generational
2 unit convertible bachelors pad 3 unit small family home 3 or 4 unit multi-generational
Y4
Y3
Y2
Y1
O
4 unit young couples
6 unit multi-generational three family home
4 unit multi generational
4 unit family home3 or 4 unit multi-generational
1:500
Hidden amidst the foliage, the classrooms in the woods spend their days catching the movement of the trees. As the canopy rustles in the wind and the scent of freshly formed leaf litter wafts through the school grounds, their shadows leap playfully along the walls.
During fall and winter soft shadows enter along with the warm, welcomed presence of the sun, and during summer, large overhangs protect its users from scorching solar rays. Nature has en-tered the classroom.
With an overhanging roof that serves as a public deck, the community is given the chance to en-joy the trees as well, close by but separated from the activity of the school. Paths open to all lead from existing trails, and wind above classrooms to other trails. The school has become part of the trail, and the trail flows through it.
Through spatial planning the school is intertwined with the public trails of the park, whilst sitting as a private, safe space.
TO CATCH TREES
1080
1045
1045
1: 1/64
Tutor: Kelly BrooksYEAR 03 SEM 1 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1:2000
L1
B1
B2
B3
1:500
1:1500
Y3
Y4
Y2
Y1
O
Y4
June 21 (Summer Solstice)
March 21, Sept 21 (Equinox)
Dec 21 (Winter Solstice)23deg
23.5deg
47 deg
Scale 1: 1/16
Catch a Tree
Classroom OrganisationCatching a Tree
Solar Shadow Study
Public Space
Public Access
School
Classrooms01 Path that leads existing trails through the school - the school becomes part of the trail, and the trail flows through it. 02 Classrooms open both into the safety of the school, and directly out to the adventure of the natural environment. 03 Public roof decks amidst the foliage involves the community in environmental education. 04 Large windows that catch the shadows of the trees on the wall during fall, and overhangs that protect from the scorching summer sunshine. 05 Integrated kinder garden on the roof tended to by the children.
03
04 0501
02
site.
Yeary 02 Sem 1, Macpherson Public Housing Estate Community Design Studio, Singapore
Tutors: Adj Prof Tay Kheng Soon Tan Beng Kiang
URBAN (KINDER)GARDEN
As part of the community design process the stu-dio interviewed members of the community living at Macpherson Public Housing Estate at Aljunied in Singapore. Their were thoughts documented during a rigorous 5 week period. The kinder tree-house is an urban insertion that enhances an ex-isting neighbourhood kindergarden, carving out actual garden space for whilst providing residents enhanced facilities for use in the evenings - after school hours.
Whilst traditional first floor Void Deck kinder-gartens are limited by column placement and block size, the Kinder Tree House challenges the typology. Expanding outwards into the surround-ing garden space, security is maintained and resi-dent circulation goes undisturbed as teachers and students access the new extension via a loft.
The project was featured in a publication entitled Macpherson: 21st Century Estate.
L1, 1:1000
Loft
Y2
Y4
Y3
Y1
O
Y4
Generated by rule-based extrusion and compo-sition, the fibonacci rock-climbing tower is an au-tonomous mathematical explration that brings the user through various harmonic exercises.
After ascending to the top of the tower by rotating the sphere, enthusiasts find themselves descend-ing through human-proportioned fibonacci se-quences. A foothold, a railing, a seat... Proportions emerge as users navigate through the volumes.
ABSTRACT 1101
FIBONACCI TOWER
The processes of abstraction, transformation and creation through the diagram are generative modes of production. Expressed in toilet paper, cardboard, charcoal, foam and clay.
Tutor: Assistant Professor Johannes Widodo
Tutor: Florian Schaetz
Y1 Sem 1
Y1 Sem 2
1:4
Y1
Y4
Y3
Y2
O
Y4
1:200 1:150
Jalan Taming Sari 01. Living area 02. Kitchen
The cooking and dining area for the Cheah family, the kitchen features built-in masonry stoves and an airwell. Its rear door was the only door the tenants can access from the back building.
As places for congregation, the living areas contain antique wooden furniture passed down from the previous owner. The middle room used to be the bedroom for Mr. Cheahs parents at night.
UM - NUS Taiping ShophouseMeasured Drawing Studio (Groupwork) - Awarded the Mubbin Sheppard Prize for Conservation
Amin Zakariah, Risha Ramli, Foong Kaiqi, Seah Huiling, Joel Lau
JOEL LAU SRI ROHAYU BT RIPIN SEAH HUI LING RISHA BT RAMLI
FOONG KAI QI CHAI XIN YING MOHD AMINUDDIN BIN ZAKARIA
Group:
Jalan Taming Sari 01. Living area 02. Kitchen 04. 4-Storey building 03. Backyard The cooking and dining area for the Cheah family, the kitchen features built-in masonry stoves and an airwell. Its rear door was the only door the tenants can access from the back building.
With the 1980s government regulation requiring a fire escape, the Cheah family was forced to demolish the rear half of its building which once housed three families.
As places for congregation, the living areas contain antique wooden furni-ture passed down from the previous owner. The middle room used to be the bedroom for Mr. Cheahs parents at night.
The new building was built in 1985 currently houses a Malay restaurant, a lawyers office, and residential quarters
for Mr. Cheahs 5th and 7th brothers.
Sections
Section B-Bscale 3/16 - 1
scale 3/16 - 1 Section C-C Exploded sectional isometric view
Exploded isometric Door between living room and kitchen
Exploded isometric Front window and door
Front window and door detail
Staircase detail
Living area
Kitchen
Toilet
Backyard
Master bedroom
Guest room
Airwell
Store
Garden
Door detail
2"x3" batton
2"x4" rafters
Exploded isometric Staircase
First floor planscale 1/8 - 1
N
Ground floor planscale 1/8 - 1
N
Up
Toilet Toilet
Backyard Kitchen Living area Living area
5 foot way
C
C
B
A A
B
C
C
B
A A
B
Plans
Down
Bedroom 2
Bedroom 1
Bedroom 3
Gardern
Front elevationscale 3/16 - 1
Rear elevationscale 3/16 - 1
Elevations
Mr. Cheah Png Sous House
The Cheah family townhouse is one of the few townhouses that still exist on this road. Pur-chased by Mr. Cheahs father, a pork seller in the old market, in the 1950s, it has since un-dergone modifications for reasons and new gov-ernment regulations. At its most populous state, it served as a residence for more than 20 people.
The government had one grant for the front to the back of the townhouse later we decided to build a new building. So the law is that when you put up a new building you have to split the grant and leave five feet (on both sides) to make a lane for fire escape. Mr. Cheah Png Sou
1985
Demolished
4-Storey building
Before 1985
Backyard
Rented room 2
Rented room 1
Master bedroom
Laundry
Guest room Kitchen
Bathroom
Grandparents room
Second hallFirst hallKitchen
Toilet
Before 1985 Now
Shared area Tenant Owner
Location plan:
BARRACK ROAD
MAIN ROAD
CR
OSS
STR
EET
NO
. 2
CR
OSS
STR
EET
NO
.3
40 38 36 34 32 30 28 26 24 22
41 39 37 33 35 31 29 27 25 23
Y4
O
Y3
Y2
Y1
03. Backyard
With the 1980s government regulation requiring a fire escape, the Cheah family was forced to demolish the rear half of its building which once housed three families.
04. 4-Storey buildingThe new building was built in 1985 currently houses a Malay restaurant, a lawyers office, and residential quarters
AR.CHAIR, 2010. 1:1scale
OTHER WORKAR CHAIR , 2010
Tutor: Florian SchaetzCai Peixuan, Wen Jun, Yi Jun, James Lau, Joel Lau
built out of fiberglass reinforced concrete and moulded to the curvatures of the body
THE WOMAN, 2009
Tutor: Erwin Viray Rachel Pek, Shi Hao, Joel Lau
Supported by recycled PET bottles and folded en-tirely out of recycled paper from the printer, THE WOMAN glows sensuously in pink and yellow in her anthropomorphicity.
Awarded Merit Prize at the Eco - Lantern Competi-tion
CHOICES, 2006
Tutor: Alan Dunn
Rape. Marriage. Responsibility. Pride.
Tested in the fire at 1000 degrees celcius, CHOICES is an art installation feature four ceramic pregnant women built at 1:1 scale.
Awarded an A Grade for GCSE A level Art(the project is also featured on the cover page)
THE WOMAN. 2009 Awarded Merit at the 2010 Recycled Material Eco-Lantern Competition.
Y4
O
Y3
Y2
Y1CHOICES, 2004. 1:1 scalePregnant Women in Stone
thank you